Announcements

·       
Emily and Dale will lead a trail walk at Sandy
Creek Nature Center (Nature Center, not the Park) on Tuesday morning,
Dec. 3, at 9AM, followed by coffee, tea and homemade goodies. Everyone is
invited!

·       
We are suspending our scheduled Rambles during the
winter. The scheduled Rambles will resume on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014, at the
usual time and place.

·    Dale or Hugh will be happy to have company
whenever they ramble this winter. They will notify all the Ramblers of the date
and time by email. (It is likely not to be early in the morning and the
days/times may vary, depending on weather. Think of it as a group of friends
just spontaneously getting together. The Ramble Reports will also be on winter
hiatus.)

This week’s report is written by Don Hunter with a few
additions by Dale. The photos are sampled from a larger number that can be seen
on Don’s
facebook album. (Be sure to find Don’s
molasses cookie recipe at the bottom of the post.)

This morning the frigid temps in the lower 20’s of last week
were replaced by more seasonable temps in the lower 40’s with a only a slight
threat of rain.  Though it had rained
lightly this morning in many of the areas surrounding the Bot Gardens,  it remained dry as twenty-five Ramblers
arrived at the Arbor for the last official Ramble of the season.  Everyone was greeted with hot coffee and
home-made banana bread and molasses cookies to enjoy during the pre-Ramble
mingling and several readings.  (The treats were compliments of Don!!)

Continue reading →

This week’s report is written by Don Hunter with a few
additions by Dale. The photos are sample from a larger number that can be seen
on Don’s
facebook album.

Here’s the link to the “What a Plant Knows”
Coursera class . You can register for it for free. It has already finished but the video lectures will be available until Nov. 26. If
you register for the class you will be able to watch all the videos and read
the discussion forums. (You can also take the quizzes, but they will not be
“counted.” Daniel Chamovits is the lecturer as
well as the author of the book What a
Plant Knows and I found him to be a good video lecturer.

 “It was a cold and
frosty morn…..”

Kitty reading Emerson

This morning it was 21 degrees at daybreak in the Athens
area and despite the frigid temps, we had twenty-one Ramblers show up for this,
the next to the last official Ramble for the 2013 season.  Everyone was bundled up as they arrived at
the arbor and, after a few bits of information passed along by Hugh and Dale,
we had a nice reading provided by Kittie Everett, who read an excerpt from Ralph
Waldo Emerson’s essay Nature:

The
tempered light of the woods is like a perpetual morning, and is stimulating and
heroic. The anciently reported spells of these places creep on us. The stems of
pines, hemlocks, and oaks, almost gleam like iron on the excited eye. The
incommunicable trees begin to persuade us to live with them, and quit our life
of solemn trifles. Here no history, or church, or state, is interpolated on the
divine sky and the immortal year. How easily we might walk onward into the
opening landscape, absorbed by new pictures, and by thoughts fast succeeding
each other, until by degrees the recollection of home was crowded out of the
mind, all memory obliterated by the tyranny of the present, and we were led in
triumph by nature.

Following the reading, we headed down the paved path to the
Dunson Native Flora Garden, up the White Trail to the power line right-of-way
and into the forest, where we hooked up with the Blue Trail and walked it past
the first Torreya clearing, on to the second Torreya clearing and returned by
the same route.

Continue reading →

This week’s report is written by Don Hunter. The photos are
selected from Don’s
facebook album.

Most people awoke on this morning to the sound of light
rain, enough rain to make the gutters sing, but still, twenty-one brave souls
ventured out and gathered at the arbor and were rewarded with a clearing sky
and comfortable temperatures by the time Hugh called for readings.   Hugh,
once again, through either magical incantations or sheer mind over matter, had managed to defeat the weatherman!  

 We had two readings today, the first provided by Ed Wilde, who read from
William Bartram’s “Bartram’s Travels”, which describe his travels in the
American South and encounters with American Indians between 1773 and 1777.  (The book’s full title is “Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West
Florida, the Cherokee Country, the Extensive Territories of the Muscogulges or
Creek Confederacy, and the Country of the Chactaws. Containing an Account of
the Soil and Natural Productions of Those Regions; Together with Observations
on the Manners of the Indians.”)

