Biking Local Greenways — An Eclectic Nature View at 14 MPH
Mid-Summer Floral Offerings I limit most of my wildflower botanizing to our local spring ephemerals, setting the forest floor ablaze (early March through the beginning of May) with life and color before canopy leaf-out casts deep shade below. Cooler spring temperatures make woods-walks much more pleasant than during summer. I’ve brought my bicycle out of […]
A Cycle of Death and Renewal at DeSoto State Park
See my August 1, 2018 post for a look at “What Lies Hidden Within” from a July 19 hike at DeSoto. I focused on non-flowering plants, and the beauty, magic, wonder, and awe that to many visitors lie hidden within plain sight. View this post as Part-II of that July 19 visit, with a focus […]
Lake Guntersville State Park
July 26, 2018 I drove the 62 miles to the Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge, where I met Park Naturalist Mike Ezell. Such a blessing to live so close to a 7,000-acre Alabama treasure. And such a pleasure to have a Park naturalist to dispense wisdom and boost my confidence in plant identification and natural […]
My Nature-related Comments Responding to a PositivelyPositive.com Tribute to Mr. Rogers
Many of us grew up with Mr. Rogers… well, my kids did. Perhaps because I was already in middle school when the “Neighborhood” first aired, I’m more of a Captain Kangaroo product! PositivelyPositive.com posted a nice piece paying tribute to Mr. Rogers recently. I offered a brief response on the PositivelyPositive website. Here’s the tribute […]
Guest Post in Positively Positive: Positive Living by Harnessing Nature’s Wisdom and Power
PositivelyPositive.com posted one of my guest essays a few weeks ago. I believe that my message of harnessing Nature’s Wisdom and Power has application far beyond my own rather narrow circle of fellow Nature enthusiasts. Feel free to spread the word! Positive Living by Harnessing Nature’s Wisdom and Power From Our Community | Inspiring, Living […]
DeSoto State Park — Seeing What Lies Hidden Within
DeSoto State Park (one of Alabama’s 22 State Parks), near Fort Payne, AL, totals 3,502 acres, 7.3 percent of the State Park System’s 48,000. From the DeSoto website: Continuing in the rustic tradition of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), mountainous DeSoto State Park is nestled atop beautiful Lookout Mountain in scenic Northeast Alabama and accented […]
A Reverse Rainbow
So, what’s a reverse rainbow? Let me explain. I grew up in the Central Appalachians, where summer showers generally pressed more or less easterly, and most commonly (as do convection-spirited showers everywhere) occurred in the afternoon and evening. The same holds true here in northern Alabama. Here’s the scenario. These heat-and-moisture-enabled pop-up showers often drop […]
Drought and Nature’s Cycles at Little River Canyon
I previously posted reflections from my April 21, 2018, first visit to Alabama’s Little River Canyon National Preserve: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2018/05/15/little-river-canyon/ Time has somehow sped a quarter-year beyond that delightful orientation. Widespread Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) mortality captured my eye as I toured and hiked the Preserve. I snapped lots of photos to remind me of the extent […]
Six Years Ago and Plus Twenty-three Degrees Latitude
We’ve been “enjoying” heat indices of 95-105 degrees — it’s deep summer here in northern Alabama. Late June 2012, Judy and I spent ten days at a friend’s cabin along the bay in Sitka, Alaska. I post this now as a reminder that seasons and cycles vary across this pale blue orb. Pick any point […]
Joe Wheeler State Park
I’ve issued previous Great Blue Heron Blog Posts sited within Alabama’s Monte Sano State Park, which sits on the Cumberland Plateau just to the east of Huntsville. A few weeks ago we visited Lake Guntersville State Park accompanied by our daughter and her family. We didn’t venture deeply enough into the wild to generate a […]
Late June Derecho — Nature’s Fury
I remind you that I am a weather addict, hooked on its captivating nuances, predictable (and not so predictable) patterns, and heart-stopping power and beauty. I witnessed one of Nature’s most powerful land-based weather phenomena last week — a derecho. Accuweather’s online definition: Derechos are often referred to as inland hurricanes due to the hurricane-like […]
June 22, 2018 Squall on Big Blue Lake
I am a hopeless weather junkie — addicted for life! I’ve included essays recounting personal episodes with Nature’s pleasurable terror in both Nature Based Leadership and Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading. A meteorologist friend in New Hampshire declared us weather perverts — we both thrill at weather that is harsh and threatening. For example, we believe […]