GREENE — Nests of all kinds, rocks of all shapes and sizes, buttons, bottles and other collections surround Gloria and Glyde McAllister inside and outside their 100-year-old house.

The retired Army veterans spend a great deal of time in the woods hunting, fishing and hiking.

“Most people don’t take the time to observe nature,” Gloria said. “You have to slow down and look close. It’s amazing the things you see when you do.”

Some of their friends have dubbed their homestead “The McAllister Woods Museum.” Perhaps the largest collection, and certainly the most prized for Gloria, is her collection of wasp and hornet nests. About 20 years ago, her brother, Charlie Lowe, gave her one that he found at his favorite spot, Yoke Pond Camps in Kokadjo, north of Greenville.

Since then, she has been collecting wasp and hornet nests on her own, but with the passing of her brother, she has taken over his collection. One nest stands out from the others.

“You’ve heard of the cream of the crop; well, this one here is the queen of the crop,” Gloria said with conviction. “It brings me closer to my brother.”

She has a number of nests hanging in their garage, but she plans to bring the “queen” into her bedroom.

“I am a nature girl and would love to live like Grizzly Adams,” she said. “Sometimes I think that I was just born too late. I would like to have lived like the Native Americans. Everyone now is too busy to stop and take the time to appreciate nature. If you spend time to study the features of the landscape, you will find beauty and wonder.”  

She pointed out the different textures, shapes and designs of the wasp nests.

 “While they have the same general shape, you see how unique each one is,” she said. “Look at the various colors. They vary depending on what they were eating.” She said the old tale that the higher the nests are from the ground, the harder the winter will be often rings true.