“Leaving
the pleasant town of Wrightsborough, we continued eight or nine miles through a
fertile plain and high forest, to the north branch of the Little River, being
the largest of the two, crossing which, we entered an extensive fertile plain,
bordering on the river, and shaded by trees of vast growth, which at once spoke
of its fertility.  Continuing some time
through these shady groves, the scene opens, and discloses to view the most
magnificent forest I had ever seen.  We
rise gradually a sloping bank of twenty or thirty feet in elevation, and
immediately entered this sublime forest; the ground is a perfectly level green
plain, thinly planted by nature with the most stately forest trees, such as the
gigantic black oak (Q. tinctoria), Liriodendron, Juglans nigra, Platanus,
Juglans exalta, Fagus sylvatica, Ulmus sylvatica, Liquid-amber styraciflua,
whose mighty trunks, seemingly of an equal height, appeared like superb
columns…”

(Ed’s note: I assume “thinly
planted by nature” and “level green plain” meant grass grew between the
trees.  For those not up to Latin names
for trees, the forest consisted of black oak, tulip, black walnut, sycamore,
shell bark hickory, beech, elm and sweetgum.)

“…To
keep within the bounds of truth and reality, in describing the magnitude and
grandeur of these trees, would, I fear, fail of credibility; yet, I think I can
assert, that many of the black oaks measured, eight, nine, ten and eleven feet
in diameter five feet above the ground, as we measured several that were above
thirty feet girth, and from whence they ascend perfectly straight, with a
gradual taper, forty or fifty feet to the limbs; but, below five or six feet,
these trunks would measure a third more in circumference, on account of the
projecting jambs, or supports, which are, more or less, according to the number
of horizontal roots, that they arise from; the Tulip tree, Liquidamber, and
Beech, were equally stately.”

Ed also provided the following facts regarding the Black Oak
(Q. velutina):

·       
The state record Black Oak is on the property of
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in the shadows of the old Fulton County Stadium, in
Atlanta, Geogia.  It is 7.5 feet in
diameter, 105 feet tall and has a crown spread of 135 feet.

·       
The U.S. champion Black Oak is 9.5 feet in diameter,
is 78 feet tall and has a 89 foot spread.

The second reading was provided by Don Hunter.  Don read a poem of his own writing, “Ode to the Common Crepe Myrtle”.

Gift of Michaux, brought to us from a place
far in the East,

Your beauty, ere it be Summer or Fall, is
something upon which the eyes can feast.

Your trunks, there may be many, grow both
sinewy and smooth, reaching up in graceful lines that bring happiness to my
heart.

It is a joy to touch you, to feel your cool
bark and to marvel at its feel beneath my hands, it’s mottled patterns doth
truly be nature’s art.

In Summer, your flowers are grand, in shades
of purple, red and pink and, oh yes, even white!

Your crenulated flowers glow so brightly as
to make one think that for just a moment they could burst, yes they might.

And when Summer finally draws to a close, and
your flowers are shed,

You, chameleon like, turn your leaves from
green to yellow and orange and red.

Yes, come Fall, your leaves all aglow, as
brilliant and resplendent as any could be,

You are as beautiful a sight as one could
see.

So go on and shine and glow as bright as you
can ‘til Fall’s great blustery winds strip you bare,

Your graceful trunks and limbs alone holding
sentinel ‘til Winter ends and Spring is again in the air.

After the readings, we left the
arbor, walking past the Visitor Center and up to the Upper Parking Lot, where
we walked the Orange Trail.  We briefly wandered
off the Orange Trail, with a detour up Copperhead Creek, to view the folding in
several rock outcrops (described by Dr. Gilles Allard in the Purple/Orange
Trail booklet).  We returned to the
Orange Trail, where we walked to the foot bridge and crossed the stream,
heading back up to the Flower Gardens and the Visitor Center.  The main emphasis again today was identifying
the forest communities, based on the observed flora and other characteristics
and criteria.

Sourwood

Heading past the Visitor Center
fountain, Hugh pointed out the Oak Leafed Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia),
which is beginning to turn red.  As we
continued on, we came upon a large Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) below the Upper Parking Lot, as well as many
of them around the lots.

