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Gray Cemetery: Nature Across Two Centuries of Life, Living, and Dying!

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Suburban housing and light commercial establishments surround Gray Cemetery in Madison, Alabama. Urged by friend Gilbert White to visit the 200-year-old cemetery, I (and my 17-year-old grandson, Jack) met him there on September 6, 2025, as a thunderstorm bore down on us. We returned for a leisurely, sunny Sunday afternoon with Gilbert the next day. Abandoned 100 years ago, the cemetery (courtesy of volunteers working feverishly over the past four years) is reappearing from the jungle of natural vegetation regrowth. My central observation is that Nature is adept at disappearing (i.e., hiding, obscuring, and concealing) the dedicated work of man.

The new look will attract saunterers — mature forest, an open understory, and the deep and meaningful history tales told by the ~500 permanent residents whose remains are interred here.

 

This incredible cemetery is a gem recovered from a jungle of natural vegetation and vibrant second-growth forest that strangled the cemetery for a full century. The new scene is park-like, the trees towering above the newly revealed historical site.

 

Diverse Tree Species

 

A diverse tree overstory complements the rich human history. I admit to total fascination with the forest that emerged from the grassy knoll that served as an early Madison, Alabama burial oasis. I won’t burden you with the messy dendrology of the species I discovered, admired, and celebrated.

White oak.

 

A white oak stump resulted when workers removed the tree decapitated by an F-1 tornado passing nearby earlier in the summer. I accepted the carnage as a gift, permitting me to do a ring count. The tree aged at 103 years, confirming that the tree regenerated at the time of cemetery abandonment and neglect.

 

The annual rings of oak are easy to count.

 

I assume that this 44-inch diameter white oak is older, and probably shaded a segment of the cemetery for decades prior to service and maintenance ceased.

 

See this spectacular white oak on my 27-second video:

 

Sweetgum (left) is one of our common Alabama forest denizens. The species aggressively colonizes abandoned crop, pasture, grasslands, and cemeteries. Sugar maple (right).

 

Likewise, water oak is ubiquitous in our area.

 

As are species of hickory.

 

Black cherry, not a valuable timber species in northern Alabama, does regenerate valiantly and works its way into the intermediate canopy.

 

Eastern redcedar is a prolific pioneer species. This one is notably large and vibrant. What a magnificent crown, with laddered branching that reaches high above.

 

I recorded a 57-second video of the handsome Eastern redcedar tree.

 

I mentioned the low intensity tornado that side-swiped the old cemetery. It toppled  a large loblolly pine.

 

The fallen pine, like most of the trees standing within the cemetery, probably dates back to abandonment.

 

 

 

Cemetery Remnants

 

I had not previously seen such brick tombs.

 

 

 

Here is the oldest interment at Gray Cemetery. I am sure that Mrs. Gray’s story is rich with life and living, and that many loved and loving descendents mourned her passing.

 

Local celebrated local historian John Rankin shared some time with us. He knows many of the stories that enrich our cemetery explorations and reflections.

 

I recorded this 60-second video showing the four types of tombs.

 

This is a box tomb.

 

An Irish stone tomb.

 

And another example of a standard vertical tombstone.

 

 

Cemetery Critters

 

Among the departed humans, I found evidence of a current living resident — the shed skin of a grey ratsnake.

 

And a hackberry emperor butterfly.

 

Throughout our vibrant ecosystems, including the human realm, life and death are intertwined.

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • Nature is adept at disappearing (i.e., hiding, obscuring, and concealing) the dedicated works of man. (Steve Jones)
  • Throughout our vibrant ecosystems, including the human realm, life and death are intertwined. (Steve Jones)
  • This incredible cemetery is a gem recovered from a jungle of natural vegetation and vibrant second-growth forest that strangled the cemetery for a full century. (Steve Jones)

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

 

Note: All blog post images created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron LLC. All Rights Reserved.”

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

 

Reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

 

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied 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 will understand more clearly their Earth home.

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 (2023) 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late Summer Revelation and Confusion (mine!) in a WNWR Bottomland Forest

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I once again wandered the bottomland hardwood forest on the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, south of HGH Road near the Madison-Limestone County line on the morning of August 30, 2025. I wanted to reconnoiter the forest with my recently acquired 1937 aerial photo of the stand. I present my preliminary observations, reflections, photographs, and brief videos as I attempt to make sense of forest history and lay the groundwork for reevaluation during the dormant season.

 

My Hesitant Working Hypothesis

 

I was convinced that the bottomland hardwood forest that I explore 3-4 times per year, had regenerated naturally from abandoned farmland since the Corps of Engineers completed construction of Wheeler Dam in the mid-1930s. However, I often found trees far older and individuals decayed beyond what I would expect in a forest freshly regenerated just eight and one half decades ago. Chris Stuhlinger, another retired forester, and I are digging into the question of stand origin. The area I frequent lies south of the red line (HGH Road) and west of the vertical line (Madison County to the east; Limestone to the left) on this 1937 aerial photo. I’ve placed a short vertical ink mark where I routinely enter the forest, which is clearly extant 88 years ago, discounting my supposition of a forest sprouting in the mid-30s from abandoned agricultural land.

HGH

 

I determined the age of a large wind-blown white oak just a few hundred feet south of the forest beyond the edge of the photograph: August 2025 Post: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2025/08/27/huge-white-oak-blowdown-and-cleanup-at-wheeler-national-wildlife-refuge/.  I determined its age at 129 years, making it 30-40 years old when acquired by the Corps/TVA. Chris and I will closely examine the stand during the 2025-26 dormant season in the absence of mosquitoes, ticks, chiggers, foliated poison ivy, and oppressive heat and humidity. HGH

 

 

My Rationale for Accepting  an Abandoned Farmland Origin

 

In the meantime, I reveal and reflect upon my recent saunter. Dominant yellow poplar and red oak trees could easily have been seedlings in the 1930s. These bottomland soils are extraordinarily fertile.

 

I recorded this 41-second video of a large black oak within a mixed stand that could have regenerated nearly nine decades ago.

