|
Jocassee Jewel
(Jocassee meaning - "Place of the Lost One")
Jocassee was home to the Cherokee Indian Nation. Much of it now lays some 300 feet beneath the surface of Lake Jocassee, the "Jocassee Jewel". "Jumping-off Rock" offers a spectacular view of Lake Jocassee surrounded by a blue wall of mountains.
Click here to play
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
The Oconee Bells, a small flowering plant with saw-toothed leaves, grows only in the Jocassee area and in a few counties in the North Carolina foothills.
The Red Wolf was most prevalent in the once extensive bottomland river forests and swamps of the Carolinas, and throughout the Southeast. By the 1930's it had been totally wiped out east of the Mississippi.
The eastern panther is thought to be extinct. The last confirmed sightings were in 1975 in the Great Smokes. With the exception of the Florida panther, a virtually extinct subspecies, these large cats are only a memory.
The Asian chestnut blight was first discovered in 1904 in New York City. It spread quickly, and by 1950, the huge American Chestnut Trees had disappeared from some nine million acres of eastern forests.
Click here to play
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Voiceless Forest
This song was inspired by the painting, "Voiceless Forest" by Alexandra Nechita, who had this to say about her painting:
"A wet, narrow trail took me to a place under a massive umbrella of green leaves. I stopped, closed my eyes and wrapped myself in the green forest splendor. But, once vigorous and majestic, these trees were brought to the ground, defeated and lifeless. Robbed, betrayed and used, the forest sobbed and grieved, wondering why she couldn't be heard by the hopeless, docile collection she once sheltered. Along the trail, her multi-layered cathedral of trees were laying burdensome and enduring, determined that she would no longer be who she once was - a Voiceless Forest."
Click here to play
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
The Monarchs' Mystery
The incredible annual migration of the monarch butterfly is one of nature's greatest mysteries. In early fall, millions of monarchs from all over the eastern United States travel as many as two thousand miles to converge into a few special acres in Mexico. Their numbers turn entire trees into golden gray, weighing down and even breaking branches. Four to five generations separate the monarch populations that make the migration. Each year the ones flying south have never been to Mexico before. They get there and back by pure instinct.
Click here to play
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Whiteside Mountain, named for its sheer white cliffs, overlooks the headwaters of the Chattooga River. The entire upper portion of the mountain's west side has fallen away, leaving a 700 foot vertical face which attracts rock climbers, vertical cavers, and peregrine falcons.
The song Whiteside is dedicated to Doc Bayne, a dear friend, who was killed a few years ago in a hang-gliding accident. Doc was one of the premier woodsmen and rock climbers in the Southeast. He told me a story about the first time he "free-climbed" Whiteside. When he reached the top, a falcon circled just over the top of his head as if to say "way to go". The song implies that if it's up to Doc, I'll bet his spirit is with one of those peregrine falcons circling Whiteside today.
Click here to play
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>
|
| Results 21 - 30 of 33 |
Blog 