As we moved into the forest, at
the head of the Orange Trail, we were reminded that we would be looking at the
forest communities on our walk today. 
The upper section of the Orange Trail is a Successional Forest.  The first trees to establish are the Short
Leaf and Loblolly pines.  We see many of
the Short Leaf pines in the canopy, as well as several dead and fallen pines on
the forest floor.  The presence of many
fallen pines indicates that the succession is changing over to oaks, entering
the climax forest stage. In the developing forest,  pines are generally followed by Sumac and
Tulip trees, in the order of succession. 
The tulip trees remain in the canopy, even as it becomes more oak
populated.  As we made our way down the
trail, we were on an east facing slope and noticed many large American Beech
trees (Fagus grandifolia), indicating
a mesic setting.

Hugh points out pitch pits in bark of Shortleaf Pine

We made a brief stop at a Short
Leaf Pine (Pinus echinata) to point
out the distinctive, glands of the bark plates, which appear as small
pits.  The needles of the Short Leaf Pine
are present as two needles to the bundle at the tips of the limbs.  Also, with respect to the pine cones, the
Loblolly cones have “prickles”, whereas, the Short Leaf cones do not.  At this location, we also saw a Sparkleberry
tree (Vaccinium arboretum), growing
in the middle of the trail, with it’s smooth bark and green foliage in the top
of the tree. 

A little further down the trail,
someone pointed out a cluster of Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) and a cluster of what appeared to be small
Oyster Mushrooms growing in a cranny near the base of a large tree.  While viewing the mushrooms, we discovered
that there was an active yellow jacket nest in the ground, no more than two or
three feet from the base of a tree.  We
survived with no one getting stung! Also here was a small patch of the emerging
leaves of Tipularia discolor, or the
Crane Fly Orchid.

Next, we came upon another rangy
Sourwood tree and a High Bush Blueberry (Vaccinium
corymbosum) with it’s distinctive bright green colored new growth limbs and
twigs.

After moving through the gate we
stopped at a Black Cherry tree (Prunus serotina), with Emily’s “burnt potato chip” bark but,
upon closer examination, the typical horizontal lines associated with Black
Cherry bark were still visible on the bark plates.  This tree is also associated with the
successional forest and usually comes along with the tulip poplar and sweet
gum.  Also of note at this location was
that the moss on this tree was, as the old adage says, on the north side of the
tree.

Headward erosion

Not far down the trail, is the
beginning of the stream bed.  The head of
the stream bed is advancing up the ridge, as headward erosion is
occurring.  The soil forming the banks of
the deep ditch are more or less sloughing off, generally during significant
rain events, the material being carried downstream to the river. 

Just past a small Water Oak (Quercus nigra), a small sedge was found
growing along the edge of the trail.  We
were reminded that “sedges have edges” when trying to determine if a suspect
plant is a grass or a sedge.  Below the
sedge we saw a Climbing Hydrangea (Decumaria
barbara) on a Red Oak tree (Quercus
rubra) and a Lance Leafed Smilax AKA Lance Leaved Greenbrier (Smilax smallii) on a Hop Hornbeam tree
(Ostrya
virginiana). 

At the informational sign at this
location, we are reminded that this is a successional forest, though it is far
along in the process of succession, with many of the larger trees growing up
into the canopy.  Along the trail we saw
Wood Oats (Chasmanthium sessiliflorum), a smaller cousin to the River Oats (Avis’ Fish on a pole!),
with it’s very small flowers and seeds all along the stem.

Southern Grape Fern with fertile frond

Next we had a lesson on
distinguishing between the Southern Grape Fern and Rattlesnake Fern, both found
in relative abundance along the trails at the Bot Gardens.  Both have similar looking fertile fronds but the
Southern Grape Fern (Botrychium
biternatum) which we saw at this location, has a fertile frond that grows
from the ground, along with the other fronds, whereas the fertile frond of the
Rattlesnake Fern, as well as the other fronds, grow from a stem above the
ground.  The leaves comprising the fronds
of the Rattlesnake Fern are also somewhat finer than those of the Southern
Grape Fern.  Both ferns are fertile
during an overlapping period in the late Summer so they can be mistaken, if not
careful. 

To our right, as we walked down
the trail, a spring could be seen breaking out onto the surface and quickly
joining the, at this point, drier main stream bed, providing a significant
amount of the total flow.  This is an
obvious phenomenon but many times, streams such as the one along the Orange
Trail seem to magically get larger, with respect to the amount of flow present,
without contributions such as the spring. 
This is not magic, of course, but science.  In hydrologic terms, streams such as this,
flowing over generally unconsolidated material, are classified as either
“gaining” or “losing” streams.   Where
the water table is deep, surface water being conveyed by the stream will
gradually leave the stream by migrating downward into the bed of the stream and
seeking the water table found below at depth. 
But where the water table is shallow, as is frequently the case as you
lose elevation along a smaller stream as it nears a larger stream (our case),
the bed of the stream will intersect the water table.  When this happens, the water table actually
contributes to stream flow, by welling upward into and through the bed of the
stream.

