Is it possible to build an oasis in the desert? Not the desert that brings to mind scorched earth and stretches of hot sand miles away from water and civilization. No. The question speaks to deserts that exist in urban centers across our country. Neighborhoods in the very heart of our otherwise thriving cities where the USDA’s daily recommendation of 3-5 servings of fruits...
Read moreI'm writing this essay because I'm worried. I've grown attached to America in the 27 years I've lived and worked here but I'm forced to look elsewhere for useful examples of government action, corporate innovation and citizen activism to meet the fast approaching crises of climate change, future declining oil supplies and sustainable energy production. At this crucial time I look back to...
Read moreEfforts to construct subsidized apartment complexes in two South Charlotte neighborhoods were recently abandoned after Ballantyne and Ayresley residents raised concerns that the proposed projects would have a detrimental impact on surrounding property values by overburdening public infrastructure and increasing crime. The failure of these real estate ventures has been described by some as the...
Read moreOne of the delights of an academic life is the opportunity to spend time in the summer traveling on research trips to foreign countries; there really is nothing like studious foreign travel to give useful perspectives on conditions here in America. This year I went home to England and traveled to several other European countries without a car, and focused on how the transportation...
Read moreI’ve traversed some rugged country in the Uwharries. My dad and I have bushwhacked through laurel thickets and scrambled up and down steep and slippery slopes to blaze trails and mark property lines. In general, though, our land is more accessible than isolated coves in the mountains or impenetrable swamps at the coast. And yet we often have better records of natural communities in those...
Read more“They come from Tennessee in a covered wagon.” That was all I could get out of my grandfather..." So begins this essay by Ruth Ann Grissom, first published in 1998 in the newsletter of The LandTrust for Central NC.
Guest contributor Ruth Ann Grissom is a freelance writer who splits her time between Atlanta and the Uwharries. ...
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