 

The same is true of the forest housing this mid-story persimmon and a main canopy black oak.

 

Here is my 35-second video of the persimmon and black oak.

 

I recorded this 38-second video of mixed main canopy and understory species.

 

 

Evidence Casting Doubt on My Abandoned Farmland Hypothesis

 

The very large dominant trees, including standing dead and nearby grotesqueley swollen and decayed individuals (the final tree in the short video) suggest an older stand. The massive green ash and shagbark hickory, both about two and one half feet in diameter, also hint at an age beyond 88 years.

 

The same advanced age can be deduced by this 44.5-inch diameter chinquapin oak and the Carpinus carolinia (muscle wood tree) growing at its base.

 

I also encountered this hollowed three-foot diameter oak barely clinging to life. Eighty-eight years is too abbreviated a period to reach this size and advanced decay.

HGH

 

I recorded this 47-second video highlighting the hollowed oak.

 

Likewise for this hopelessy decayed and swollen four-foot diameter oak.

HGH

 

Here is my 47-second video of the individual.

 

This ancient oak stands along the old lane 150 feet from where I parked.  Three and one-half feet in diameter, a windstorm took half of its canopy in the summer of 2020. Hidden from this view, the tree is hollow and open at the base, extending at least 30 feet to where the wind ripped half the crown away,

 

This violently uprooted three-foot diameter cherrybark oak toppled earlier this past summer.

 

I recorded this 57-second video of the fallen giant.

 

Here’s another view of the oak.

HGH

 

Nature has work to do, returning the tons of recently deceased wood to the soil. The carbon cycle is a BIG deal! Powder post beetles, wood-boring insects that deposit eggs just under the bark of dead or dying trees, are first in line to feast on the mighty oak’s cellulose and lignin. Drafting this narrative triggered an urge to ask many questions that at the moment I will not take time to answer. Questions such as, “How do the adult beetles know the oak is dead? Do live and dead wood smell different? Does living cambium emit sounds a beetle can hear? Does appearance change subtly with death? More obviously, does a horizontal trunk light up with a neon invitation to Come and Get it!?” Trust me, the beetles know! Within the two months since the tree fell, beetles have deposited eggs, the larvae have hatched, and begun voraciously consuming wood fiber. The beetles have already progressed from egg, to larva, to pupa, to adult. The emergent adult exit holes pepper with the fallen trunk with powdery frass.

 

Death and life are inter-twined in the forest. The forest air is seasonally thick with fungal spores that have already entered every beetle exit hole. Infecting hyphae have found purchase within the oak. Mushrooms will appear on the oak trunk by the end of next summer. Five years hence, the bark will have sloughed and decay will have penetrated deeply into the wood. Nature abhors a vacuum!

 

Temporary Closure and a Revised Hypothesis

 

The 1937 aerial photo is clear. The area I felt had been in agriculture when engineers completed Wheeler Dam was, in fact, forested in 1937. I have a new hypothesis to test with Chris when we conduct our dormant season on-site forestry forensic sleuthing after New Year’s. The largest trees in the stand are overwhelmingly diseased and battered, suggesting that they may have been unmerchatable individuals when crews commercially harvested the forest that was present when the Corps/TVA aqcuired the land adjacent to the land destined for Lake Wheeler inundation. The resultant forest 88 years later is two-aged:

  1. The naturally regenerated 88 year old hardwood stand
  2. Scattered mostly unmerchantable individuals left by loggers

I look forward to learning as we go. As with most elements of Nature, the more I learn, the less I know. Every revelation uncovers new mystery. Such is the joy of curiosity.

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding. (da Vinci)

  • Every revelation uncovers new mystery. Such is the joy of curiosity. (Steve Jones)

  • Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Einstein)

  • As with most elements of Nature, the more I learn, the less I know. (Steve Jones)

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

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all blog post images are created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones.

Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron. All Rights Reserved.”

 

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

 

A reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

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 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

 

HGH Road

 

 

 

The Nature of Legendwood Development

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Judy and I closed on the house we built in Madison, Alabama’s Legendwood development, on December 24, 2015. I am posting this photo essay for two reasons. First, a tenth anniversary merits commemoration. Second, I feel compelled to remind my neighbors and friends how fortunate we are to reside in an enclave defined by Nature in a city and county growing explosively. Judy and I view our community as an oasis surrounded by busy roads, proliferating apartment buildings, and diminishing farmland and forests. Straying from my wildland-focused weekly Great Blue Heron Posts, I share these observations, reflections, photos, and two brief videos on Legendwood, a community of 124 homes, three ponds (the largest spanning 3.7 acres), a 5.2-acre woodlot along Balch Road, and a full, lighted sidewalk circuit totaling 3.48 miles.

 

 

The Rockhaven Drive entrance from Capshaw Road (left) and Legendwood Drive entrance from Balch Road (right) are attractive portals to a desirable, high-quality residential community. The map defines our neighborhood.

 

Likewise, the aerial photo shows Balch as the eastern border and Capshaw to the north. Woodgrove Drive and its homes constitute the western extent. A long row of new apartments borders our southern boundary, crammed against backyards and fences.

 

I’ll begin this virtual walking tour from the Balch Road entrance. Our 5.2-acre woodlot lies along Balch south of the entrance. Oak, hickory, maple, poplar, and other deciduous species dominate. Barren in winter, the forest offers deep summer shade. I’ve heard musings about selling the wooded haven. Such a sale would generate income, even as it condemns us to another commercial or residential enterprise pressing against our eastern flank. I object strongly to selling it simply to generate a little HOA income. The woods offer a rich, biological ecosystem, a buffer to external negative development pressures. I will gladly conduct information and interpretive saunters for residents within the parcel at request (I have a 1973 Forestry BS and a doctoral degree in applied ecology).

 

The south side of Legendwood beyond the Balch entrance welcomes residents and visitors with a touch of Nature (grassy lawn, beds, shrubs, trees, and hardscape), maintained contractually or by Board member and resident volunteers. Admittedly, the well-landscaped Legendwood roadside when a driver exits or is about to enter the Balch traffic flow, often escapes our notice and appreciation.

