Dispatches from Charlotte

The Charlotte Journal

Notes on tree-lined streets, library stacks, and the seasons as they turn over the Queen City.

An afternoon walk

Historic avenues and quiet stacks

I often start on a shaded avenue where the old houses sit back from the sidewalk. From there the walk leads past a neighborhood library and a corner cafe where the coffee is poured slowly.

Each stop gives me a small detail to keep: a bookstore window, a bench under an oak, a brick wall gone soft with ivy.

Hand-painted watercolor illustration of a quiet Charlotte tree-lined avenue with an old brick house and a white peony at

Through the year

Seasonal notes from the Carolinas

Hand-painted watercolor illustration of spring dogwood and white peony blooms on a soft eggshell ground, delicate transp

Spring blooms

Dogwoods and early peonies appear along the greenways, and the walk home takes longer than planned.

Hand-painted watercolor illustration of a summer garden path with a folded linen cloth and a white peony, muted botanica

Summer humidity

Heavy afternoons slow the pace, and the shade of a porch becomes the best reading room in town.

Hand-painted watercolor illustration of crisp autumn leaves and a pale white peony on a soft eggshell ground, delicate w

Crisp autumn days

Cool mornings return, and the parish hall fills again with neighbours who have been away all summer.