Sycamore fruits (“seed balls”)

We saw a Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) on a Hop Hornbeam
and passed by a large Sycamore tree (Platanus
occidentalis) , with it’s rough, lower bark and smooth upper bark.  A limb tip was seen on the ground below the
tree with it’s spherical seed balls.  We
also noticed a Broad Beech Fern (Phegopteris
hexagonoptera), and not far away, a Decumaria,
or wild, climbing hydrangea on a Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana)  next
to the trail.  Also seen were Sweet Shrub
(Calycanthus floridus), Piedmont
Azalea (Rhododendron canescens) and
Wild Ginger (Asarum arifolia) along
the banks of the stream.

At the Sitting Bench, we learn,
on the informational sign, that we are in the Ravine and Lower Slopes forest
community and have actually been in it for quite a bit as we made our way down
the trail to this point.  Canopy trees
here are Basswood, Beech, Bitternut Hickory, Northern Red Oak and White Oak.  The sub-canopy consists of Chalk Maple,
Mulberry, Paw Paw, Redbud, Red Maple, Sweetgum and Umbrella Magnolia (which we
have not seen).  The shrub layer is
represented by Bladdernut, Paw Paw, Canadian Buckthorn, Painted Buckeye, Sweet
Shrub and Wild Hydrangea.  A Chalk Maple (Acer leucoderme) was noted very near the
informational sign.

Differential weathering makes gneiss folds stand out

Nice folds in gneiss rock

At this point, we hiked up the
little side trail that follows a small stream, referred to as Copperhead Creek,
up the hill to see some interesting features in the rock outcrops above the
stream.   Retired UGA geology professor,
Dr. Gilles Allard, has described the geology of the Purple and Orange Trails
and this description is included as an appendix to the Botanical Garden’s
pamphlet “The Plant Communities Along the Purple/Orange Trail at the State
Botanical Garden of Georgia”.  The
subject rock outcrops are seen high above the small stream approximately 150
feet from the Sitting Bench.  Visible in
this outcrop of migmatitic gneiss are small, tight folds in the rock.  This can be seen in relatively fresh, broken
surfaces, where the alternating layers of dark and light colored minerals
reveal a wavy pattern of small, tight folds. 
It can also be seen in parts of the outcrop that are covered in
moss.  The minerals comprising the darker
layers, seen in the fresher rock, are more susceptible to chemical weathering
than those making up the lighter colored layers, which contain quartz and
feldspar.  The layers that are more
resistant to chemical weathering stand out in relief as the ridges seen in the
wavy patterns.   

Beechdrops with fruits

Hugh on left; River Cane on right

A large American Beech
tree can be seen at this outcrop, complete with Beech Drops (Epifagus americana) at its base.

After making our way back to the
Sitting Bench, we continued downstream, seeing River Cane (Arundinaria
gigantea) , a native bamboo, a type of
grass.  After a massive privet
eradication effort along the river and the stream, it was hoped that River Cane
would flourish but Box Elder has become more prominent, not necessarily a bad
thing.  Beech Drops were also seen here.

Liverwort

Hugh pointed out some liverwort (Conocephalum conicum) growing on a rock
found at waters edge in the stream.  Most
liverworts are small, usually from 2–20 millimetres (0.08–0.8 in) wide with
individual plants less than 10 centimetres (4 in) long, so they are often
overlooked. The most familiar liverworts, as we see in the stream here, consist
of a prostrate, flattened, ribbon-like or branching structures called a thallus
(plant body); these liverworts are termed thallose liverworts (Wikipedia).

Further down the stream, Hugh
pointed out scattered wood fragments on the ground, the result of Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) activity
up in the canopy.  Pipsissewa or Spotted
Wintergreen (Chimaphila umbellata) was
also seen here. 

Combed Toothed Mushroom

After we crossed the foot bridge
to make our way up the hill to the Flower Garden, was some large leafed
climbing hydrangea (Sp. ?) on a Musclewood. 
Prior to leaving the forest, several nice Combed Toothed mushrooms (Hericium coralloides and Hericium ramosum), were seen on a fallen
log. 