 

Judy and I walk an average of two miles daily through our community, ensuring our appreiation and enjoyment of the Nature of Legendwood. The northside amenities along Legendwood satisfy our quest for a home environment that nourishes body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit. Its no wonder our homes sell quickly and values outpace inflation.

 

Imagine the classlessness and boredom of entering a neighborhood absent median strips (like the one within a 100 feet of the entrance) and landscaped cul-de-sacs (at the end of Springhaven). I compliment our Board for establishing and retaining high standards for community aesthetics and individual home appearance.

Springhaven

 

The intersection of Legendwood and Hawks Crest epitomizes the aesthetic richness of our community, a step above nearby developments with dull, unimaginitive narrower lanes, cars parked curbside, and no standards for home landscaping and maintenance.

 

The cul-de-sac at the northern end of Hawks Crest features three nicely crowned ornamental trees, a small natural respite to a short street with seven homes, including the two along Legendwood.

 

At the southern end, few residents have reason to travel to Barons Court, yet Judy and I make a point to visit regularly on foot. A broad grassy expanse (a quarter-acre) beckons drivers at the south end of Hawks Crest where it meet Barons. Note: I suggest planting some trees early this coming spring.

 

Cul-de-sacs at both eastern and western ends of Barons have three (east) and two (west) shade trees. How pleasant!

 

The largest pond sits along Legendwood. Both photos look to the south from community property, mowed and maintained by our HOA. Residents have shoreline access to the entire perimeter.

 

 

Even as a picture expresses a thousand words, a video speaks for a hundred photos. I recorded this 56-second video.

 

Judy and I live in the second house west of the above video camera point. We maintain (mowing, fertilizing, pest treaments) a strip of common property 30 feet from our line (the wall in photo at left) to the pond and 100 feet long, a total of 3,000 square feet. We established and care for two perennial beds within the strip for all to enjoy.

 

I recorded this 58-second video at pondside.

 

Rockhaven Drive’s maple-lined median carries us north to Capshaw.

 

At Capshaw, a lovely sinuous walkway extends west along Capshaw 660 feet. This entire area and its 1,122 foot counterpart to the east, also adjacent to Capshaw, are maintained by our HOA.

 

The eastern extension offers a large, tree and shrub-topped berm to shelter homes on the north side of Legendwood from the Capshaw traffic noise. The photo at right looks south across the berm to homes along Legendwood.

 

Our community owns a small lot on the south end of the Woodgrove cul-de-sac. Like all the other Legendwood community parcels, this lot requires HOA financial outlays.

 

Judy and I built in Legendwood because of its very Nature. We knew this would be our final relocation to an above ground residence. When we visited in spring 2015, a great blue heron stood at what was to be our shoreline…the heron is a meaningful family totem, a sort of avatar for my long-deceased Dad. We are grateful for whatever force beckoned us to Legendwood. I’ve observed as many as 24 bird species on a quiet morning from our patio. We have seen in our backyard squirrels, chipmunks, wildland rats, rabbits, skunks, raccoons, armadillos, and voles, among others. Throw in slider turtles and a huge snapper or two, bull frogs, garter and brown water snakes, and even an osprey. Ten years ago, we saw an occasional coyote and deer. We converted a vacant eroded lot to our own natural refuge.

I hike often in area State Parks, Land Trust Nature Preserves, the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, and diverse other nearby (as well as distant — domestic and international) natural areas. I publish a free weekly Great Blue Heron photo essay on what I term Nature-Inspired Life and Living!

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

Walking and enjoying Nature in our neighborhood is necessary, even if not sufficient. I encourage all of our fellow residents to explore segments of our 3.48 miles of heavenly, paved, nearly flat, lighted sidewalks and trails, and experience the Nature of Legendwood!

And if you want to understand more about our 5.2-acre woodland, send me an email (steve.jones.0524@gmail.com). We’ll set a date and time to explore, preferably before spring transitions to heat, humidity, ticks, redbugs, mosquitoes, and the like.

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • The Nature of Legendwood is a compelling theme to distinguish our community from others. (Steve Jones)
  • There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot. (Aldo Leopold)
  • Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)

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

 

Note: All blog post images created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron LLC. All Rights Reserved.”

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

 

Reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

 

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied 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 will understand more clearly their Earth home.

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 (2023) 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

 

 

 

Brief-Form Post #50: Field to Forest in a WNWR Bottomland — Armed with a 1937 Aerial Photograph

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I am pleased to add the 50th of my GBH Brief-Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So, I will occasionally publish these brief Posts.

 

I’ve rambled through the bottomland forests of the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (WNWR) south of HGH Road routinely since my 2018 retirement to northern Alabama. Fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger recently secured 1937 aerial photographs of the area. The images confirm some of my suppositions of forest history and contradict others. I focus this brief-form post on the forest west of Jolly B Road and south of HGH Road, where the 88-year-old image validates my supposition that this area of mature forest was open farmland when engineers completed Wheeler Dam. I captured photographs and videos for this Brief-Form Post on August 30, 2025.

The red line on this 1937 aerial image depicts the location of today’s gravel HGH Road, separating private land to the north from WNWR south of the road. The aerial photo, even though of poor resolution, clearly shows open land where I captured the photographs and two brief videos, a few hundred feet east of the copse of trees north of the road. Today, everything south of HGH is a mature forest.

HGH Road

 

This is the mid-morning view to the east where I parked along HGH Road. To all appearances, a shady forest road.

HGH

 

I recorded this 59-second video at the same location with the former open land to the south (right).

 

I turned my camera to the south, where a mature forest stands in the once open field.

HGH

 

Pointing my camera to the west, I again captured a shady forest lane.

HGH

 

I recorded this 54-second video looking west with the former open land to the south (left).

 

The two images below look into the towering mature forest where fields once grew agricultural crops.

 

Nothing in Nature is static. A century ago, these rich bottomlands, tended by farmers and mules, produced crops of corn, beans, and cotton. Priot to those years of sweat, anxiety, good years, and bad, other generations cleared the luxurious old growth forests to enable agriculture.

