NOTE: Some of my GBH photo essays were not routinely distributed from mid-February through mid-June. I will resend those one by one, beginning the first week of July. Here is my Post from February 25 (https://stevejonesgbh.com/2026/02/25/early-december-nature-explorations-along-the-natchez-trace-parkway/)

 

On April 4, 2026, two retired friends and I attended The Wings Over North Georgia Airshow near Rome. Normally, I focus these weekly photo essays on wildland forays, principally woodland ventures. I did not anticipate finding a Great Blue Heron Post topic during a day at the regional airport. However, my Dad, a WWII Pacific theatre Army Air Corps veteran, instilled in me a love of flight and weather (as well as Nature). The variable weather on April 4 prompted me to see the Nature of Wings Over North Georgia as a GBH Post topic.

The local forecast called for frontal rain to arrive near sunset. However, the first convective pop-up shower arrived soon after we set up our viewing lawn chairs without rain gear, a quarter-mile from the car! We toughed it out, thinking this was a rogue shower. The sky to the west, upstream in the firmament, looked bright and mostly clear. Fear not!

 

The show began, umbrellas transitioned from rain-shields to sun-brellas. Brilliant sunshine encouraged a few darkening cumulus to develop.

 

The crowd enjoyed a spectacular performance by an F-15 squadron of the Louisiana Air National Guard.

 

 

I recorded this 14-second video as one of the jets screamed down the flight line. My friends did not notice that behind my sunglasses I watched with tears in my eyes, my long-deceased Dad standing with me.

 

An innocent looking cumulus entered from the west, dropped a brand new rain curtain as we watched, and soaked us for no more than five minutes. The shower deepened and the sky darkened as it moved east-northeast into the north Georgia Appalachian foothills, providing a perfect backdrop for the looping smokeplane!

 

 

 

I recorded this 56-second smoke stunt plane video.

 

Climate and weather are the fundamental essence…the prevailing substrate…for every facet of Nature that drew me into foresrty and that powers me through retirement. There are those who wonder why anyone would waste time talking aimlessly about the weather. I can’t think of anything I’d rather discuss!

The weather held through more stunt and novelty performances. We all awaited the main act, the US Air Force Thunderbirds.

I recorded this 59-second video of the Thunderbirds taxiing out. I nervously watched cumulus building upstream to the west.

 

Rain drops peppered us as the six Thunderbirds reached the far end of the runway.

 

Never one to miss a good downpour, I recorded this 16-second video of the drenching shower.

 

It was far too late to return to the car for raingear. I took solace that my skin has never leaked; I’ve been wet many times before!

 

Mild temperatures and the promise of returning sunshine eased the discomfort for those who’d prefer to watch rain through a window.

 

I recorded this 31-second video as the rain ended.

 

Finally, the birds flew! I recorded this 37-second video (three segments spliced).

 

Still dripping from my rain-soaked hat and hair, I masked the emotion-triggered tears as these incredible flying machines powered over Rome, Georgia.

 

 

Deep memories, sweet nostalgia, the power and beauty of flight, and the magic and science of our dynamic weather lifted me high into the spring sky.

Dad died 30 years ago. I delivered his eulogy, including John Gillespie MaGee, Jr’s High Flight, Dad carried a copy in his wallet.

“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air….

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
– Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

High Flight is a 1941 sonet written by war poet Magee, inspired by his experiences as a fighter pilot of the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. Magee began writing the poem on 18 August, while stationed outside London He mailed a completed manuscript to his family on 3 September, three months before he died in a training accident.

You may recall President Reagan referencing High Flight in memorializing the Challenger crew.

Nature comprises the firmament, the soil, the terrain, and all life that abounds…and all that has come before, that is, and that will be. I relished a few hours experiencing high flight, variable spring weather, good friends, and sharing time with the man who shaped my Nature-psyche and lives within me yet…until I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth!

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

• I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
  Where never lark, or even eagle flew. (John Gillespie Magee)

• Deep memories, sweet nostalgia, the power and beauty of flight, and the magic and science of our dynamic weather lifted me high into the spring sky. (Steve Jones)

 

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 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