The more I wrote about drought this spring, the more it rained. I considered starting a second career as a contrarian rainmaker. I could lease my talents out to water-hungry towns, an editor suggested. Still, I wondered what I would write about. The rain gave me more time indoors, even as I fell behind in […]
Author: Margaret Williams
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The Dirt: The Corn Diaries, part 1
Mid-February I crave homegrown corn. Creamy, rich, scraped-corn kernels baked with butter, salt and pepper, just like my grandma used to make. The corn was so rich and fresh she didn’t need to add milk or cream. But I look outside and see my field snowed under. Corn revels in warmth, and my mountainside ground […]
The Dirt
Looking out across my virgin field these days, I wonder how to have a successful garden in times of drought. The drought garden: The author’s first harvest was rocks. Photo By Margaret Williams Never mind that it has rained a fair amount this winter. According to Dr. Jerad Bales of the U.S. Geological Survey, our […]
Raindrops
A welcome sound woke me at 2 a.m. one recent Saturday: Plunk … plunk … . I listened: It was faint and dull. It could be a raccoon fiddling with my trash-can lid (too faint for a bear, too loud for a mouse—we have both here). Plunk. Plunk. Pit. Pat pat pitter-pat. Rain hitting my […]
WNC dust bowl
Cut your shower short and listen up: We’re all dried up. That little bit of rain Western North Carolina received while Southern California burned? A drop in a big, dry bucket: As of Nov. 1, the Drought Management Advisory Council was reporting 82 of the state’s 100 counties as experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought. […]
ZYZZYVA!
For the love of the game: We know it’s hard to believe, but playing Scrabble is even more exciting than it looks. photo by Margaret Williams You have to be a little WUD to play Scrabble. For those of us who haven’t memorized the 1,000 or so three-letter “important words to raise your score” on […]
Vital signs
Paradox thrives at the landfill. Black-eyed Susans and daisies spatter its grassy banks with bursts of white and yellow. Vultures soar far above its mountainous heaps of household garbage, rubble and dirt. And when you ascend the gravel road toward those ignoble promontories, you’re rewarded, at the top of the first hill, with a majestic […]
Museums without walls
A mere half-mile from the motorized mania of Tunnel Road, garden peace awaits. Yellow nasturtiums tumble out of a big, overturned clay pot. Tufts of bright-red bee balm lean into the mulched garden path. Butterfly bushes entice you to inhale their sweet scent. Sweet woodruff and lamb’s ear hug the damp ground near your feet […]
Undressed to kill
“Everybody gives you feverThat is something we all know.Fever isn’t such a new thingFever started a long time ago.” — sung by Peggy Lee A dancer slowly strolls on-stage, keeping time with the sway of her hips, with the flutter and swoop of the pair of feathered fans she wields so sensually. The dancer teases […]
A sense of community
Sure, this year’s Mountain Sports Festival serves up a full range of exciting outdoor challenges and events — but dig a little deeper. Look for the sense of community that binds it all together. The festival’s downtown headquarters, for example, features both a Community Action Village and a Health Services Village — each offering information, […]
Gateway to adventure
“There were people running slower than me, and that’s always good!” — Asheville Mayor Charles Worley The little girl was silent as she was lowered into the kayak. As the boat sloshed around in the tank, her eyes looked as big as Bambi’s in that classic Disney cartoon. A man stood in the tank with […]
Making the most of memories
The words in my travel journal jumped, jostled and bumped across the page: Jagged letters marked the year 1979, an end-of-summer family trip … six of us crammed into a Toyota station wagon on a journey from Mobile, Ala., to Ottawa, Canada. I huddled in the back, where I could write about the things I […]
Regional water authority’s future grows doubtful
A month ago, selling the city’s Bent Creek property seemed to offer a way out of a long-standing stalemate: End a pesky lawsuit and use the money to build Henderson County water lines. Selling the land would have resolved many of the disputes that have centered around the 1995 Regional Water Agreement made between Asheville, […]
Sayonara, Xpress
In the last eight years, I’ve seen the political process whittle down the most idealistic, well-meaning folks in Asheville. It’s finally whittled me down: The June 4 City Council work session was my last. I’m leaving Xpress for a much less political career — the flooring business. To quote Eva Peron, don’t cry for me, […]
Asheville City Council
The $2 billion state budget shortfall has Asheville City Council members tangled up in a gnarly knot. If the governor doesn’t turn over millions in utility-franchise fees and other monies owed Asheville (and other local governments across the state), Council members will have to choose between a property-tax increase or draconian cutbacks — such as […]
Mountain sports for one and all
The girl in the kayak couldn’t have been more than 5 years old. Her wet blond hair framed a cherubic face, eyes big and cheeks plump. She was so quiet after making it through a helper-assisted roll in the pool that you thought she might cry … for a moment. Then, in a quiet, firm […]
Dodging the Z-word
“If you want to preserve neighborhoods and communities, you have to allow the people who live there to make the decisions.” — Ron Holster, Waynesville Downtown Association Leave those traditional notions about zoning in a box of old ordinances: This summer, Waynesville residents have launched a land-use plan that promises walkable communities, development opportunities and […]
Off the beaten stream
There’s an undercurrent to the Mountain Sports Festival’s two paddling events: Get people using and enjoying the river and they’re more likely to help keep it clean. “Paddling down a river, you see things you don’t get cruising down the interstate; you can get places few people can get to,” says paddling-event organizer Jeff Boggs. […]
Guts and teamwork
Could home-run phenom Sammy Sosa outpace two-time U.S. team member Jay Curwen in a triathlon demanding several hours of paddling, biking and running? Probably not (but then again, don’t ask Curwen to go head to head with the Cuban in a home-run challenge, either). Could champion skater Apollo Ono shine using map and compass to […]
If I were a carpenter …
Protest music and political satire aren’t meant to be muted, as comedian Bill Maher was after asserting (on his late-night show, Politically Incorrect) that the 9/11 terrorists weren’t cowards. Protest music and political satire are essential components of the whole American notion of freedom of speech. But where are all those 1960s folksongsters, Vietnam protesters […]
Bringing up baby
“We in WNC have a commodity that’s so valuable; my passion is to let people know about it.” Mountain Sports Festival co-founder Stuart Cowles [Editor’s note: Xpress is proud to launch its new sports section, Play by Play, with this article. Look for savvy, in-depth sports reporting once a month.] How do you nurture a […]