 

Nature always stands at the ready. The process is simple and long-practiced. Stop plowing, discing, and sowing. Nature fills the void with wind- and critter-born seeds. Bare land transitions to herbs, shrubs, seedlings, and eventually to vibrant stands of maturing trees.

This coming dormant season Chris and I will return to this old field mature forest for a deeper examination, without the company of mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, and leafy poison ivy!

Closing

 

I accept the challenge of distilling these Brief-Form Posts into a single distinct reflection, a task far more elusive than assembling a dozen pithy statements. The great philosophers and physicists are attributed with exploring the notion of nature’s insistence on eliminating nothingness or emptiness. I say so be it; let them ponder the esoteric and say what they wish.

I adopt a simpler view, having learned through observation and experience that Nature hungrily fills every element and feature of any ecosystem I have observed. Vaporize 96,000 acres of forest on the footslopes of Mt. St. Helens in May of 1980; see the verdant slopes 45 years later. Scorch nearly 800,000 acres of Yellowstone National Park in 1988; see the wounds healing 37 years hence. My simpler view:

Nature abhors a vacuum.

I suppose I could attribute the wisdom to Henry David Thoreau:

Nature abhors a vacuum, and if I can only walk with sufficient carelessness I am sure to be filled.

He added a twist of poetry to the axiom, suggesting that Nature fills us who venture into her realm. I embrace both variations. Nature rapidly filled the WNWR void when agricultural operations ceased. Contemplating the succession from field to forest fills me as well…body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit swell with the essence of Nature.

Nature’s special treats await our discovery, our understanding, and our interpretation!

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

 

Brief-Form Post #47: Strange Bearded Tupelo Trees — Air Root Mysteries and Curiosities!

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I am pleased to add the 46th of my GBH Brief-Form Posts (Less than five minutes to read!) to my website. I get wordy with my routine Posts. I don’t want my enthusiasm for thoroughness and detail to discourage readers. So, I will occasionally publish these brief Posts.

I frequent forest wildness wherever my excursions take me, searching for the beauty, magic, mystery, wonder, and awe that lie hidden in plain sight. This Post derives from years of experience, study, and contemplation, inspired by some recent discoveries (August 15 and October 14, 2025). My focus is on two examples of specialized tree roots.

 

Adventitious Water Roots

 

I published a GBH Post on September 17, 2025, chronicling a mid-August visit to Huntsville, Alabama’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary (the Sanctuary), reporting:

We found a puzzling phenomenon, 100-feet from the shore and out of our reach, on the upstream section of Jobala Pond. Two clearly living red maple trees (Acer rubrum), standing in water, called out to us with a pinkish circumferential ring 2-4″ immediately above the water line. I magnified the image up to the limits of resolution clarity, showing the fibrous nature of the feature. I shared via social media, generating speculation. Chris and I agree with several persons who suggested that the trees, attempting to survive the saturated soil environment, sprouted air roots above the water for supplemental aeration.

 

 

 

 

Niether of us, fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger and I, had previously seen such a curiosity. I scoured the literature and found no succinct explanation. Note: Scoured the literature  may be a little overstated! I looked, but it wasn’t like I was preparing my doctoral Literature Review. Shall I say, nothing relevant jumped out at me.

Then, lo and behold, just two months later while solo-exploring the dry-season water tupelo swamp on the Sanctuary, a Eureka moment surged from among the mosquito-infested early autumn dampness!

 

This three-foot diameter (dbh: diameter breast height) water tupelo, standing in persistent water in the dry-season swamp, evidenced that the winter water level reaches more than two feet higher. Although this stem stands out of my reach in my upland hiking boots, other nearby tupelos stood on dry season upland. And what a surprise to see a band of fibrous air roots ringing the high water marks.

 

Perseverance does indeed reward the patient and persistent Nature enthusiast. I did not visit the swamp intent on discovering the phenomenon; I went only to seek what delights might be hidden in plain sight! Even the literature opened slightly to my focused stealth…inquiring specifically of water tupelo air roots. I found:

LENTICEL AND WATER ROOT DEVELOPMENT OF SWAMP
TUPELO UNDER VARIOUS FLOODING CONDITIONS
DONALD. HOOK, CLAUD L. BROWN, AND PAUL P. KORMANIK
Forest Service, USDA, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Athens, Georgia 30601; School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30601; Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Athens, Georgia 30601

Plant physiology is a is not a subject for the faint of heart, or well-suited to an old retired forest generalist. Suffice it for me to conclude:

  1. Experts confirmed the existence of such a phenomenon.
  2. The authors observed, Water roots developed primarily under continuous flooding in moving water, some apparently originating beneath the phellogen of a lenticel and others within the phellogen or its derivatives.
  3. Chris and I correctly explained the curiosity we observed two months prior on the red maple trees standing in water at the edge of Jobala Pond.

I discovered another facet of delight. Dr. Paul Kormanik, the third listed author, was an acquaintance during my forest industry research period (1975-79), a half-century ago.

Leonardo da Vinci relied on observation and experience to inform reason. He would have applauded Chris and me:

  • Wisdom is the daughter of experience.
  • Although nature commences with reason and ends in experience it is necessary for us to do the opposite, that is to commence with experience and from this to proceed to investigate the reason.

I recorded this 59-second video of what I termed incredible adventitious air root beards.

 

I loved the incredible adventitious root beards! Shall we call these trees the old men of the Tupelo Swamp? I plan to revisit when winter rains fill the sloughs.

 

Another Variety of Air Roots

 

Muscadine grape vines drape the bottomland forest at GSWS. I photographed these curtains of air roots south of the tupelo swamp. I’ve encountered the phenomenon in other wetland hardwood forests across northern Alabama. I presumed their purpose was to reach the ground (as these do), take root vegetatively, and provide propagation of their genotype. Now I am less than certain.

 

Once again, my uncertainty spurred additional literature scouring, if you will. A Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension on-line bulletin amplified my uncertainty:

Aerial root formation in Vitis has been documented on different grape species; however, the driving forces behind the formation of adventitious roots are not well understood.

