I have always been fascinated by the unusual – curious might be a better word for it. It’s that same curiosity from childhood that no doubt gave my mother a few more gray hairs much too early.

I was a questioner. I wanted to know cause and effect. So, despite my mother’s constant admonitions against playing with matches, I struck a few and quickly discarded them to see why not. When our backyard went up in flames, I understood.

Despite my near-death experiences throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, I did manage to make it out of college and into the field of journalism. It was a perfect fit.

It’s that questioning spirit that made me a good reporter. It was that curiosity to delve deeper that made me a better editor and mentor. And since we started the magazine back in 2011, it’s that story behind the story concept that has been the centerpiece of what we do.

As I peruse the story list for this issue, I can almost see the spark that ignited the grassfire in our neighborhood so long ago. But this time, the yard is safe. Over the years, I’ve learned to channel the energy in a more positive, less dangerous direction. I call it a simple quest to learn more, to question the unusual – to dig a little deeper in the world around us.

The Valley Glass House in Ashville is a perfect example. It really is a glass house made of antique windows – letting in the light from all angles from its perch above Shoal Creek Valley.

No one lives there. They work there. Professional photographers from all around head to this venue for all kinds of unusual photo shoots. It’s the ‘why’ we answer here.

The same holds true for the story from the Broken Arrow Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution. Curious about the musket fire – yes musket fire – heard emanating from Hopewell Cemetery on a Saturday morning in January?

It was the dedication of an historical marker for two St. Clair County families whose Revolutionary War ancestors are buried there. In this story, we learn who they were and our local tie to the genesis of our country.

When you get to the new traffic light at the intersection in Springville, why are so many vehicles heading north? Follow them and found out. They’ve discovered Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve, and numbers heading there each month continue to swell.

Find out why 13,000 visitors made the trek to the preserve, averaging 1,100 per month for a city of a 5,233 population.  

Want to know the inspiration behind a nationally known artist, whose work hangs in collections around the world? We spend a little time in the downtown Pell City studio of Dirk Walker to learn more about his life’s passion. “Each painting is a very personal creation for me,” he says, “and there’s a story behind every single one of them.”

That’s what we like to hear … and share. The story behind the story. A feast for the curious. A flair for the unusual.

 There’s plenty of that in this issue of Discover. Turn the page and discover it all along with us.

Carol Pappas
Editor and Publisher