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In December 2015, my brother Alvin, our nephew Ruben and I spent a week birding at Cape Cod and the surrounding area. Ruben and his brother Victor, recognized as champion birders, won the Big Year Lower 48 in 2022, shattering the previous record by some by 24 species. Thankfully, our
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Michele, Megan, Alec and I departed Miami's international airport shortly before midnight in the summer of 2005, bound for Buenos Aires, and arrived at the capital of Argentina in the middle of winter. We did the usual tourist routine, visiting the soccer stadium outside the city, marveled at
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About 10 years ago I attached a birdhouse made for screech owls to the trunk of our large gumbo limbo tree in our front yard as I knew we had Eastern Screech owls living in our area. These owls as well as hawks and crows now live in cities as
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Immediately after the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, a committee was appointed to design a seal for the new nation of the United States. After six years of work by the committee, the Great Seal of the United States was adopted by the Continental
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Michele and I visited Greece in 2009 and enjoyed seeing important historical sites as well as staying several nights on the exquisite island of Santorini. But nothing satisfied me more than a short side trip we took by bus, traveling from Athens to Thessaly into north central Greece to visit
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In October 2013, Michele and I traveled to the tropical island of Dominica and stayed at Rosalie Bay Resort on the east side of the island. It was wonderful way to rejuvenate from work as well as to escape the spectacle of the major news outlets having a fit because
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The Milky Way on a moonless night devoid of light pollution or a ferocious thunderstorm with lightning and thunder should inspire awe in the most jaded mind, but the two natural phenomena that represent the best that Nature has to offer is a total eclipse of the Sun and a
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Hill City of Orvieto Windows along stairway While visiting Italy and Austria in October and November 2025, Michele and I visited the hill city of Orvieto in the province of Umbria. One of the mandatory sights is to visit St Patrick's Well and it's useful to
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The cycads are an ancient group of plants that have survived to modern times. The oldest fossil evidence of cycads dates back to the Permian period, but it wasn't until the Triassic and Jurassic periods (200-65 million years ago) that these plants became the predominant flora on
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During 1990’s I was saddened when I read about the impending flooding of the Three Gorges on the Yangtse River in China, and resolved to see them before they were inundated. A massive new hydroelectric dam was under construction by the Chinese government, and the resulting reservoir would spoil
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The Appalachian Trail (AT) was first envisioned by the forester and planner, Benton MacKaye and his proposal was published in the Journal of American Institute of Architects in 1921. After 16 years of trail construction, the AT was declared completed in 1937. Since then a rich lore of traditions has
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I went on my first backpacking trip in the Pecos Wilderness near Taos, New Mexico, while a senior medical student. Years later, when driving through North Carolina, I crossed the Appalachian Trail and pulled over to inspect the trailhead. I felt a strong attraction and vowed that someday I would