Outdoors: the curious frontier. This is the quest of the human Julie. My continuing mission: to explore strange new places, to seek out new plants and new earthlings, to boldly go where I have not gone before, to share this quest and encourage others to do the same.

My New Year’s resolution…

Oh boy, I have so much to learn. It’s true…the more you know, the more you know how little you know. I have so much learning to do. And I swear, I’m doing it every day. I’m going to have to live until I’m 150 before I can even scratch the surface!

So what the heck am I talking about on this very early New Year’s day? I don’t usually “do” resolutions. We tend to forget very quickly those platitudes that we devise and proclaim to the world. This year I resolve to…eat less sugar…exercise more…lose 20 pounds…blah, blah, blah. Instead, I think of the tasks I want to accomplish for the year–usually in terms of weather–cold/wet weather projects and everything else. But this year is a wee bit different. This year I wake to a greater confidence of knowing what I am meant to do…for now.

What is that? To learn and share. More specifically, to learn more and more about the fantastical wonders of nature and share those discoveries. It seems that I am continuously blown away by what I learn about the systems of our earth…the workings of a force that is so powerful and complex, so wise and so knowledgeable…and by our complete lack of understanding and respect.

So I reworked the words of that wise man, Captain Kirk, to fit my “resolution” for the year. And just a few days ago I did share with some friends and my daughter one of my favorite places to hike…DuPont State Recreational Forest. It is a fairly easy hike (there is a hill or two), but it has everything going for it to encourage folks to get outside more.

Located between Hendersonville and Brevard, North Carolina, DuPont’s greatest feature are the waterfalls. There are lots of waterfalls in the mountains, but these are fairly large and you can get an up close and very personal view.

The weather was wonderful for a late December day. The fallen leaves added some nice color to the otherwise (somewhat) bare forest.

We first stopped at Triple Falls. As you can guess, there are three levels of falls. It is always amazing to me how much water flows through these falls. There is a wooden stairway that leads right down to the falls for a close view.

It is easier to see how large Triple Falls actually is once we were back up on the trail and at a distance. Isn’t that the truth about most things…you need to step back and take a look from a distance to get a good perspective.

We also visited High Falls and the covered bridge located at the very top of the falls.

The mosses were the main attraction for me on this day. Contrasting to the fallen leaves on the forest floor, the mosses were a bright pop of green, and therefore, appeared to be everywhere.

I know virtually nothing about moss. I do find it fascinating especially when you take the time to really look closely.

There are so many types of moss that can be seen all in one spot.

I really just wanted to sit down and study these wonderful colonies of moss. The moss seems to beckon you to stay awhile. But my plant-nerd self needed to keep up with my hiking companions.

If you would like to know more about DuPont State Recreational Forest click here

I predict that 2015 is going to be a fabulous year for gardening and exploring the great outdoors! Join me on this adventure and please share your tales!

Blessings for a wonderful year!