Many years ago, I was given great advice on how to take better photographs, especially of subjects like the wildflowers that I love. That advice was to get the image focused and framed well, and then to take in a long breath, hold it and slowly breathe out. At the end of the exhale, snap the picture. This is similar to the concept of Chi energy found in Asian philosophies and martial arts. 

On a quiet stretch of county-owned land once defined by grass and gravel and garbage, a ribbon of asphalt now loops, banks and swells in tight rhythmic curves — engineered not for pedaling, but for flow. Riders generate speed by pumping their bodies through rollers and berms, transforming momentum into motion without ever turning a crank. In September, that motion will carry Haywood County into the international spotlight. 

From bears and bobcats to eagles and elk, 22,893 species have been documented so far in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — and nearly half of them are insects. Becky Nichols, the park’s long-time entomologist, has dedicated her career to learning about and protecting lifeforms like bees, wasps, moths and butterflies. 

As a child in rural Washington state, Nichols gravitated toward nature and animals of all sorts. She knew from a young age that she wanted a career related to the environment. 

When you see a plant growing, flowering and fruiting in a garden, field, forest or pot you’re only seeing a part and not the whole. Much of the plant exists below the ground in the soil in the form of roots. It’s common to think that half of the plant is aboveground — stems, flowers and leaves — and half is below the ground in the roots, but this is not true across the board.