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Taste the New Delights

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Chasing Sunsets and Waterfalls

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There are so many great articles in the pages of The Laurel Magazine, sometimes you want to read them again. You won’t miss a thing. Use these helpful search parameters and find just what you’re looking for about Highlands, NC and Cashiers, NC.

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Learning to Breathe

Have you ever kept a pace in your life that only seemed to get faster, while at the same time you felt more worn down than ever?   In several traditional eastern philosophies people are thought to be born with only a certain number of breaths for a lifetime.  Whether we pant throughout a busy day with shallow breathing, or lengthen …

Are You Malnourished?

Remember when you were in grade school? For some of us, that’s quite a while ago. Back then, did you have friends in school with cancer or autoimmune disease? Did you have lots of friends who had diabetes II? Seriously, think hard and be honest! If you were in school now, your answer would probably be very different!  What has …

Eczema and Winter Itch

Severely dry skin during the winter months is a common problem in our area. Lower humidity caused by cold weather and indoor heating is one of the main culprits. Other factors that can cause excessive dryness of the skin include hot baths or showers, swimming pools, hot tubs and harsh soaps. When the skin becomes excessively dry small cracks can …


Making Each Moment Matter

November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. CarePartners Hospice (a Mission Health affiliate) is now available in Highlands. The mission of CarePartners Hospice is to make the patient comfortable, and keep them alert and pain-free so that they may live in dignity, with a sense of serenity, while being surrounded by family, friends and caring, respectful professionals. One of those …

Petal Power

Starting a new event in the Highlands area can sometimes feel like walking on thin ice, but Joyce Franklin used her persuasive nature and unending enthusiasm to convince her friends at the Highlands Historical Society that they should join the organizing committee.  Through a concerted team effort, the Dazzling Dahlia Festival has grown larger each year.      In 2016, …

Amens and Hallelujahs

One thing churches have in common all the way back to the Middle Ages is strong, influential families.  Charismatic preachers, popular community figures, and prominent members often characterize and define the church persona.  When I was growing up, two families dominated our church’s congregation: a U.S. Representative and a drug store chain owner (interestingly enough, named Moses).  They claimed the …


At the Crossroads, 1987

One of my recently discovered cousins, Doug Tritt, who knows I’m always looking for a subject for a new article, told me about this old 1987 aerial view of the Cashiers Crossroads taken prior to the addition of a traffic light.  Susan Fowler, whose father, Conrad Adrian Fowler, owns the picture, lent me a copy, which I had scanned and …

Talking Turkey

Like the potato, tomato, corn, and tobacco, the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a North American gift to the world.   According to Lovett Williams, in 1492 the population of this indigenous bird covered a good deal of the eastern and southern continent and numbered 40 million.  By 1940, overhunting and habitat loss had reduced their presence to just 12 …


Time to Protect Your Bulbs

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, we should at least have a plan in place, because Old Man Winter will have a heavy foot this year.  Once he starts tromping through our gardens, he won’t let up until Spring.  In Novembrrrrrrr, the elusive “midsummer night’s dream” morphs into an early winter’s day scream.  It’s time to protect your bulbs.  When …

Fostering a Research Corps

For over 50 years, the Highlands Biological Foundation has provided grants in support of scientific research, bringing graduate students and research scientists to Highlands from all over the country and the world.   Vetted by our Board of Scientific Advisors, these grants make it possible for researchers to conduct their research in residence at the Highlands Biological Station, fostering an …

Hooded Merganser

(Lophodytes cucullatus) This distinctive winter resident can be found on wooded ponds where it feeds on fish, crustaceans and insects. The hammerhead crest is mostly white in males and brown in females. Wing flapping produces a high trill in flight.