Green

Environmental Lessons Abound at Historic House Museum

Barbara McMichael

October 07, 2022

House museums sometimes get a bad rap for preserving the past without providing relevant content or connections for current visitors, but the stately Hermitage Museum and Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia, has some surprises in store.

In the early decades of the 20th century, William and Florence Sloane were civic leaders in the Chesapeake Bay area. His business was textile factories, and he became a leader as well in the...

Comments

Green

Doing good for marine wildlife leads to doing good for everyone

Barbara McMichael

May 03, 2022

One year ago on Earth Day, Seal Life Response + Rehab + Research (SR3) first opened its doors after years of planning and fundraising and advocacy.

Comments

Green

NOTES FROM THE ROAD: King Tide

Patricia Vaccarino

January 07, 2022

Waves sneak up to the shore from nowhere. Mountains of water advance, attacking like a marauding army. Churning angry white foam, the King Tide has arrived on the north coast of Oregon. Water levels rise higher and tides grow stronger. Some tides crest far higher than others. Swell after swell, rising and falling, an ache and a sigh, reeking of salty spray. Sneaker waves suddenly smash against the beach with a boom like thunder. The power of water washing over us can take us on an unwanted ride far out to sea. Sudden fierce currents sweep victims away. Never turn your back to the ocean.

Comments

Green

Notes from the Road: My Big Stump

Patricia Vaccarino

November 08, 2021

A big windstorm blew a massive tree trunk onto the beach. Looks like the stump of a redwood to me. After a good rain falls, the tree’s wet wood takes on the reddish glow of a slow flame. When the full sun appears in a dry blue sky, the wood turns grey and withers, throwing off splinters like wiry strands in an old man’s beard. In case you didn’t know, I’m standing with sand in my shoes on the windswept Oregon coast.