Oak Mountain State Park: Loop Trail from Cabins at Tranquility Lake
January 19, 2023, I awoke early to enjoy dawn on the lake, then hike the Cabins Loop Trail at Oak Mountain State Park, an 11,360-acre wildland gem near Birmingham, Alabama. This short trail runs through diverse habitat along the south shore and peninsula of Tranquility Lake. I introduce the trail and some fascinating natural features […]
Brief-Form Post #4: Magical Mosses and Lichens on a Nearby Wildlife Sanctuary!
I am pleased to offer the fourth of my new GBH Brief Form Post format (Less than three-minutes to read! Not including viewing the short video) to my website. I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will […]
Oak Mountain State Park January Saunters into Maggie’s Glen
In concert with the January 19, 2023 Alabama State Park Foundation Board meeting I spent two nights at a Park cabin on Tranquility Lake (Oak Mountain State Park), rewarding me handsomely with one evening and two mornings of short saunters along the Maggie’s Glen Trail. I want to share a compendium of observations, reflections, photographs, […]
Brief-Form Post #3: Recent Big Tree Crashes at Joe Wheeler State Park (Winter 2023)!
I am pleased to offer the third of my new GBH Brief Form Post format to my website (Less than three-minutes to read! Not including viewing the short video). I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will […]
Brief-Form Post #2: Loblolly Pine Tree-Form Curiosity at Joe Wheeler State Park!
I am excited to offer the second of my new GBH Brief Form Post format (Less than three-minutes to read!) to my website. I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will publish the brief Posts regularly on […]
Oak Mountain State Park Mid-January Dawns and Dusks
In concert with the January 19, 2023 Alabama State Park Foundation Board meeting I spent two nights at an Oak Mountain State Park cabin on Tranquility Lake, rewarding me handsomely with two evenings and two mornings of dusk and dawn lakeside. I shifted this Post from my normal focus on lessons and conclusions that I […]
GBH Brief-Form Post #1: Wetland Restoration at a Local Wildlife Sanctuary
I am excited to introduce a new GBH Brief Form Post format (Less than three-minutes to read!) to my website. I tend to get a bit long-winded with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So I will publish the brief Posts regularly on at least a […]
Mid-December Visit to the Mississippi River
December 19, 2019 I visited the Tunica River Park along the Mississippi River just 30 miles south of Memphis and immediately across from Arkansas. The Mighty Mississippi stirred my soul. Oh, the stories it could tell. Okay, I’ll admit that a Tunica casino and the overwhelming human urge to risk wealth to beat the 25-cent […]
Early Winter Hiking a New Trail at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
December 10, 2022, I hiked a new trail, simply referred to as the Hiking and Biking Trail, that begins near the Refuge entrance gate for the Visitors Center. Fellow Nature enthusiasts Chris Stuhlinger, Jim Chamberlain, and Ed Mullin accompanied me. The flat, hard-packed fine gravel path winds through the deliciously varied habitat of mixed pine/hardwood […]
Epic Cold Frontal Passage December 22-27 in the Deep South
Winter is racing past. I’m completing this Post narrative February 24, 2023, a full two months beyond the deep winter episode that is the subject of this photo-essay. Yesterday (February 23) Madison recorded a high of 83! I have a backlog of these Posts ready for publishing. I thought it is approaching past-time to issue […]
December 10, 2022: The Cranes Are Back at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
December 10, 2022, I visited the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge and the nearby new wildlife photo blind. This was my first visit of the late fall and winter of 2022. The cranes were back with cacophonous joy and celebration. From the Observation Building through the glass, hundreds of sandhill cranes […]
The Nature of Forest Equity
I normally write about The Nature of a specific wild place either here in Alabama or wherever travel may take me. View this Post as a compendium of observations, reflections, and photographs (ond one video) assembled from my forest ventures in diverse wildland settings around a contemporary theme. I have devoted my life as a […]