Here’s a recent fun feature for Farm & Ranch Living magazine about California flower growers who are working hard to highlight their flowers in a sea of imported blooms used on floats at the Rose Parade.
Students at California Polytechnic University use Calif.-grown flowers on their Rose Parade floats. Far Out Frequencies, their 2019 Rose Parade float, won the Extraordinaire Award.
(Image above by Lara Steinwinter.)
Here’s my story in Farm & Ranch Living about Calif.-grown flowers and the Rose Parade:
I am a regular contributor to Pennsylvania’s Happy Traveler Vacation Guide, and wrote frequently for Pursuits magazine (before it ended publication.)
Join me among the 300- and 400-year-old white pines and hemlocks of Pennsylvania’s Cook Forest…
“When John Cook settled near Pennsylvania’s Clarion River in 1828, he left the towering white pines and hemlocks alone. So did his son and grandson, despite pressure from the family lumbering business. When I needed a peaceful retreat, I went looking for this rare, 350-year-old forest cathedral.”
Read Searching for the Ancients, for Pursuits magazine.
…or learning to belly-dance in the Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains region.
“My belly won’t dance. I’m standing on the grass of Mt. Pisgah State Park among Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains on a warm summer afternoon, trying to move my abdominal muscles in a precise and controlled little wave from my sternum south to the top of my pelvis. It’s not working.”
Read Exploring Your Inner Wild Woman for Pursuits magazine.
Sip coffee with me from a comfortable perch above Foster Joseph Sayers Lake at the Nature Inn at Bald Eagle State Park.
“SNORT-HUFF-shriek-hrrmph.
The night is clear and chilly. The lake ripples silently. There it is again, above the chirping
crickets. What kind of animal makes that sound? Not an owl or a bat. Naturalist Nick Thomas explained earlier in the evening how bats use sound to find their way — but he never said anything about a sound like that.“
Read Perfect Perch for Pursuits magazine.
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Let’s explore Big Valley. Because even these backroads have backroads — leading to delicious food, warm people and beautiful, hand-crafted objects.
“A quick trip to the Amish orchard became the morning — and a reminder to slow down, be patient and enjoy all that’s sweet and fleeting about summertime.”
Read Summer’s Sweetest Salve, in Country magazine.
Coming soon: 
My husband and I love exploring Pennsylvania’s state parks in our family, vintage, pop-up camper. Turns out our new rescue dog, Blue, is also a very happy camper.
Stay tuned for stories of camping around Pennsylvania’s fantastic state parks with Blue. On his first trip to Cook Forest, Blue was so tired from hiking he could barely keep his eyes open for a pic!