Baccharis in front of bridge

Immediately after walking out of
the forest, Hugh gathered everyone on the foot bridge into the Flower Garden to
point out the Groundsel Tree (Baccharis
halimifolia), a large flowering shrub growing up from the ground below the
bridge.  This is a coastal plain shrub,
which seems to migrating farther north from the coastal area where it is
normally seen.   

Sycamore Tussock Moth caterpillar

Before leaving the
bridge, we saw the Fall Webworm caterpillar (Hyphantria cunea) and a Sycamore Tussock Moth caterpillar (Halysidota harrisii).

After making our way into the
Flower Garden the solitary bee “condominium” was pointed out.  Hollowed out sections of round limbs are
stacked here and provide a place for the bees to lay their eggs.

After arriving back at the
Visitor Center, we adjorned to Donderos for refreshment and conversation, all
glad that the rain had been so nice to miss us this fine morning.

Summary of Species Seen on this
Ramble:

Flora

Oak Leafed
Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)

Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

Short Leaf
Pine (Pinus echinata)

Sparkleberry
tree (Vaccinium arboretum)

Oyster
Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Crane Fly
Orchid (foliage) (Tipularia discolor)

High Bush
Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Black Cherry
tree (Prunus serotina)

Water Oak (Quercus nigra)

Climbing
Hydrangea (Decumaria barbara)

Red Oak tree
(Quercus rubra)

Lance Leafed
Smilax AKA Lance Leafed Greenbrier (Smilax
smallii)

Hop Hornbeam
tree (Ostrya virginiana)

Wood Oats (Chasmanthium sessiliflorum)

Southern
Grape Fern (Botrychium biternatum)

Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)

Sycamore
tree (Platanus occidentalis)

Musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana)

Sweet Shrub
(Calycanthus floridus)

Piedmont
Azalea (Rhododendron canescens)

Chalk Maple
(Acer leucoderme)

American
Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

Beech Drops
(Epifagus Americana)

River Cane (Arundinaria gigantean)

Pipsissewa
or Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila
umbellate)

Combed
Toothed mushrooms (Hericium coralloides
and Hericium ramosum)

Broad Beech
Fern (Phegopteris hexagonoptera)

Wild Ginger
(Asarum arifolia)

Groundsel
Tree (Baccharis halimifolia)

Fauna

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) (visual evidence)

Fall Webworm
caterpillar (Hyphantria cunea)

Sycamore
Tussock Moth caterpillar (Halysidota
harrisii)

This week’s Ramble Report was written by Don Hunter. Be sure to take a look at Don’s Facebook album with photos of today’s ramble click here.
(A small selection of Don’s photos are imbedded in this blog post.)

Checklists
and Trail Guides for Nature Ramblers

Links
to plant checklists, common lichens and the Purple/Orange trail guide are here:
https://naturerambling.org/2013/10/checklists-and-trail-guides.html

Sandy Creek
Nature Center Guided Trail walk:

Tuesday,
Nov. 5, 2013, at 9:00AM Walt Cook will lead a trail walk at the Sandy Creek
Nature Center (not Sandy Creek Park). Walt is one of the original group
of people that started SCNC and this walk should cover some of the history of
the nature center.

Many of the
Nature Ramblers that were on the road by 7:45 a.m. or so this morning were
rewarded with one of the more outstanding sunrises of the year.  The sun rose at 7:52 a.m., a brilliant red,
with an opening in the clouds on the far eastern  horizon. 
As it rose above the horizon, it lit up the entire underside of the
cloud cover, from north to south and west, over our heads.  It looked as if the entire sky was on
fire.  Avis had the good fortune to have
this spectacle in front of her, in it’s entirety, as she drove over from the
Atlanta area.

Twenty
Ramblers gathered near the arbor and were treated with three readings before we
headed out.  Don read, from Walt
Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, the poem “We
Two—How Long We Were Fool’d”.

WE two—how long we were
fool’d!

