I present a special Great Blue Heron Post, different from routine photo essays about my field ventures to local or remote places. Renee Raney, friend, associate, and award-winning, nationally recognized environmental educator extraordinaire, is Alabama State Parks Director, Education and Interpretation. Just last week we submitted a fourth-year $100,000 youth education funding request to a prominent Alabama foundation. Renee and I good-naturedly exchanged appropriately spooky congratulations and well-wishes for the looming (and glooming) Halloween weekend. Later that evening Renee sent me, “An All Hallows’ Eve Ballad for Dr. Steve Jones, with a respectful tip-of-the-feathered-hat to Alfred Noyes and his immortal poem, The Highwayman.”

 

An All Hallows’ Eve Ballad for Dr. Steve Jones
With a respectful tip of the feathered hat to Alfred Noyes and his immortal poem, “The Highwayman.”

 

The wind was a whisper of witchcraft among the autumn trees,
The moon was a ghostly lantern afloat on a spectral breeze,
The road was a ribbon of silver through forests of shadow and gloom,
And the heron-man came riding, riding, riding,
Wise Doctor Jones came riding,
Through the haunted hills, past the yawning mouth of doom.

He wore no cloak of crimson, no pistol gleamed at his side,
But weathered boots and a knowing grin, and a scholar’s stubborn pride.
His weapons were wit and wisdom, his treasure the woodland’s lore,
And he rode with a purpose, a purpose, a purpose,
A most peculiar purpose:
To leave our world a little better than he’d found it before.

Now the ghosts were gathered at midnight, where the ancient hardwoods stood,
And the witches were brewing enchanted stew in the heart of the hollow wood.
The skeletons rattled their grievances, the goblins began to complain,
For Jones had been teaching, teaching, teaching,
That troublesome Doctor teaching,
And all were beginning to care about trees, which was terribly hard to explain.

“He’s dangerous!” cried a specter. “He’s persuasive!” shrieked a ghoul.
“He’ll have us all attending some blasted lifelong-learning school!”
“He’ll make us admire a fungus! He’ll lecture us on decay!”
But Jones just smiled, smiled, and smiled, and smiled,
That dreadful, distinguished smile,
And said, “Decomposition is rather important, I say.”

A great blue heron rose silently where the silvered waters gleamed,
A guardian of the mysteries of which the wise man dreamed.
It spread its wings through the moonlight, then vanished beyond the hill,
And the heron-man watched in wonder, wonder, wonder,
In reverent, restless wonder,
For the earth hid a thousand stories, and he sought a thousand still.

He’d wandered through bogs and universities, through halls where the learned convene,
Yet found his finest professors in the wild and the growing green.
A fallen leaf held a lesson; a rotting log held more,
And he studied and studied and studied,
That incorrigible scholar studied,
While the ghosts rolled their eyes and muttered, “Good heavens, he’s found one more!”

Now far beyond the graveyard, where Alabama’s parklands spread,
A curious band had gathered, though thankfully none were dead.
They’d come to build a legacy, to keep the wild things free,
And Jones was there among them, among them, among them,
That steadfast soul among them,
Planting seeds of possibility.

With foundations and friends and fellowship, with a vision both bold and bright,
He’d helped turn dreams to pathways and brought new hopes to light.
And children walked those pathways, their hearts awakened to see,
While Jones kept quietly plotting, plotting, plotting,
Most wonderfully plotting,
How to make the next adventure even better than it could be.

But Death himself grew weary of this most persistent man,
And consulted his dusty ledger to devise a dreadful plan.
“I’ll frighten him into silence! I’ll make his courage cease!”
So he rose from the crypt at midnight, midnight, midnight,
At the stroke of haunted midnight,
And demanded that Doctor Jones give the universe some peace.

“Enough!” cried Death. “Your essays! Your forests! Your endless woodland walks!
Your nature-inspired wisdom! Your presentations and talks!
You’ve made the living thoughtful, and the dead are growing wise!
I demand your immediate surrender, surrender, surrender!”
But Jones regarded the specter,
And said, “Have you considered what the forest teaches us when something dies?”

Death stared at him in horror. His jawbone dropped with a crack.
He’d never met a mortal who could turn the question back.
Then Jones produced a photograph of a fungus on a tree,
And Death cried, “Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!
For the love of darkness, mercy!
I only came to frighten you, not earn a Ph.D.!”

The moon slipped low through the branches, and dawn touched the eastern sky,
The ghosts returned to their resting places, the bats went fluttering by.
And Death, quite thoroughly humbled, withdrew with a weary groan,
While the heron-man rode on, rode on, rode on,
Wise Doctor Jones rode on,
With a thousand trails still waiting and a thousand seeds unsown.

For some men gather riches, and some seek lasting fame,
And some leave only echoes of a half-remembered name.
But some leave living forests, and souls that learn to see,
And their stories go on, go on, go on,
Long after the riders are gone,
In the wonder they’ve awakened and the minds they’ve set free.

So beware, ye ghosts of October, ye creatures of shadow and fright!
He still wanders beneath the harvest moon tonight.
And should you meet him walking where murders manifest as crows,
He’ll stop you and teach you, teach you, teach you,
By heaven, he’ll surely teach you,
And you’ll find yourself quite haunted by the woodsy wonders you now know!

For Steve, with gratitude for your friendship, your extraordinary imagination, your tireless encouragement, and the many ways you help others discover the wonder of the natural world.

With affection and a wicked little grin,
Renee
On the Eve of All Hallows’ Eve, in the Year of Our Lord MMXXVI

 

The Highwayman is one of my favorite ballads, just as Renee is one of my favorite naturalists. I am struck with honor, humility, and admiration. Renee’s ballad means more than any official recognition, certificate, plaque, or trophy ever presented to me.

 

I can add only a few photos that depict Nature’s implicitly dark (yet fun) side. I will strive to be true to the mythical Heron-Man. I’ve said repeatedly across my career: I take what I do seriously. I refuse to take myself unnecessarily too seriously. The ballad signals the right mix of serious and mirthful.

 

 

 

I share Renee’s creativity as a testament to her Earth Stewardship philosophy, which echoes my own, and to her appropriate mix of knowledge, wisdom, passion, hard work, and devotion to tomorrow’s citizens and Earth stewards.

I gratefully accept my new avatar: Heron-Man!

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

• And he rode with a purpose, a purpose, a purpose… a most peculiar purpose: To leave our world a little better than he’d found it. (Renee Raney)

 

• And the heron-man watched in wonder, wonder, wonder, in reverent, restless wonder, for the earth hid a thousand stories, and he sought a thousand still. (Renee Raney, paraphrasing Alfred Noyes)

 

• The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope. (Wendell Berry)

 

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:

Mission: Employ writing and speaking to educate, inspire, and enable readers and listeners to understand, appreciate, and enjoy Nature… and accept and practice Earth Stewardship.

Vision:

• People of all ages will pay greater attention to and engage more regularly with Nature… and will accept and practice informed and responsible Earth Stewardship.
• They will see their relationship to our natural world with new eyes… and understand their Earth home more clearly.

Tagline/Motto: Steve (Great Blue Heron) encourages and seeks a better tomorrow through Nature-Inspired Living!

 

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 compile personal experiences expressing my deep passion for Nature. They 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