Highcountry Almanac

Preservation

Buildings, Trades, & Neighborhoods

Wildlife

Land, Water, & Life

Culture

Skill, Song, & Story

Notes

Correspondence
Ramps
Ramps
The yellow poplar canopy is still mostly gray bone, though the topmost twigs have begun to blur with the first copper-green of late April. Down in the hollow, where the... Read more...
The Geography of Sundays
The Geography of Sundays
On the official maps of federal remembrance, the day is singular, fixed by legislative decree to the final Monday of May. It operates as a uniform national pause, a synchronized... Read more...
Masonry Season
Masonry Season
The cold stays in the shadow of the deep porches long after the sun clears the ridges, but by early April the south-facing brick walls in Knoxville's older neighborhoods hold... Read more...
The In-Between
The In-Between
Sixty degrees in mid-February. Then fifty. The lake stretches out flat and indifferent, still thirty-five degrees no matter what the air does. Beach grass stands dormant — it's seen this... Read more...
Studio Companions
Studio Companions
Hero weighs fifty pounds and his tail clears a work table at exactly the wrong height. This matters when you're pouring hot wax six hours a day. It mattered more... Read more...
In the Hollow Trees
In the Hollow Trees
January on the north-facing slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains begins with a steady, tightening cold that hardens the topsoil into the consistency of river stone. The leaf litter of... Read more...
The Wintering Ground
The Wintering Ground
A steady north wind rakes across the limestone bluffs of East Tennessee, driving a cold, dark chop down the long reach of Chickamauga Lake. Decembers here hold a dense, heavy... Read more...
Islands of Green
Islands of Green
The air in the deep drainage of the Cherokee National Forest stays cold long past the middle of the day. In this narrow northern exposure the sun never clears the... Read more...