Now transmuted, we swiftly
escape, as Nature escapes;

We are Nature—long have we
been absent, but now we return;

We become plants, leaves,
foliage, roots, bark;

We are bedded in the
ground—we are rocks;

We are oaks—we grow in the
openings side by side;

We browse—we are two among
the wild herds, spontaneous as any;

We are two fishes swimming
in the sea together;

We are what the locust
blossoms are—we drop scent around the lanes, mornings and evenings;

We are also the coarse
smut of beasts, vegetables, minerals;

We are two predatory
hawks—we soar above, and look down;

We are two resplendent
suns—we it is who balance ourselves, orbic and stellar—we are as two comets;

We prowl fang’d and
four-footed in the woods—we spring on prey;

We are two clouds,
forenoons and afternoons, driving overhead;

We are seas mingling—we
are two of those cheerful waves, rolling over each other, and interwetting each
other;

We are what the atmosphere
is, transparent, receptive, pervious, impervious:

We are snow, rain, cold,
darkness—we are each product and influence of the globe;

We have circled and
circled till we have arrived home again—we two have;

We have voided all but
freedom, and all but our own joy.

Carol performing her stand-up act

Carol,
channeling Rodney Dangerfield, regaled us with much mirth, with a collection of
superb one-liners from her grand-daughter. 
All we needed was someone on a snare drum to punctuate each one-liner as
she rattled off one after the other of some very funny material. (In St. Louis,
where Carol is originally from, it has long been the custom for the children
present something, a dance, recitation, joke, etc., in order to receive the
Halloween treat.):

What does a clock do when it is hungry? It
goes back four seconds.

Broken pencils are pointless.

What do you call a dinosaur with an
extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

I tried to catch some Fog. I mist.

I stayed up all night to see where the sun
went. Then it dawned on me.

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Why did the star hide behind the cloud? It
had to twinkle!

And then
Lili read a quotation from Willa Cather:

I like
trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other
things do.

Today’s
ramble was primarily along the Purple and Orange Trails.  We left the Visitor Center parking lot and
headed behind the Visitor Center, through the gardens and onto the Purple Trail.  This was followed to the river, where we
turned left on the Orange Trail, took a brief detour up the path to the Heath
Bluff, back down to the Orange Trail, skirting the Beaver Pond and up the stream
to the foot bridge, which we took up the ridge to the lower gardens and back to
the Visitor Center.  The focus today was
identifying the different plant communities as we descended the ridge to the
river, visited the Heath Bluff and then made our way, streamside, up the stream
to the foot bridge.  Considerations such
as soil moisture, e.g., xeric or dry vs. mesic or damp, and direction faced by
the ridges play major roles in determining which plant communities are found in
different areas of the Botanical Garden property. 

Continue reading →

To see Don
Hunter’s Facebook album with photos of today’s ramble click here.
(A small selection of Don’s photos are imbedded in this blog post.)

We came from near and far on this cold morning, with roadsides and
ditches on

Catherine reading

“Four eyes” Dale reading

our journey’s routes blanketed here and there with the season’s
first frost.   Everyone was bundled up as
they gathered next to the arbor to discuss the weather and hear this morning’s
readings before heading out on the ramble. 
We were graced with two readings, one from Catherine and one from
Dale.  The reading from Dale was
particularly appropriate for today’s ramble, with the mention of the season’s
first frost. First,
from Catherine, an excerpt from Bailey White’s Sleeping at the Starlite Motel.

Garden
of Eden

 I know some people who believe that God
created Adam and Eve one mile east of Bristol, Florida, on the Florida
panhandle, and that the Garden of Eden was located in Torreya State Park just
north of Bristol, and that Noah built the ark right near the intersection of
state road 12 and I-10 out of the wood of the now-endangered Torreya tree, also
called Stinking Cedar, which grows nowhere else in the world.

The book of Genesis
says, “a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was
parted, and became into four heads.” 
There’s only once place on earth where four rivers come together, and
that’s near Bristol, Florida.

God told Noah,
“Make thee an ark of gopher wood.”  The
Torreya tree, an ancient and primitive species, has another name besides
stinking cedar:  locals call it gopher
wood.  When the flood came, so they say,
the ark floated all the way from Bristol halfway around the world to Mt.
Ararat, and Noah and his dazed family climbed out into a strange land, with
nothing left but stories of their lost homeland in north Florida. 

(Note: Bailey White is from Thomasville, Georgia and
has written several books, including the hilarious Mama Makes Up Her Mind. She was also a frequent commentator on NPR but
seems to have disappeared.)

The second
reading is from the Oct. 24, 2013, New York Times editorial series The Rural Life, by Vernon Klinkenborg,
and read by Dale.

