January 2024

The stump of the fallen Shanks Oak in Jonesborough, Tennessee, is celebrated by about 20 people who gathered soon after the 700-year-old tree was felled by a storm.

Curios: Shanks Oak Falls with Grace

Jonesborough, Tennessee’s signature white oak succumbed to a storm last summer, but its legacy lives on.
Modern-day Frosty (Mike Ryan) hangs out with Santa Claus in Keyser, West Virginia.

Curios: Frosty the West Virginian

The winter character came to be from a song written by West Virginian Jack Rollins, who is buried in the town of Keyser.
Crosby thrilled locals and showed off his best moves at a square dance named in his honor.

Curios: Star Struck in Front Royal, Virginia – Bing’s 1950 Home Run

Bing Crosby, the celebrated singer, actor and sportsman, created a lasting memorial in the form of a baseball stadium on a day when 25,000 people came out to help create it.
64cf82ca-8d47-11ee-8d53-12163087a831-Hairy-Bittercress

January’s Wild Edible: Hairy Bittercress

A close relative of watercress, bittercress is one of the first wild edibles to make their yearly appearance in the Blue Ridge.
skywatch

Jan/Feb Skywatch: Winter Milky Way – Subtle but Fascinating

A grand sight that catches every stargazers’ eyes in the summer is the Milky Way. In winter, however, it is a different situation.

Departments

Behind Blue Ridge Country

Even More Sweet Virginia Breezes

Casually cruising to Claytor Lake in southwest Virginia, I felt like I had come home – back to where it

CALENDAR OF EVENTS