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Corn Maze

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

November is the perfect time to get out and go walking with the family. The crisp Autumn air is cold enough to make things brisk without it being miserable. If you want to do more than take a walk around the block or stroll through a local park, consider looking for a corn maze in your area. Most people, except …

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Perseid Meteor Showers Aug 11-13

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

Every year at this time a dramatic shower of meteors streaks across the sky of the Northern Hemisphere. It is called the Perseid meteor shower (because it appears to originate from the area of the sky where the constellation Perseus is located). This celestial fireworks display is the result of the Earth passing through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet. …

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Geocaching, the 21st century scavenger hunt

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

There is a strange group of people who voluntarily and on their own initiative spend their time hiding weatherproof packages filled with trinkets in cities and wilderness areas all over the world.  The challenge is to use a GPS system to locate the coordinates of this secret cache to find these treasures.  This is geocachingand it is a perfect way …

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Off the Beaten (Asphalt) Trail

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

Late spring and early Summer is an ideal time to take the family out for a stroll in the woods.  But, just because you don’t want to go to the trouble of packing up everyone and everything to drive out to a national park doesn’t mean you can’t take a country stroll. More and more communities have created parks that …

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Star Gazing

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

The Lyrids Meteor Shower April 21 and April 22 There is something magical about a shooting star that seems to quicken the pulse and fill you with a sense of wonder.  Unfortunately, in order to actually see them you have to be up at night.  You might be surprised how memorable it is for kids (even teenagers) to lay under …

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A Walk in the Park

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

Spring arrives this month but the weather is still unpredictable making walking in real Nature potentially muddy and messy.  Luckily, every city has parks where walkways are paved and Nature is corralled in flower beds and tended as well manicured lawns.  It is easy to pack everyone up and spend a couple of hours just walking around. Here in Nashville, …

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Fall Creek Falls

In The Blog by Dr James Wellborn

You know how I am about suggesting families get out of the house and do something together that has the lowest probability of conflict and the highest probability of something memorable (meaning enjoyable) happening. Nature is perfect for this kind of thing. Day trips to public areas are affordable on even the most limited budgets. Just got back from spending …

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Family Day Trips and Tennessee’s Fiery Gizzard

In The Blog by Dr James WellbornLeave a Comment

I just got back from a weekend spent in Monteagle, Tennessee.  Monteagle is a town located on the top (elev. 1923 ft) of the Cumberland plateau in middle Tennessee.  It is a great little college town (home to Sewannee, The University of the South, an excellent small, private, Episcopal university).  Right outside of town is one of the trail heads …