So, where does that lead me? I have yet to document a case of the air roots sprouting regenerates when contacting the forest soil. I can suggest alternatively that thess drapes capture moist air condensation (swamp fog) to supplement aeration when soils are saturated. I pledge to continue observations and exploration, in the spirit of Albert Einstein:

I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious. 

One cannot help but be in awe when [one] contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. 

In my realm of forest Nature exploration, I conclude: The more I learn, the less I know!

 

Closing

 

I accept the challenge of distilling these Brief-Form Posts into a single distinct reflection, a task far more elusive than assembling a dozen pithy statements.

I cannot offer a quote more poignantly apropos than Albert Einstein’s:

One cannot help but be in awe when [one] contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. 

I add my own bullet of Nature wisdom:

The more I learn, the less I know! (Steve Jones)

Nature’s special treats await our discovery, our understanding, and our interpretation!

 

Subscribe to my free weekly photo essays (like this one) at: http://eepurl.com/cKLJdL

Mid-August Morning at the Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary: A Great Blue Heron Encounter

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[Note: I dedicate this Post to the memory of Charlie Kirk, a bold, courageous pioneer who tirelessly promoted a life of Faith in God’s merciful love, Patriotism, and Family. Two days after his assassination, his widow Erika said of Charlie: He loved nature, which always brought him closer to God. I echo those sentiments. Nature never fails to bring me closer to God.]

On August 15, 2025, fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger and I explored the western reaches of Huntsville’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary, a special place I’ve visited dozens of times since retiring to northern Alabama. I come back again and again, not to see the same thing, but to observe a universe of things that change minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, and across the seasons and years. Take a walk with Chris and me to see some things that will never look exactly the same again. Nothing in Nature is static; special places offer infinite treats to those of us who seek them.

David George Haskell, professor of biology at the University of the South, published The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature (2012). From the back cover:

Visiting a one-square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest almost daily for one year, biologist David Haskell traces nature’s path through the seasons and brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life. Beginning with simple observations — a salamander scuttling across the leaf litter; the first blossoms of spring wildflowers — Haskell spins a brilliant web of biology, ecology, and poetry. He explains the science that binds together the tiniest microbes and the largest mammals, and describes the ecosystems that have cycled for thousands — sometimes millians — of years. Written with remarkable grace and empathy, The Forest Unseen is a grand tour of nature in all its beauty and complexity.

Such is my mindset when I repeatedly visit the sanctuary, touring its 400 acres in all of its beauty and complexity.

 

Mid-Summer Morning Trek from Hidden Spring to Jobala Pond

 

Most of its infinite treats are hidden in plain sight, requiring only that we get into the out there from time to time, and that we understand enough of Nature to know how and where to look. Hidden Spring rises within a hunrdred feet of the Taylor Road entrance. Luxuriously vegetated with wetland trees, shrubs, and herbs, the marsh below the spring widens to several hundred feet. Heavy overcast, moistened air, and foliage still dripping from a morning shower set the other-world mood. I imagined an Old World fen.

 

We observed the transition from wide marsh to Hidden Spring Brook, the channel that extends through a series of beaver dams into Jobala Pond, and eventually the Flint River.

 

I recorded this 60-second video of what I termed on that special morning, an other-world marsh.

 

Clear water reflected the cloudy sky and overhead branches, amplfying the other-world mood.

 

 

Beaver enjoy the tasty and nutritious leaves, bark and cambium of native hardwood trees, stripping branches and stems, and then employing the stripped stems to repair and reinforce their structures.

 

This dam held back 15-18 inches of ponded water. Excuse the pun: beavers are dam-good engineers!

 

I’ve told the story of Jobala Pond many times. Human road engineers mined sand, clay, and gravel from the area to construct Route 431 in the 1950s, creating a borrow pit, a barren excavated depression accepting, holding, and then releasing the flow from Hidden Spring. Nature is remarkably resilient, superbly adept at healing her own wounds as well as convalescencing human insults to the land. The old borrow pit has naturalized over eight decades.

 

We found a puzzling phenomenon, 100-feet from the shore and out of our reach, on the upstream section of Jobala Pond. Two clearly living red maple trees (Acer rubrum), standing in water, called out to us with a pinkish circumferential ring 2-4″ immediately above the water line. I magnified the image up to the limits of resolution clarity, showing the fibrous nature of the feature. I shared via social media, generating speculation. Chris and I agree with several persons who suggested that the trees, attempting to survive the saturated soil environment, sprouted air roots above the water for supplemental aeration.

 

Chris and I plan to return with either a canoe or waders to more closely examine the mysterious growth.

Here are two more images of the richly-vegetated upper end of Jobala.

 

I hope that you agree that this is a special place.

 

My Avatar: Great Blue Heron

 

The great blue heron is the totem for my Dad, who passed away in 1996. The heron appeared as an avatar at sunrise on the frigid morning of Dad’s memorial service. Look for the story on my website. I consider every sighting of a great blue heron as Dad checking on me. He lives within me.

A heron passed noiselessly as Chris and I stood at Jobala. He (my sentimental assumption of gender) alighted beyond the pond’s outlet. We stalked the bird to within camera range.

 

I recorded this 50-second video when I dared not get closer.

 

The video and photos are not magazine-worthy, but they are soul-value priceless to me.

 

Again, all special places bless us with infinite treats.

 

Seasonal Flora

 

I give you some of the special floral delights we noted along our summer morning route, with no more narration than necessary. A red buckeye carries ripe fruit, its glossy fruit still within its husk.

 

Elderberry in full ripe fruit.

 

Trumpet vine sporting its late summer bugles.

 

Delicate partridge pea and sensitive pea.

 

Sensitive fern.

 

Tall ironweed.

 

Wild hibiscus.

 

I’ve begun to lose my bias for spring wildflowers; these late sumer beauties are hard to beat!

Nature spins a brilliant web of biology, ecology, and poetry.

