Posts by JiJi Russell

by K.C. Walters, Conservation and Land Manager  New Year’s resolutions are so hard! Spring sprang, time slipped away from me, and I nearly ditched my greening blog. But fear not, I have not given up my primary objective of making small changes and taking steps toward being a few shades greener. These last two months I have given a lot...

In case you haven’t heard the news, Cool Spring Preserve is now solar-powered. We welcome you to monitor our solar production through Solar Edge. Below is the backstory on how the solar panels came to be… On an ordinary December day, the extraordinary happened: Bill Anderson of Milestone Solar flipped the switch and made the Cool Spring Nature Center solar-powered!...

by KC Walters, PVAS Conservation & Land Manager In recent years, my dad, grandmom and I have started taking a winter vacation.  Last month, we flew to Wyoming, spent a few days in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and then went skiing in Jackson Hole.  It was amazing!  My camera was glued to my side as I scouted out...

On February 27th, Deb Hale led a morning bird walk on Virginius Island in Harpers Ferry. Deb wrote the following report after the walk, which yielded many sightings. The report has been lightly edited. The promise of mild weather brought folks out this morning, but guess what? Despite the relatively late start time of 8:30, the cold air lingered, temps never...

by KC Walters, PVAS Conservation & Land Manager When I was 16, I attempted to ferment food waste to produce ethanol as an alternative fuel. This project took me all the way to victory with a shiny blue ribbon in chemistry at the Virginia State Science Fair. Years later, I realized all I had produced was glorified moonshine. However, this...