Nature

Eastern Sunsets

     When we first were planning to build the dome we debated about which way the house would face. We were building right on the ridge of the mountain, which runs in a northeast/southwest direction. At the time we had forests surrounding us but had visions of clearing the trees all around so we’d have […]

Winter Mornings at Domehenge

Photos taken from our upper deck. Click on the image to view the gallery.

Domehenge: Where the wild things are

Over the past two decades we have watched the ebb and flow of wildlife around our mountain top home.  The first was a bear, which we never saw, but which  visited our tent while we were back east and left his mark.  We found our tent with four long slits in the side.  He didn’t […]

Good-bye Sandy – Almost

Unlike the aftermath of most winter storms of past years, when the snow would pile up and surround us, covering the hills and evergreen trees, and when the sun would sparkle on the icy branches outside our windows, there were no beautiful days of glistening snow after Hurricane Sandy. Maybe we missed some of it […]

Cozy Warm in Hurricane Sandy

When a black woolly bear crosses your path twice, beware.You know a bad winter is expected! Hurricane Sandy arrived about dinner time on Monday, October 29 with winds picking up and snow coming with it. Mark was ready for any emergency radio help that might be needed, as was Alison back in Beltsville. The snow […]

This Year’s Winter Forecast

It’s nearing the end of October, and what a beautiful season it’s been. So many days of being able to go out and walk in the crisp clear air; to enjoy the trees in all their colors and to watch their leaves fall lazily down for us to crunch through as we walk along the […]

Our Faithful Cherry Trees

Our spring season probably hasn’t been much different from the rest of the northeast’s season. It came early after a not-so-snowy winter. Both the lack of snow storms and the early arrival of warm, sunny days mixed with enough rain was a blessing after some of the long winters of shoveling the car out, scraping […]

Adventures in Strange Lands

In 1954 I was working in Greenland at an Air Force base called Sondre Stromfjord.  Built during World War II it was given the code designator “BLUIE WEST EIGHT or BW-8” The base was about a hundred miles up a long, deep fjord on the western (Baffin Bay) side of Greenland. The airstrip itself was […]

Meet Wood Charles

It’s February 2nd, also known as Groundhog Day.  I personally put my faith into the groundhog’s predictions for the length of winter-like weather. Any animal which faithfully comes out of his burrow each year must have some knowledge of the season’s future, otherwise why would we, or he, even acknowledge his shadow, or lack thereof? […]

The Forest “Folk”

“Stories of old tell that hundreds of years ago, small mountain folk inhabited the rocks and boulders of Backbone Mountain.”    Denise Hillman Moynahan, The Great Cavern of the Winds:  Tales from Backbone Mountain   After a busy summer and autumn I finally got back to my drawing board. It always feels good, except for the […]