 

Area’s Native American Presence: Archaeology and Anthropology at GSWS

 

I won’t devote more than a few sentences to these two images. Chris and I took advantage of our need to be on-site for a session to discuss the Native American archaeology and anthropolgy on the property with noted local archaeologist Ben Hoksbergen. Marian Moore Lewis, author of Southern Sanctuary, Bill Heslip, director of a 13-minute video about the Sanctuary, and Bill’s wife Becky gathered for a couple hours with us at a picnic table near the entrance. We made plans to visit pertinent sites on the Sanctuary when cooler weather arrives.

 

 

 

Watch for updates in a subsequent Post.

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • Every walk in Nature can be a grand tour of her beauty and complexity. (Steve Jones)
  • Look deep into Nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)
  • Nothing in Nature is static; special places offer infinite treats to those of us who seek them. (Steve Jones)
  • He loved nature, which always brought him closer to God. (Erika Kirk)

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

 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all blog post images are created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones.

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

 

A reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

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 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

 

 

 

 

 

Part Two — Huntsville’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary: Tenth Anniversary of Southern Sanctuary!

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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).

Jobala Pond

 

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!

 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all blog post images are created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones.

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

 

A reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

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 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legacy Environmental Education Workshop at Monte Sano State Park

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Invited by Renee Raney, Alabama State Parks Director of Interpretation and Education, I assisted in conducting a daylong (June 13, 2025) Legacy Environmental Education workshop for 25 educators at Monte Sano State Park. As a founding Alabama State Parks Foundation Board member, I tirelessly support park Nature education endeavors. I snapped photos, recorded brief videos, and chronicled observations and reflections during the workshop, all of which I highlight via this photo essay.

Monte Sano SP

 

Rather than hold forth in text on my absolute conviction that Nature-based education is essential to our children and the society they will lead (and endure), I give you four summary observations:

  • Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)
  • Nature doesn’t steal time, it amplifies it. (Richard Louv)
  • I embrace Nature’s relentless magic, wonder, awe, and inspiration — her infinite storm of BEAUTY! (Steve Jones)
  • Every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is written indelibly in or powerfully inspired by Nature. (Steve Jones)

I’m sure these basic tenets guide, motivate, and inspire the instructors and participants in the Legacy workshop.

Nature served up a perfect start to the day — an ideal outdoor learning environment! Bright sunshine punctuated with puffy cumulus.

Monte Sano Monte Sano

 

Until I retired to my end-of-worklife Nature pursuits, I had no idea that the 20th century’s premier mind, Albert Einstein, advocated keener awareness of the magic and wonder of Nature:

Look deep into Nature and you will understand everything better.

He would have approved Legacy and the State Parks partnering to enable and encourage 25 dedicated teachers and educators to look more deeply into Natue!

Briitney Hughes, DeSoto State Park Naturalist, revealed the secrets of wild tea infusions, a practical guide to tapping the vital natural essence from native plants, and sharing lessons and techniques with their students.

Monte Sano

 

My knowledge of infusions and tinctures could fill a thimble…a small one at that! I quietly observed, saving myself for the South Plateau Trail walk.

I recorded this 57-second video as we departed the lodge and entered the forest:

 

I won’t attempt reciting every feature and phenomenon we encountered. We emphasized that most Alabama forests are at least second growth. Monte Sano’s forests are 70-90+ years old. Black locust, an early successional species, is dead or dying across the segment we hiked. Nearly all remaining live locust trees are infected by cracked cap polypore fungus, a decay that weakened this individual — note the black bracket mushroom 18 inches above the ground at right. Black locust was a major stand component over the first 50 years of second growth. This specimen is a fading reminder of black locust’s early colonizing and pioneering role in forest renewal.

Monte Sano

 

I’m shamelessly addicted to woodland springs and wooden footbridge crossings. I offer several explanations:

  • Upland brooks and streams have a pleasant, heavily shaded summer microclimate
  • Soils are more moist, deeper, and nutrient rich
  • Trees are taller and fatter
  • Who is not charmed by the sound of gurgling water!
  • Birds and other wildlife are more abundant

 

The brook dropped over the plateau rim below the trail bridge. Who knows what exploration into the hollow would reveal. Perhaps another day.

Monte Sano

 

My 60-second video hints at what may lie hidden in plain sight.

 

I admit to one unavoidable shortcoming when I am accompanying a group like this. I want to interact with the participants, fielding questions and offering my limited knowledge and interpretation, yet I feel compelled to capture our experiences and discoveries with photographs and brief videos so that I can share more widely via these photo essays. As a result, I pop in and out of the entourage, too often falling behind.

 

A powerful storm crossed Monte Sano State Park a week prior. One of our educators noticed three oak trees recently lightning-blasted. I sidetracked for a closer look to record a 60-second video of the affected oaks.

 

I am in awe of the power and fury of Nature. She demands full respect, even as she deserves absolute admiration. I have seen other lightning-struck trees in my north Alabama woodland excursions. Some survived the blast and retained the scars decades hence. Others suffered a fatal blow. Were I to wager the fate of these three oaks, I lean toward fatality.

Monte Sano

 

The trees are not large and the bolt shattered a third of their circumference. I will see how they fare on a future visit.

We paused at the old Lilly Pond, a landscape feature near a former residence 100 years ago.

I recorded a 59-second video as the educators paused at the amphitheater bench seating.

 

Imagine this deep woodland setting as open space near the old home site…the old pond, now filling with forest detritus and advancing shrubs, then a spring-fed lilly pond surround by grassy uplands. Nothing in Nature is static.

Monte Sano

 

 

 

Oak Mountain State Park Naturalist Lauren Muncher Massey conducted a session on Tree Cookie Wood Burning. I recorded this 50-second video of participants sanding Eastern red cedar tree cookies.

 

I remember my forestry junior-year Wood Identification course at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. We each received a box of 60+ blocks of species we were tasked with learning: their characteristics, uses, structure, hardness, and identification. With pocket knife, hand lens, keen nose, and careful study we grew adept at identifying our woods. That was 1971, a distant 54 years ago. Somehow along life’s journey across 13 interstate moves, understandably distracted by family, career, and life, we abandoned those 60+ wood identification blocks. I’d love to have them now. Perhaps I could relearn some of what has seeped through the weak grasp of aging memory. I vow never to forget Eastern red cedar with its distinctive color, texture, and fragrance.

