Part Two

I initially developed this Tenth-Anniversary photo essay as a single post. However, its length exceeded even my generous tolerance for content and length. Here is the link to Part One: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2025/07/18/part-one-huntsvilles-goldsmith-schiffman-wildlife-sanctuary-tenth-anniversary-of-southern-sanctuary/

I repeat the opening paragraph of Part One:

I visited Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary on May 17, 2025, with Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary: A Naturalist’s Walk through the Seasons ((2015), Bill Heslip, Director of A Tale of Two Extraordinary Women (2022; a 14-minute video telling the tale of the Sanctuary), Chris Stuhlinger, a fellow retired forester, and me (I produced the video). We wanted to keep our friendship and love for the Sanctuary vibrant, and once more discover the delights we would find hidden in plain sight. Objective accomplished; we pledged to do it again in October!

Part One carried our venture from Hidden Spring through the marsh and down Hidden Spring Brook to the third beaver dam discharging the creek into Jobala Pond.

Jobala Pond

I’ve devoted significant narrative in some prior GSWS photo essays to the history of Jobala Pond. I won’t repeat here except to say that highway engineers created the pond by mining sand, clay, and gravel for road construction in the 1950s. All the vegetation and the complex associated ecosystem resulted from naturalization. John Muir missed nothing in Nature. Jobala Pond’s recovery from the mining ravages would not have surprisedthe inveterate Mr. Muir:

Earth has no sorrow that earth can not heal.

I never tire of the beauty, magic, wonder, awe, and inspiration that this old borrow pit presents and evokes (left). Marian caught images of two cooters from across Jobala (right).

I am hopelessly addicted to tree form oddities and curiosities. As others enjoyed the pond, I drifted to the swampy slough across the gravel path. The old snag was watching us and, with what I thought was a wink of one of the two eyes (at right), beckoned me to take a closer look. I credit woodpeckers, fungi, insects, and other critters with the sculpting. Note that the snag still supports a clinging vine, the tree’s lifelong companion. A new actor will lead the next act in this Nature drama — gravity will once again prevail. The fallen log will decompose into the rich soil. Nothing in Nature is static!

Nearby, its feet anchored in the same slough, a tree (I failed to identify the species on-site) stands on stilted legs…a living natural bridge. One might question the cause of such an odd form. Imagine decades ago a decaying tree stump offering a favorable site for a fallen seed to germinate. The seedling nourished on moisture and nutrients available in the decomposing stump, even as it extended roots downward along the stump into the rich mineral soil where the prior tree grew. In time the stump decomposed in full, leaving the stilted-root tree embracing thin air…the ghost of a stump.

Leonardo da Vinci, a ghost-spirit of a different sort, inspires me to question, puzzle, and offer explanation for the Nature mysteries I encounter:

There is no result in nature without a cause; understand the cause and you will have no need of the experiment.

I’ve watched this burled water oak near the outlet of Jobala Pond for several years. Since June 6, 2020 (image at right), the burl has more than doubled its girth.

Whether I’m writing about a North Alabama Land Trust Preserve, one of our 22 Alabama State Parks, the Sanctuary, or some other special place, I urge the managing entity to establish permanent photo points to chronicle the change that is ongoing, inevitable, and significant. The paired photos above tell the story far better than the “inimitable Dr. Jones” standing at the tree claiming, “This burl is twice as big as it was five years ago.” Only one AL State Park has created photo points: Monte Sano with funds I helped raise. Education is a fundamental mission element for the Park system, the Land Trust, and the City of Huntsville. Are these entities falling short of meeting their education imperative? You be the judge.

Here is the 59-second video of Marian offering her thoughts on our tenth anniversary explorations at Jobala Pond.

I recorded this 59-second video just below Jobala.

Enjoy the tranquil beauty of the iron bridge and Hidden Spring Brook flowing beyond it, seeking its confluence with the Flint River.

I recorded this 58-second video below Jobala at the iron bridge crossing Hidden Spring Brook.

Chris Stuhlinger, Bill Heslip, Marian Moore Lewis, and Becky Heslip posed at the wetland mitigation area.

I recorded this 59-second video of the wetland mitigation. Note, I refer to Bill in the video narrative as the Sanctuary video’s Producer; instead, he directed the production. He kindly declared me the Producer.

Closing

In closing, the Sanctuary is a speciel place. My third book, Weaned Seal and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature, captures the ecological, spiritual, and emotional nature of such special places. I offer this text from my Introduction to the book:

Awakening to Nature does not require a trip to the Grand Canyon or a trek across the Gobi. Nature is in our backyard, a nearby city park, or a state park just down the road. Anyone can develop a relationship with Nature wherever you are, a point I reiterate in each essay and a message I exhort in each and every nature-inspired life and living address I deliver. My relationship with Nature is spiritual. I view my engagement as a calling, and a noble cause to sow seeds so that others might do their own part to change some small corner of this Earth for the better through wisdom, knowledge, and hard work.

Sharing a special place with special friends multiplies the reward:

There’s a land–oh, it beckons and beckons,

And we want to go back–and we will!

Thoughts and Reflections

I offer these observations:

• Nature reaches far into my heart, soul, body, mind, and spirit. (Steve Jones)
• Awakening to Nature does not require a trip to the Grand Canyon or a trek across the Gobi. (Steve Jones)
• Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way. (John Muir)

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied by untold orders of magnitude:

Steve’s Four Books

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit), and Dutton Land & Cattle: A Land Legacy Story (2025) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature. All four of my books present compilations of personal experiences expressing my deep passion for Nature. All four books offer observations and reflections on my relationship with the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grandkids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future