At the Nexus of Human and Natural History: Paw Paw Tunnel
C&O Canal National Historical Park I issued multiple Posts this past summer and fall from July visits to National Parks, Monuments, and Memorials in Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. Add in two more Posts from visiting three National Parks in Kazakhstan. November 20, 2019 I published yet another, this one from a September visit […]
Revisiting Harvest Square Nature Preserve
Natural Treasures Are Always Close at Hand I posted an essay in February 2017 on a trip I made to the North Alabama Land Trust’s 70-acre Harvest Square Nature Preserve: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2017/02/09/the-simple-things-become-our-ultimate-pleasure/ My then nine-year-old Alabama grandson Jack accompanied me. Nearly three years ago, at that time I did not always include photos as I do […]
Healing from Landscape Devastation and Human Tragedy: Flight 93 National Memorial
Flight 93 National Memorial Few of us alive September 11, 2001 will forget that day of terrifying destruction — a country literally under attack by ruthless human monsters… a horrid sub species intent upon violence and terror. One of the four hijacked planes fell to Earth some forty air miles from my birth home. Traveling […]
Memory and Legacy for a Sailor and Hero
The Making of a Legacy — A Hero Enters Adulthood September 2018 I posted my photos and reflections from hiking the William Arthur Wells Trail at Monte Sano State Park: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2018/09/17/monte-sano-state-park-exploring-an-addition/ I snapped a few of the photos below on that 2018 hike. I vowed then to meet the gentleman responsible for the memorial trail. […]
Happy Thanksgiving — Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve’s Terry Big Tree Trail
It’s Thanksgiving 2019. I am thankful… for Nature’s beauty, magic, wonder, and awe right here in my backyard; the neighborhood; the County; across the southeast US; nationally; and globally. Take a quick peek at my roughly 50 2019 Great Blue Heron Blog Posts (https://stevejonesgbh.com/blog/). Nature abounds and rewards, whether it’s the three National Parks I […]
A Taste of Mid-September Nature at the C&O Canal National Historical Park
Cumberland, Maryland and My Central Appalachian Roots I attended my 50th high school reunion this September. Who could possibly have imagined how many old people would be there! So great to see some 100 fellow class-of-69 time travelers. Our Earth has revolved on its axis more than 18,000 times since we graduated. Every hour of […]
Lake Guntersville State Park — The Glory of Sunrise and Sunset
I returned to Lake Guntersville State Park October 16-18 to attend our fall meeting of the Alabama State Parks Foundation Board. Always ready to take advantage of every opportunity to further explore our 21-pearl necklace of State Parks (covering 47,000 acres), I arranged to spend two half-days on park trails with Lake Guntersville State Park […]
Buck’s Pocket State Park
I stopped by Buck’s Pocket State Park mid-October… a side excursion from my primary destination at Lake Guntersville State Park (LG SP). What a great stroke of good fortune. My first visit and an unanticipated thrill. We entered via a short 20-minute drive from LG SP across the plateau of Sand Mountain. The Buck’s Pocket […]
Mid-October Lake Guntersville State Park: Special Small Trees and Shrubs
I spent two half-days at Lake Guntersville State Park on the trails with Park Naturalist Mike Ezell, October 15-16, 2019. I never tire of this State Park pearl, just one hour twenty minutes from my home. My intent is to share photos and reflections from this early fall point-in-time exposure. Each immersion in Nature, even […]
For to Cherish We Must See and Fondle
Here’s how I began this extended series of Great Blue Heron Blog Posts more than two months ago: July 12-24, 2019 Judy and I enjoyed a dream National Parks tour through Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Badlands… among other natural and historic features and monuments. Watch for 6-10 additional Blog Posts with photos and applicable observations […]
The Tumbling Mirth Of Sun-split Clouds: Sky Gazing on a 12-Day National Parks Journey
This Post is the next in a series of multiple photographic essays from our July National Parks journey, beginning with my late July Post previewing the series: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2019/07/26/previewing-a-series-of-blog-posts-july-2019-national-parks-journey/. See all the subsequent Posts at: https://stevejonesgbh.com/blog/. My focus for this Post is heavenward. NASA describes our planet’s atmosphere in objective clinical terms: The Earth’s atmosphere is […]
Eleven Time Zones Apart, Yet Oh So Familiar!
I will always cherish the opportunity afforded to me by an August 2019 visit and tour of National Parks in Kazakhstan by Kimep University in Almaty: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2019/09/10/three-national-parks-in-kazakhstan-an-august-immersion/ Although eleven times zones to the east of my Central Time USA location, southeastern Kazakhstan (latitude the same as Syracuse, NY) struck me as remarkably similar to what […]