Like a toddler with a leaky sippy cup, Dan Zanes casually dribbles a trail of notable names wherever he roams. For a decade, he’s been a family-music scion, buoyed by connections he made while leading thinking-man’s bar-rock band The Del Fuegos in the ’80s. Not just for kids: “Children’s music is particular to children’s experiences, […]
Author: Melanie M. Bianchi
Showing 1-21 of 277 results
Message in a bottle
The effect falls somewhere between the frail whimsy of a plastic Easter-egg tree and the solemn thrill of a cathedral window. Like their egg-festooned counterparts that appear in early spring, bottle trees are meant for bare branches. And like stained glass, they look most grand after sucking up sunlight. Discovered on a quiet side street […]
The Dirt: Still waiting for my prince to come
It took me a long while to start wondering about toads. I spent my childhood in a clime where summer lasted eight weeks at best and yet, on those precious warm days, our farmland hopped with brown flurries of Bufo americanus (the appropriately burly Latin term for the common American garden toad). As a teen […]
The Dirt: Sting of truth
They tell me he'll grow out of it, but I'm afraid some fears run blood-deep. When I watch my little boy cover his head and screech in terror at the approach of this season's particularly zealous, dive-bombing bees, it's pure déjà vu. At 64, my otherwise-unflappable father still paws the air like a B-movie grizzly […]
The Dirt: In the air
Gardens aren't just food or flower factories — they are there to be enjoyed. And in recent years, there's been a significant evolution in outdoor living spaces offering a ringside view. Beyond decks: Outdoor spaces can be whimsical and practical, as in this sail-like cover , which protects a rooftop garden and patio. Photo by […]
And money left over for marshmallows
Depending on the level of amenities on offer — flush toilets, say, instead of stinky latrines; a hanky-sized puddle of chlorine that passes for a pool; proximity to numerous overpriced music festivals — some regional campgrounds have become distressingly expensive. Inexpensive gateway to recreation: The rugged Southern Appalachians provide plenty of options for back-country camping, […]
Outdoors
A newish trend in parenting circles is "elimination control," a controversial technique whereby an infant's primary caretaker is supposed to learn to read his facial cues when pooping becomes imminent and then dangle the baby over the toilet, letting him do his thing unfettered. I've only met one mother who had any success with the […]
Outdoors: Seasonal treasures
For fair-weather hikers, winter is a time to hunker down around the fire perusing trail guides and gear catalogs while dreaming of spring. But for hardier souls, winter in the Southern Appalachians has its own rewards. A recent hike at The North Carolina Arboretum highlighted one of those seasonal pleasures: the winter berries whose vivid […]
Outdoors: For the birds
My twin sister Holly, a character who belongs to some long-ago time, shows an extremist compassion for pillaging rodents. She doesn't understand my harsh feelings toward the squirrels that daily raid my front-porch bird feeder. She'll even say maddening things like, "They need to eat too. And look how clever they are, jumping that high." […]
All the real trees
Artificial trees made to look real are always tacky. But earlier this millennium, the thirst for ultra-tacky retro fakes, in particular mid-century-modern aluminum trees, began to elevate kitsch to the rank of spirit. Choose your own:The WNC high country is the Christmas-tree capital of the East. Photo courtesy High Country Host. For staunch traditionalists • […]
Happy meals
One of the best things I've seen for sale recently is a novelty toddler T-shirt printed with the phrase: "I make dining out miserable." Unfortunately, the shirt only went up through size 2 — and so it was too small for my son, who's 3, and a big 3 to boot. Photo by Jason Sandford […]
Seen and not herd
Sid the Sloth from this summer's Ice Age 3 made his off-screen debut as a tiny figurine in McDonald's Happy Meals; now he's appearing, for a much chillier price, on seasonal hoodies. And more than three years after he zoomed out of theaters, Lightning McQueen, the star of Pixar's Cars, is still flashing his winning […]
Outdoors: Warm fur, cold heart
Winter's coming, and it's wise to watch your back. Twice this fall, while descending the 22 stone steps from our house's front door to the street-side parking space, I've narrowly missed being bonked in the head by whizzing acorns. Squirrels are letting the nuts fly from the safety of the tin-roofed garage that abuts the […]
The fondant files
Deceptively pretty mass-produced desserts have done a great job raising diners' expectations — but they've also corroded their sugar-coated instincts. In the late 1980s, a certain ubiquitous restaurant-supply company started hawking fully loaded cheesecakes and candy-stuccoed tortes. Remember Snickers Pie? It looked great under glass: Every mathematically pre-sliced piece was exactly the same size as […]
Outdoors: Snap judgments
In between talk of apertures and shutter speeds, biodiversity photographer Kevin FitzPatrick drops an astounding fact: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, celebrating its 75th birthday this year, harbors an estimated 100,000 undiscovered plant and animal species. Through his work with the Discover Life in America program, FitzPatrick has helped document some of the 6,339 […]
The Dirt: Fruit of their labors
I recently cured a possible case of walking pneumonia by downing a quarter-cup of apple-cider vinegar, diluted in 16 ounces of water. My husband, son and I were taking a day drive to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a trip I refused to miss because of any ailment. So while choking down the home […]
The Dirt: Winging it
Cheap beer and chain saws are a troubling combination. I haven't been able to enjoy sitting on our back deck since my husband, Scott, acquired his latest outdoor toy. A winged cap: Scott Bianchi's head proved as good a spot as any for a butterfly to take a break. Photo by Melanie McGee Bianchi The […]
Outdoors: Against the current
Sure, the French Broad boasts good length, big parks, a fun name and zealous environmental defenders — not to mention its putative status as the world’s third-oldest river. But besides it and the wily Swannanoa (carver of historic valleys and deceptively sleepy flooder of gift shops), the Southern Appalachians are striped by myriad other intriguing […]
An orchid by any other name
It’s my Phalaenopsis and I’ll cry if I want to. I never asked for this orchid, but I figure I better document its life while I still can. At the moment, it sports five absurdly gorgeous blooms, an orderly row of tight buds, and stems staked with what look like those tiny jaw clips girls […]
Cultivating consciousness
At first, the effect is incongruous—like seeing puppies for sale in a bookstore. Replacing a full row of booths inside Neo Burrito, an army of potted tomato plants now spreads its leaves under the spaceship glow of a hydroponics table. Going green: Neo Burrito’s Zak Yancey has turned part of his restaurant into an organic-gardening […]
Justice served
Famed hoop dancer Eddie Swimmer last year became the first Cherokee director of “Unto These Hills,” the Qualla Boundary’s outdoor drama—still popular at age 60. And over at Tribal Grounds Coffee, another Eastern Band tribal member, Natalie Smith, is likewise blending integrity with theatrics. Well grounded: Tribal Grounds’ new location, which is slated to open […]