It’s that time! Tradition calls for setting goals for the coming year. Here’s a suggestion: Let’s resolve to better educate ourselves on the myriads of challenges facing our planet and the creatures that call it home. To welcome 2025, I asked local wildlife enthusiasts for their favorite reads. Here are the picks.
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History Feature: The Robert W. Gray Library Preserves Traditional Crafts
If you want to learn how to carve Mallard decoys, weave corn dollies and dye wool all in the same afternoon, you could browse the internet. Or, you could take a trip to the Robert W. Gray Library, located inside the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
New Year’s Wishes in New Spaces
JonQPublik, an alcohol ink artist whose work at Foundation Studios was lost in the flood, says, “2025; if anything I hope it’s a bit less chaotic, and a lot more creative. Colorful.”
Outdoors: New Bell Park Offers Walking Trails, Waterfall Viewing and Conservation in Saluda
A new 69-acre public park has opened in Saluda, featuring 1.8 miles of walking trails and an observation deck. Bell Park links an expansive corridor of natural habitat, stretching from High Bridge near Lake Summit to the Green River Game Lands and offering a myriad of ecological conservation benefits.
Jenny Ellis’ Artful Chairs to Be Exhibited at Shoppe Object – High Point in April
A serendipitous encounter in October proved life-changing for artist Jenny Ellis, of The Artful Chair. Although going to High Point’s furniture market has been an annual trek for her since 2000, she almost didn’t go this year, with the devastation of Hurricane Helene so recent.
Book Feature: Eight Nights at the Harris Hotel
Celia Miles’ new novel, Eight Nights at the Harris Hotel, is a departure from her series of mysteries centering around Appalachian grist mills. “My inspiration for writing started when my doctor was whistling Mendelssohn’s overture The Hebrides,” says Miles.
Book Feature: Half the World
Asheville author Leissa Shahrak chose Iran of the late 1970s, the time of the Iranian Revolution, as the setting for her debut novel, Half the World. “I think it’s important that readers understand that today’s Iran, the Iran they hear about on the news, is quite different,” she says.
A Bird’s Note: Purple Finch
The Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) has been very aptly described by the late, great Roger Tory Peterson as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” Not to be confused with its doppelgänger and close relative the House Finch, this purple variety is unique in its own right.