Acorn Rondeau

I am NOT a poet, yet I enjoy the magic of words. Winter quarter I completed a beginner’s poetry-writing course at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Here’s the poem I wrote for a class assignment:

Acorn Rondeau (Rondeau is a kind of poem that ends where it began)

An acorn drops, tumbles to earth

Fortuitous landing, a place for birth,

Avoids predation, readies to launch

Cotyledons burst through its pericarp

Sunlight enters the factory doors

Chloroplasts ignite, machinery roars,

Season after season, patience and toil

Roots explore darkness, embrace the soil

Foot by foot, skyward bound

Solid and steady, anchored to ground

A century of summers — oh Mighty Oak!

An acorn drops, tumbles to earth

Fortuitous landing, a place for birth

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The poem speaks to the cycle of life and living, generation after generation. I have many relevant photos – here are my two Alabama grandsons standing recently by a 52-inch diameter white oak at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.

And another big white oak with grandson Sam at Wheeler Refuge:

And a proud red oak along Monte Sano State Park’s North Plateau Trail.

And a massive towering white oak at Joe Wheeler State Park.

A century of summers — oh Mighty Oak!

An acorn drops, tumbles to earth

Fortuitous landing, a place for birth

Season after season, patience and toil

Roots explore darkness, embrace the soil

Foot by foot, skyward bound

Solid and steady, anchored to ground

Even though I confess that word play in verse is stimulating and enjoyable, don’t look for Steve’s Book of Nature Poetry any time soon!

Reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied untold orders of magnitude:

Mission: Employ writing and speaking to educate, inspire, and enable readers and listeners to understand, appreciate, and enjoy Nature… and accept and practice Earth Stewardship.

Vision:

People of all ages will pay greater attention to and engage more regularly with Nature… and will accept and practice informed and responsible Earth Stewardship.
They will see their relationship to our natural world with new eyes… and will understand more clearly their Earth home.

Tagline/Motto: Steve (Great Blue Heron) encourages and seeks a better tomorrow through Nature-Inspired Living!

Steve’s Three Books

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

I love hiking and exploring in Nature
I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
I don’t play golf!
I actually do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grand kids, and all the unborn generations beyond
And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few others lives… sow some seeds for the future

I like to imagine that representative samples of my books appreciate accompanying me into the woods. So far, none has complained nor groaned. You guessed it, that’s my books and me above standing in front of a white oak.

A century of summers — oh Mighty Oak!

An acorn drops, tumbles to earth

Fortuitous landing, a place for birth

Knowing that I am getting way out in front of remote possibility, perhaps there is a book of Steve’s Nature-Inspired Life and Living Poetry awaiting me around the corner of some forested trail!

All three of my books (Nature Based Leadership; Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading; Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) present compilations of personal experiences expressing my (and co-author Dr. Wilhoit for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits) deep passion for Nature. All three books offer observations and reflections on my relationship to the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any and all from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

Knowing that I am getting way out in front of remote possibility, perhaps there is a book of Steve’s Nature-Inspired Life and Living Poetry awaiting me around the corner of some forested trail!

Note: All blog post images created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2020 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron LLC. All Rights Reserved.”

Another Note: If you came to this post via a Facebook posting or by an another route, please sign up now (no cost… no obligation) to receive my Blog Post email alerts: https://stevejonesgbh.com/contact/

And a Third: I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com