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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
This Post serves as the immediate sequel to last week’s photo-essay: http://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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
May 17, 2022, I hiked a section of the Richard Martin Rails to Trail in Limestone County Alabama with Chris Stuhlinger, fellow Board member of OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. We were doing a dry run for a hike we’ll be co-leading for OLLI June 11, 2022. Introducing […]
I visited Alabama’s Lake Guntersville State Park April 20 and 21, 2022, to attend the Alabama State Park Foundation Board quarterly meeting, my first non-medical-treatment journey since my March 24, 2022 stroke. Not yet ready for woods-trail hiking, I managed to capture some memorable Nature photos from wandering the grounds near the Park Lodge. […]
March 19, 2022 I hiked the Fire Tower and South Plateau Trails at Monte Sano State Park near Huntsville, Alabama. I issued a Post about the general wonders of Nature we encountered along the way: http://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/05/12/march-19-2022-on-the-fire-tower-trail-at-monte-sano-state-park/ That Post included several photos and observations about some tree form curiosities. Here are two without comment: I’m […]
Some days stand higher than most. April 3, 2022 was one of those. March 24, just 13 days after “graduating” from intensive outpatient physical therapy from my November 8, 2021 total left shoulder replacement, I suffered a lacunar stroke. A scary reminder that life is fleeting and fragile. By April 3, I felt buoyed by […]