The power of water: Niagara Falls

We'd never visited Niagara Falls before.

It always sounded touristy; years ago, driving from Maryland to Toronto, I skirted the falls, avoiding what I thought would be tacky tourist stuff (the edges of town at that time were downtrodden, to be sure).

But traveling this time, from Western North Carolina to Toronto and back, visits on both sides of the falls were powerful experiences.  The falls are massive, of course, but standing next to some of the major "drops" (on the American side) are remarkable, both for power and sound.

I took a couple of videos (on my new iPhone), which recorded the sounds of the water, too.

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More waterfalls

 Waterfalls are on my mind; not only did we see a lot of them over winter break, but my gardening companion is currently sending off his talk descriptions for scheduled programs about waterfalls and wildflowers (hmm, I always get to "review" them before they go).

Here's the same amazing waterfall (with feral Colorado lupines in the foreground) with my gardening companion.  Maybe it'll be a publicity shot?

TS with waterfall

The light on this one was better, but taken unawares.

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Amazing waterfalls

We live in an area of abundant and lovely waterfalls in the Southern Appalachians, but the ones in Patagonia --hmm.  They were both abundant and spectacular.

Waterfalls draw us, wherever they are -- they're special.

Here was the first we saw (still on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos).

The lupines (everywhere) have escaped from cultivation (probably our Western Colorado species).

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Waterfalls and wildflowers

I'm fortunate to live in a wonderful part of the world -- our ancient mountains are rich in biodiversity of all sorts.  And we're blessed with an abundance of waterfalls, too, throughout the mountains.

So I'm just thrilled to see the final copy of my gardening companion's second book, Waterfalls and Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachians: 30 Great Hikes, University of North Carolina Press before it goes to print.

We've just finished proofing the final text and layout, so it's right on schedule for spring release.

It looks great, but even more appealing is how Tim (aka my spouse) put it together.

He carefully sifted through an abundance of interesting hikes, which included one or more waterfalls, to choose some of the very best in terms of wildflower richness, finally deciding on thirty in the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.

Then over a period of two years, he visited each site at least 10 times from spring into fall over a two year period, in order to pick up most all of the interesting wildflowers (lists for each hike are provided in flowering sequence, along with species profiles for 125 plants).

The hike narratives are interpretive, pointing out interesting wildflowers that you're likely to see on each hike, as well commenting on potential birds and other animals, so they're much more lively and interesting than standard "hike descriptions," in addition to the usual trail maps and location information.

I haven't been on all of these hikes yet, but their descriptions have me ready to go.

The book is available for pre-order (currently at a 40% holiday discount through UNC Press; click for details).

What excellent encouragement to slow down, observe, and enjoy the diversity of nature along the trail...

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Waterfall magic

My gardening companion just received layouts for his upcoming book about waterfalls and wildflowers.  Woo-hoo- I'm so excited and proud for him (it takes DISCIPLINE and hard work and a lot of time to write books;  many, many hours over days, nights, and weekends, with lots and lots of work, but it's magic to see the manuscript and photos transformed into something wonderful!) 

UNC Press is doing a lovely job, again.

Since I'm the first editor and photo manager, I'm sharing the excitement, too!

Here's a photo from last weekend's excursion -- with a created waterfall.

Bass Pond waterfall

An addition to a waterfall talk!

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Enjoying waterfalls

My gardening companion has been visiting great wildflower and waterfall areas, as part of his field work for a new project.

Here's our boy Woody, enjoying the research!

Woody at Jones Gap Falls

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