Calvert Cliffs, MD (Sept 1, 2025)

This past week has been absolutely gorgeous through the Mid-Atlantic. An early glimpse of fall, the temps have been low, the humidity non-existent. There's a hint of a chill in the air, and certain trees seem to suddenly have gotten the cue to start changing color (though, this is almost certainly more due to water…Read more Calvert Cliffs, MD (Sept 1, 2025)

Sounding Rocket Launch, TOMEX+ Experiment from NASA’s Wallops Island, VA Facility

Last Wednesday night, on Aug 27, NASA successfully launched The TOMEX+ (Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment Plus) mission from the Wallops Island launch complex on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and I got to watch it from home! Building on the success of the original TOMEX mission launched in 2000, TOMEX+ used a trio of sounding…Read more Sounding Rocket Launch, TOMEX+ Experiment from NASA’s Wallops Island, VA Facility

Small Wild Spaces: Greenwell State Park, MD

I've been limited in my ability to do "big" trips lately (probably since backpacking in the Smokies), but have been doing a lot of exploration that's fairly local. Greenwell is an interesting little State Park in Southern Maryland, an old farm that has been (largely) allowed to return to a natural state, but also serves…Read more Small Wild Spaces: Greenwell State Park, MD

Dutch Oven Cooking – Pot Roast and Summer Vegetables

Hey there, folks! It's been hot. Like, really, non-stop heat index well north of 100 deg F hot. Too hot to do much other than hang out in air conditioning as much as possible. So as a result, I've been indoors too much! Now that it is August (classically cool, August...), temperatures have dropped significantly,…Read more Dutch Oven Cooking – Pot Roast and Summer Vegetables

Eastern Box Turtle

Eastern Box Turtles and the Wildlife Trade You Never Knew Existed

I was listening to a Smithsonian podcast this week (shout out to Side Door, great program!), and the episode started with the host joining a pair of wildlife ecologists in an "undisclosed location" in Virginia, looking for what I thought was the most common of common backyard critters, the eastern box turtle. My first reaction…Read more Eastern Box Turtles and the Wildlife Trade You Never Knew Existed

Arcturus – Bright Summer Star With An Interesting History

This week I stumbled across an interesting historical tale about Arcturus - the 4th brightest star in the night sky, the brightest in the northern celestial hemisphere, and one that is hanging high above us during these summer months. Looking into it led me down a bit of a rabbit hole of other interesting tidbits,…Read more Arcturus – Bright Summer Star With An Interesting History