Monte Sano

 

That long-ago course was not easy. Some of my fellow forestry majors stumbled; others fell. The Lord blessed me with keen interest, an eye for detail, and a zest for learning. Watching the participants bring life to their tree cookies ignited dormant memories from my lifelong fascination with forest products. I won’t explore that rabbit hole today. I may someday devote a future photo essay to that pursuit.

 

Here is my 56-second video of final tree cookie preparation, fading into a revelation of the wonderful location for a workshop on Arts and Wellness in Nature.

 

Renee Raney joined us late in the afternoon with her Teacher Creature!

Monte Sano

 

As we moved indoors for our closing Amber Coger (Northwest District Naturalist) led session on Nature Journaling, the fair weather cumulus assumed a more menacing look.

Monte Sano

 

An unabashed lifetime weather enthusiast, I recorded this 60-second video of the vigorous thundershower that pounded our lodge rooftop.

 

Nature could have changed our day had she delivered the downpour two hours earlier.

Monte Sano

 

I embrace Nature’s relentless magic, wonder, awe, and inspiration — her infinite storm of BEAUTY!

 

In broad summary, I declare the Legacy Arts and Wellness Workshop a day well spent!

Alabama State Parks Foundation

I’ll remind you that although I serve on the Alabama State Parks Foundation Board (Secretary), in part because of my love of Nature and in recognition for my writing many prior Posts about visiting and experiencing the Parks, any positions or opinions expressed in these Posts are mine alone and do not in any manner represent the Foundation or its Board.
I urge you to take a look at the Foundation website and consider ways you might help steward these magical places: https://asparksfoundation.org/ Perhaps you might think about supporting the Parks System education and interpretation imperative: https://asparksfoundation.org/give-today#a444d6c6-371b-47a2-97da-dd15a5b9da76

The Foundation exists for the sole purpose of providing incremental operating and capital support for enhancing our State parks… and your enjoyment of them.

We are blessed in Alabama to have our Park System. Watch for future Great Blue Heron Posts as I continue to explore and enjoy these treasures that belong to us. I urge you to discover the Alabama State Parks near you. Follow the advice of John Muir:

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.

In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)
  • Nature doesn’t steal time, it amplifies it. (Richard Louv)
  • I embrace Nature’s relentless magic, wonder, awe, and inspiration — her infinite storm of BEAUTY! (Steve Jones)
  • Every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is written indelibly in or powerfully inspired by Nature. (Steve Jones)

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

 

Note: All blog post images created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones unless otherwise noted. Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron LLC. All Rights Reserved.”

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

 

Reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied 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 will understand more clearly their Earth home.

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 (2023) 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

 

Monte Sano

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part One — Huntsville’s Goldsmith-Schiffman Wildlife Sanctuary: Tenth Anniversary of Southern Sanctuary!

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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), and Chris Stuhlinger, a fellow retired forester. 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!

Marian’s book occupies a special place on my office bookshelf; I may be its biggest champion, wherever I speak or teach in our region.

 

I don’t see the need for a lot of narrative text for this post, the 30th of my weekly photo essays dedicated to the Sanctuary. I visited first on June 6, 2020 (https://stevejonesgbh.com/2020/06/23/visiting-a-southern-sanctuary-my-orientation-visit/). I reflected on the first GSWS post that the Sanctuary is a special place…and I plan to return again and again:

Robert Service, a British poet who wrote about the Far North during his turn-of-the-prior-century wanderings in the Gold Rush Yukon, beautifully corralled the magic of place in his Spell of the Yukon:

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

And I want to go back–and I will

It’s the great, big, broad land ‘way up yonder,

It’s the forest where silence has lease;

It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,

It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.

 

I recorded this 50-second video offering my reflections on Southern Sanctuary.

 

I published a photo essay about our YouTube video in October 2022: https://stevejonesgbh.com/2022/10/11/goldsmith-schiffman-wildlife-sanctuary-a-tale-of-two-extraordinary-women/. Here’s the video if you care to take time to watch it now:

 

The three of us, Director (Bill), Talent (Marian), and Producer (Steve) posed on May 17 by the information marquee.

 

As we crossed the grassy area heading into the Sanctuary, we encountered a cooter, covered with aquatic micro-plants, laying eggs. She did not object to the five of us gawking and snapping photos.

 

We appreciated seeing a climbing prairie rose, a stunning native growing along the Hidden Spring edge of the road.

 

This species grows throughout most of the eastern US.

Hidden Spring Marsh

 

Hidden Spring broadens into an extensive marsh as it approaches Jobala Pond. Vibrant arrow-leaf alum and cattail prevail, each among my favorite freshwater aquatic species.

 

View my 51-second video of the marsh with no narrative; I chose instead to allow an indigo bunting and a tufted titmouse to hold forth!

 

Marian captured this image of a midland water snake that slithered atop the marsh water before pausing. Marian relies upon a real camera (a high quality Canon with all the bells and whistles). I feel deep envy with my iPhone. Is it time for me to take the dive?!

 

We saw three snakes on our three-hour saunter. I share John Muir’s sentiment about encountering all sorts of animals in Nature (Even, and perhaps especially, snakes!):

Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way.

The marsh thrust another gift in our face — Canada goose parents and nine goslings among the arum. Marian pulled the camera from her side and auto-snapped the convoy before I could extract my iPhone from my shirt pocket. Discovering Nature treasures hiding in plain sight is one thing; capturing their image is another.

 

Insects are impossible for me to photograph. The blue dragon defied me; I tried to focus on the insect and all my iPhone saw was the much larger view beyond. Neither the dragonfly nor the six-spotted tiger beetle felt a need to hold still enough for me to get close. Marian performed ably and simply…her images are great!

 

 

Here is my 57-second video of the marsh with narrative:

 

A bit further along, I recorded this 58-second video where Hidden Springs Brook approaches Jobala Pond. Margaret Ann Goldsmith donated the original 300 acres of the Sanctuary to the city of Huntsville. I stumbled on the video narrative introducing Marian as Margaret Moore Lewis. Isn’t my first such error; won’t be my last!

