From a nature lovers point of view, there is a hidden gem in central South Carolina that I kind of happened upon accidentally.

Growing up there were stories and TV shows on Saturday mornings of people living in the southern swamps. Amazing waterways with Cypress trees and grassy areas that you could travel by airboat. I had heard of the Okefenokee Swamp long ago but…

I thought at first it was a small hawk buy the way it took off, but the shape was wrong…a little too small and round looking.

We came back to Ontario after 4 years of playing with nature in the sunny South of the Eastern US. This was always going to be a short stay, get our paperwork in order and start looking for the next place…

This weekend there were some more sightings, and another one up near Lake Simcoe so we headed out to some farmers fields to see what might be around.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the busiest park in the US, and Cades Cove can seem like you are in the worst of New York and Toronto commuter traffic. So why on earth would you want to spend a perfectly good weekend stuck in traffic?

It doesn’t take long before the sun casts a warm yellow light on the meadow, revealing a glimmering frost on the grasses. As the fog begins to lift, the shadowy outlines of solitary trees begin to take shape.