This entry is a part of a series of vignettes covering the “Great Flood of 1916,” which caused damage across five states in the southeast. Biltmore Village.July 16, 1916 Tired, trembling, and terrified, seventeen-year-old Katherine Lipe clung to a tree at the Biltmore Lodge Gate just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. She was fifty-feet fromContinue reading “In the Middle of a Wide, Wild River”
Category Archives: A Ramble in a Field
A Windshield History: Athens-Augusta (Part 2)
Most mornings I drive with the window down. The cool air brings the scent of the Piedmont to me. Although shrouded in machinery, it is my way of letting nature in. A window pane is not the best way to see the environment. Working farms smell like manure and sweet feed. Rivers smell sweet andContinue reading “A Windshield History: Athens-Augusta (Part 2)”
Thoreau of the West
Today I saw the ghost of Ed Abbey. He played his flute, lifted one leg, and planted it on the brick wall which rested his back. A hobo. A drunkard. A vagabond. Delightfully nomadic. His long, graying beard barely exposed his lips. The brim of his hat nearly touched his nose. He carried a pack,Continue reading “Thoreau of the West”
One Planet, a Singular Problem
I often field questions about Environmental History. “What is Environmental History?” Is the most obvious and common. A certain knot sets in my gut when I have to answer, not because I am uncertain about my choice of profession, but because I know I am stepping into dangerous territory. Environmentalism is a polarizing topic. GlobalContinue reading “One Planet, a Singular Problem”
The Curse
Becoming a specialist creates a curse. An engineer cannot stop trying to figure out how things work. A psychologist cannot have an average conversation. A historian cannot live entirely in the present, a condition which annoys my friends and family to no end. Because much of history is bleak, darkness follows me. Knowing what mostContinue reading “The Curse”
Windshield History: A Car’s Eye View, Athens-Augusta (Part 1)
Every Wednesday I drive to Augusta, Georgia. The city is less interesting than the trip. It’s just under a two-hour drive from Athens. The trip is a course in southern environmental history. Athens is the liberal oasis of the south. Sure, corporate mongers tear down historic buildings to build parking decks. The university acts purelyContinue reading “Windshield History: A Car’s Eye View, Athens-Augusta (Part 1)”
History is Complicated
I shivered more than ever before. Clutching a drenched sleeping bag. Lying in soggy clothes, next to three trembling men. The wind howled like a locomotive, swirled around our tent, and pounded on the vinyl walls. I drifted through several states, none of which were sleep. It was last October. I was a junior atContinue reading “History is Complicated”
What is A Ramble in a Field
As a trained Environmental Historian I see the tendrils of the history of our relationship with nature. These posts explore those connections Environmental History perfectly blends two of my loves. The title to this blog, “Ramble in a Field,” refers not only to Donald Worster but also a metaphor my career in history. The environmentContinue reading “What is A Ramble in a Field”
On the West Virginia Floods
Disasters, large and small, are only as damaging as we allow. Gone should be the days where the publicity surrounding calamities focus on the seemingly uncontrollable winds, rivers, and rains that kill and destroy. I do not speak of dams and other man-made pseudo scientific “cures” for the disasters. No, I criticize the very realContinue reading “On the West Virginia Floods”
A Cold, Rainy Way
It’s cold. In fact, it’s freezing. I checked my “spanking new” iPhone and the app told me it would be 60 degrees today. It lied. My feet are soaked. My face is tingling with abrasion and my books are moist. My shoes, my socks, my backpack, my umbrella, the papers within my backpack, my books,Continue reading “A Cold, Rainy Way”
Anthony Sadler 