Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. — It’s about time to hit the MoJo Road one more time in this amazing life journey chasing bliss and enlightenment in nature near the heart of political power in America. MoJo in this case refers to Mobile Journalism, as well as the Luck and…
TRAVEL
Feed Your Biophilia by Tracking the Art of Rich Autumn Color
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. — Many years ago in a land far away, I proposed a way to test E.O. Wilson’s Biophilia hypothesis by adding a few questions to annual surveys of visitors in the most visited national park in the United States, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
The Story of Wild, Native Brook Trout and Why They Are So Ecologically Important Like the Canary in the Coal Mine for Climate Change
When the Brook Trout Leaps – By Anonymous – The slender dew-tipped grasses are trembling in the breeze, The east is blushing rosy red beneath the Sun’s caress, The wild rose bends to kiss the stream—but only Nature sees, And the reed-harps play weird music just above the water cress. The quail is calling loudly…
Two New National Holidays Proposed: Election Day and Freedom of the Press Day
O wondrous youth Through this grand ruth Runs my boy’s life, its thread The General’s fame, the battle’s name The rolls of maimed and dead I bear with my thrilled soul astir And lonely thoughts and fears And am but history’s courier To bind the conquering years A battle’s ray, through ages gray To light…
Camp David: The White House in the Mountains of Maryland
Editor’s Note: This article is published here for educational purposes only from information published in the public domain on the web – Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAINS, Md. — The birds arise first. They will sing you awake if you let them. The star singer here is the wood thrush, although…
Spring Bird Migration: A Few Splendid Sentences About Pretty Things
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – Sometimes, when sitting outside in the Appalachian Mountains in the shade thinking about what to write about on Sundays, I wonder how to go about writing splendid, pretty sentences. Perhaps the key is writing about pretty things, not bad news. I don’t know. I’ve even Googled it, and…
Camping Out and Living the Nomadland Life in the Washington Capital Region
National Park Service Adds New Listings to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Park Service has added 16 new listings to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom across 11 states, joining 700 sites, facilities and programs already in the network. They all provide insight into the diverse experiences of freedom seekers who bravely escaped slavery and those who assisted…
President Biden Designates Amache National Historic Site as America’s Newest National Park
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — As many students of history know, after the Japanese attacked Peal Harbor on that day of infamy, Dec. 7, 1941, and the United States declared war and entered World War II, the federal government forcibly removed many Asian Americans from the West Coast to the Granada Relocation Center in…
Somehow We Made It to the First Day of Spring 2022: Get Outside
Senate Sherpa Doug Jones Says He’s Confident of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — At 11:33 a.m. Sunday, we cross the vernal equinox from winter into spring, and it feels like it’s about time, y’all. The Japanese cherry blossoms are blooming along the Tidal…
National Park Service Highlights Less Famous Parks in Reporting Annual Visitation Numbers
“Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” – John Muir, 1869 The Yosemite (1912), page 256. Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In reporting annual visitation numbers to America’s national parks for 2021, the…
Photo Essay: A Day Trip to the Maryland State Capital of Annapolis
By Glynn Wilson – ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Jan. 12) — Two days before Christmas in 1783, George Washington appeared in the old Senate chamber here to submit his resignation as commander in chief to the Continental Congress. “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate…
Photo Essay: Snow Shots in the First Blizzard of 2022
The Big Picture -Â By Glynn Wilson -Â WASHINGTON, D.C. – We are not going to let a few inches of snow prevent the mission from going forward to âpreserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.â A…
Charles Sams Sworn In as First Native American National Park Service Director
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON. D.C. — The National Park Service got its first Senate confirmed director in five years Thursday when Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland swore in Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service languished under the presidency of Donald Trump, according to Roll…
Exploring Shenandoah National Park in Virginia in Autumn
By Glynn Wilson – SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. — Warm, humid October weather that could be attributed to climate change due to global warming from humans burning fossil fuels for energy has slowed the arrival of peak Autumn color in the mountains of Virginia. But it was a beautiful day in the park anyway on…
National Park Service Network to Freedom Announces New Underground Railroad Sites
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Park Service recently announced 18 new additions to the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in 11 states to further provide insight into the experiences of freedom seekers who escaped slavery, along with those who assisted them. “The stories of freedom seekers, who risked everything to claim their…
Harpers Ferry: John Brown’s Raid Made Him a Martyr, Foreshadowing Trump’s Insurrection
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – HARPERS FERRY, WV — John Brown was hanged for his insurrection against slavery in 1859 and is blamed by some for helping to start the Civil War. Donald Trump still walks free to play golf and run for office again after his insurrection to overthrow the United States…
National Gallery of Art Reopens in Nation’s Capital
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Where else in America can you see in person a painting by Leonardo da Vinci? No where. Ginevra de’ Benci is a portrait painting by Leonardo da Vinci of the 15th-century Florentine aristocrat Ginevra de’ Benci. The oil-on-wood portrait was acquired by the National Gallery of Art in…
Camping and Cycling Around the Catoctin Mountains in Maryland
Secret Vistas – By Glynn Wilson – CATOCTIN MOUNTAIN, Md. — While tens of thousands of people flock to the iconic national parks of the American West in the summer travel season, exacerbating an already disastrous mega-drought and experiencing a record-breaking heat wave and an already out of control wildfire season, there are lesser known…