Saving Aria: Finding Sanctuary at the Carolina Tiger Rescue

The call came in on a Monday. Animal Control folks in Orangeburg, South Carolina had been alerted  - via an anonymous tip – that a female tiger was in distress. They were requesting assistance in the confiscation of the big cat from a private owner in their community. Kathryn Bertok, Curator of Animals at the …

Carolina Tiger Rescue

Visited the Carolina Tiger Rescue today for my On the Road with Mac and Molly radio show, this blog and the Rubber Hobos book. Lots of stories to share in the coming days! The sanctuary, in Pittsboro, North Carolina, is a true sanctuary not only for tigers but also for binturongs, lions, cougars, bobcats, caracals, …

The Great Animal Orchestra

Years ago, when my husband Gene and I made our first trek across the country in an RV, we were amused and captivated by the antics of the very social, black-tailed prairie dogs whose communities we encountered while hiking near Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It broke my heart to hear that these little creatures have now …

The North Carolina Blueberry Festival

Each June, the North Carolina Blueberry Festival is held in the tiny town of Burgaw and, each year, the event’s organizers estimate the community’s population jumps from 4,000 to upwards of 30,000. Now I’m no expert at judging crowd sizes but, given the packed in shoulder-to-shoulder nature of yesterday’s fair, I wouldn’t be surprised to …

Provocative and Evocative Words

James 1:26; 3:1-12 In the early 1970s, comedian George Carlin made headlines across the world with his “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” He began the routine by saying, "There are 400,000 words in the English language, and there are seven of them you can't say on television. What a ratio that is: …

“The swan, like the soul of the poet, by the dull world is ill understood.”

"The swan, like the soul of the poet, by the dull world is ill understood." -- Heinrich Heine *** “There’s a double beauty whenever a swan swims on a lake with her double thereon." -- Thomas Hood “The stately-sailing swan, Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale; And arching proud his neck, with oary feet …

The Battleship North Carolina

As we are visiting family in North Carolina and had friends visiting from up north, we decided to take a day to tour the battleship that carries our host state's name. It took us more than three hours to cover the 729 ft. long, 108 ft. beam, six deck vessel that was built at the …