 

Three small beaver dams funneled and terraced Hidden Spring Brook to Jobala Pond. Each one dropped the brook about a foot.

 

I recorded this 60-second video of a third beaver dam right before Jobala Pond.

 

Who can resist the music of falling water, made all the sweeter by knowing beaver designed the instrument?

I leave you here with a simple To Be Continued!

 

And my standard closing boilerplate:

 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all blog post images are created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones.

Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron. All Rights Reserved.”

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

 

A reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

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 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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mooresville, AL: A Special Nature Place along the Singing River Trail!

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Note: I am flagging this photo essay as one of a sub-series that introduces the emerging Singing River Trail (SRT):

A 200+ mile greenway system that strengthens regional bonds and creates new health and wellness, educational, economic, tourism, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the people and communities of North Alabama.

 

Historic Mooresville, Alabama, is the first town incorporated by the Alabama Territorial Legislature on November 16, 1818. Mooresville is on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of Alabama’s most important and intact pioneer villages. Historic homes and buildings, gracious gardens, and tree-shaded streets make a visit to Mooresville seem like a step back in time. SRT’s headquarters site is located a mile west of Mooresville, a couple of hundred yards west of Limestone Creek, and a similar distance north of Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, a 35,000-acre reserve of major natural significance along SRT.

I photographed this banner at the entrance lane to SRT’s offices.

 

The Singing River Trail bears what could be my personal retirement banner. What old forester hasn’t asked, “How do you tell a child to save the planet if he/she can’t tell the difference between an oak tree and a pine tree?”

 

Mooresville tells the 200-year-old story of a pioneer community anchored in the region’s history of river-based transportation, commerce, and culture, agriculture, and nature. Add to that 13,000 years of Native American life and living along this historic river, and the tale is rich and compelling. I urge those of you who live nearby to visit across the seasons, and to those at distance, visit when you can.

 

The day I visited the staff at SRT (March 17, 2025), Limestone Creek was overflowing its banks, putting on a great show from my perch on the highway bridge.

 

I recorded this brief video to share the magic of a cycle operating since long before adventuring aboriginals crossed the land bridge from Asia during the last ice age.

 

Limestone Bay (fed by Piney Creek, Limestone Creek, and Beaverdam Creek) lies center left below in the lower right quadrant of the I-65 and I-565 intersection. Piney Creek crosses I-565 east of I-65. Limestone Creek enters the Bay just west of Mooresville. Beaverdam Creek crosses the Interstate entering the long appendage of the Bay that reaches to the northeast.

 

I would love to transport back in time by increments of 50 years to the period of European settlement, and then by 100 years through the next 5oo years, and finally by 500 years to the arrival and settlement by Native Americans. Oh, to see the changes in the land!

 

For the geographic curious, here’s a close-up of Limestone Bay.

 

A friend took me aloft in his Cessna aircraft on August 20, 2023 to introduce me to the Refuge from 2,000 feet. The brief video shows us approaching the I-65 bridge from the east, with Decatur beyond. I pick up Limestone Bay only when we turn north, as the Bay passes under the right strut. It’s a fleeting glimpse in a broader video that captures the beauty, magic, wonder, and awe of our 55-square-mile backyard Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Wheeler Dam, its lake, and Limestone Bay lay in the far distant future when Mooresville interred its first deceased resident in the early 1820s.

 

Citizens of great faith, early Mooresville residents relied upon their knowledge, skills, each other, and God to ensure their journey through life and into the future. Faith demands looking ahead…and always up. The Mooresville church steeple points heavenward, reminding all from where all blessings flow.

 

The quaint original buildings will attract and reward SRT passersby, encouraging relaxation, contemplation, and reflection.

 

An ancient oak tree, likely dating to the town’s founding, paradoxically shades Piney Street.

 

Mooresville epitomizes a keystone of SRT, “We are tourism.”

 

An operating farmstead draws visitors back 200 years to the days when settlers were far more self-sustaining than we are today.

 

A southern magnolia shades the sheep still warmed by thick winter coats.

 

Closing

 

From my first professional apointment in May 1973, through my final role in January 2018, I subscribed to the mission of my employer. I drafted my personal retirement mission in 2018:

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

Mooresville sits at the nexus of natural environment, human nature, history, economy, society, and the future. Developing this photo essays sits squarely within my retirement mission.

Mooresville, AL is just 15 miles southwest of my home in Madison, AL. The fledgling Singing River Trail (SRT) is headquartered there. From its website (https://singingrivertrail.com/), SRT is more than a trail or greenway:

The Singing River Trail will be a 200+ mile greenway system that strengthens regional bonds and creates new health and wellness, educational, economic, tourism, and entrepreneurial opportunities for the people and communities of North Alabama.

 

 

As a lifelong devotee of hiking/sauntering, running, biking, and Nature exploration, I am creating another Great Blue Heron weekly photo essay series focused on The Nature of the Singing River Trail. I will incorporate individual essays into my routine Posts that total approximately 450 to-date (archived and accessible at: https://stevejonesgbh.com/blog/). I offer this essay as an orientation to the new series.

SRT is indeed tourism…and for me, a vehicle for meeting my personal retirement 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.

 

Mark Tercek, former CEO of The Nature Conservancy, characterizes Nature as infrastructure essential for ecosystem services (fresh air, purified water, wildlife habitat, recreation, aesthetics, etc.). I believe that SRT is a necessary infrastructure complement to the Tennessee Valley region.

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

  • I wonder whether anyone present in 1818 Mooresville had an inkling of what 2025 held in store?
  • Nothing informs the future better than a careful look to the past.  
  • SRT is a necessary infrastructure complement to the Tennessee Valley region.

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

 

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all blog post images are created & photographed by Stephen B. Jones.

Please circulate images with photo credit: “©2025 Steve Jones, Great Blue Heron. All Rights Reserved.”

I am available for Nature-Inspired Speaking, Writing, and Consulting — contact me at steve.jones.0524@gmail.com

 

A reminder of my Personal and Professional Purpose, Passion, and Cause

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 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