Entries by Steve Jones

A Recent Dose of Nostalgia: Nature-Inspired Aging and Healing

This Post serves as my retrospection on two recent serious health issues affecting my life and elevating my relationship with and reliance upon Nature: November 8, 2021 left shoulder replacement surgery and March 24, 2022 stroke. This Post represents the evolution of what I call Nature-Inspired Aging and Healing! Shoulder Replacement Surgery   I began […]

Mid-July Circuit of the Rainbow Mountain Loop Trail

July 17, 2022, I hiked the Rainbow Mountain Loop Trail at Madison, Alabama’s Rainbow Mountain Nature Preserve. My intent was not to rush from start to finish, but to proceed slowly and deliberately…with eyes wide open, searching for what lay hidden in plain sight. This Post offers observations, reflections, and photographs from my three-hour stroll. […]

A Grand Intersection of Human and Natural History at the Biltmore Estate

June 21-24, 2022, Judy and I celebrated our 50th anniversary staying at the Village Hotel on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. This Post offers observations, reflections, and photographs on the grand intersection of human and natural history on the Estate. Rather than recount the full story behind the Biltmore Estate, allow me to offer […]

A Forest Book of Mysteries, Surprises, and Revelations

Every forest…nay, each stand in every forest…contains rich stories of ecosystem life and living. Plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, water, sunlight, soils…all dancing in evershifting patterns, choreographed by 3.8 billion years of evolution. The book’s type is not set, its stories and characters change minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, year, decade, century, […]

NC Arboretum: People, Plants, Place, and Passion

Thursday June 23, 2022, Judy and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary at the North Carolina Arboretum, where I served on the Board 2001-2004, in my capacity as NC State University Vice Chancellor for Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development. Our dear friend, founding (1987) and still current Executive Director George Briggs, hosted us. This Post […]

Early Summer Visit to a Riparian Forest: Wheeler NWR

May 27, 2022, my wife Judy and I, along with our two Alabama grandsons Jack and Sam, visited the Blackwell Swamp area of nearby Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped to look at the January 1, 2022 tornado swath; hiked along HGH Road at the northern edge of an extensive riparian forest; and viewed the […]

Chapter Two: Late Spring Return to The Sanctuary

This Post serves as the immediate sequel to last week’s photo-essay: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/06/20/chapter-one-late-spring-return-to-the-sanctuary/ May 13, 2022, I returned to Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary with Bill Heslip, retired videographer, Margaret Anne Goldsmith, benefactor who donated the property to the City, and Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary, a month-by-month almanac of the Nature of the […]

Chapter One: Late Spring Return to The Sanctuary

May 13, 2022, I returned to Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary with Bill Heslip, retired videographer, Margaret Anne Goldsmith, benefactor who donated the property to the City, and Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary, a month-by-month almanac of the Nature of the Sanctuary. I’ll take you along with photos, observations, and reflections on our […]

Wells Memorial Trail at Monte Sano State Park: Five Weeks after Stroke

April 28, 2022, five weeks following my March 24, 2022 stroke, I ventured into my favorite location on Alabama’s Monte Sano State Park, the deep cove forest along the Wells Memorial Trail. I viewed this as a celebratory hike, treading carefully with the assist of a trekking pole in each hand. Although I had missed […]