Waiting
for What Comes Next

The
sky to the west is kettle-gray. The last leaves on the sugar maple in front of
the house are flickering but hanging tight for now. Most of the hickory nuts
have fallen, but sometimes I still hear one clatter onto the chicken-house
roof. Another couple of months and Orion will be visible when the dogs and I go
out for the last walk at night.

The
basil has not yet been blackened by a sharp, cold night. There has not yet been
a morning when the dogs and I get our feet wet on frost instead of dew. We lit
a fire in the woodstove the other day just because the color of the world
outside seemed to demand it, but when the fire went out no one missed it. I
have wood to stack and small engines to winterize, but the weather keeps
telling me not to hurry, put it off, take it easy, and so I do.

There
is still a stand of small, pale blue flowers growing along the fence by the
barn. It has been alive with bumblebees of a kind I rarely see, leaner and
darker over all than the thumb-size, yellow-banded bumblebees that have worked
their way through summer. I can’t help thinking that all of them will be dead
before long, their queen alone alive in the winter nest.

So
we wait, me at the kitchen table, the dogs scanning the deck for chipmunks that
scurry and start, overwhelmed by their work in this year of the prodigious
hickory harvest. The dogs don’t even bother to bark. They simply watch and
wait, full of expectation. 

For today’s ramble, we re-traced the route from last week, heading down
the path to the Dunson Native Flora Garden, then following the White Trail up
the power line right-of-way and into the woods to the Green Trail.  We walked the Green Trail to the service road
and followed it, through the Florida Torreya clearing, finishing up with the
Blue Trail back to the power line right-of-way. 
From here we made our way back up to the Visitor Center.  Before we left, however, Dale teased us with
the promise of a special spider to wrap up the ramble. 

Continue reading →

To see Don
Hunter’s facebook album with photos of today’s ramble click here.
(A small selection of Don’s photos are imbedded in this blog post.) This post was written by Don Hunter with minor additions by Dale Hoyt.

Twenty
three ramblers showed up for the weekly ramble, despite the threat of
rain.  Though it was raining in the area,
the rain, except for one brief sprinkle during the walk, was absent for the
ramble.   Hugh presented the reading for
the day from the work of John Burroughs:

After long experience I am convinced that the
best place to study nature is at one’s home,– on the farm, in the mountains,
on the plains, by the sea,– no matter where that may be. One has it all about
him then. The seasons bring to his door the great revolving cycle of wild life,
floral and faunal, and he need miss no part of the show.

. . .

The science of anything may be taught or
acquired by study; the art of it comes by practice or inspiration.  The art of seeing things is not something
that may be conveyed in rules and precepts; it is a matter vital in the eye and
ear, yea, in the mind and soul, of which these are the organs….So far as seeing
things is an art, it is the art of keeping your eyes and ears open.  The art of nature is all in the direction of
concealment.

(From The
Art of Seeing Things, and Nature Near
Home, by John Burroughs in American
Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, Bill McKibben, ed. (New York:
Literary Classics of the United States, 2008), pages 146-159, and 168-171.)

The ramble
route today was down the hill, past the Dunson Native Flora Garden and over to
the White Trail, and up and across the power line clearing.  We moved from the White Trail to the Green
Trail, then to the service road and then on to the Blue Trail back towards the
power line to wrap things up.

Continue reading →

This
morning, fourteen kindred souls gathered at the arbor for the Thursday ramble,
dressed in flannel shirts and jackets to ward off the temps in the low 50’s
that greeted us as we gathered for the pre-ramble readings.

Don Hunter’s
photos of today’s Ramble are here. Don also did the write-up for walk.

Two people brought readings today; first up was Catherine Chastain
who read Night-Spider’s Advice by
Joyce Sidman, from
the book, The Dark Emporer and Other
Poems of the Night.

Night-Spider’s
Advice

Build
a frame

and stick to it,

I
always say.

Life’s
a circle.

Just
keep going around.

Do
your work, then

sit
back and see

what
falls in your lap.

Eat
your triumphs,

eat
your mistakes:

that
way your belly

will
always be full.

Use
what you have.

Rest
when you need to.

Dawn
will come soon enough.

Someone
has to remake

the
world each night.

It
might as well be you.

Then Dale Hoyt read
the lyrics from Misalliance by the
British musical comedy duo Flanders and Swann (click here to
see the text). This seemed appropriate and should have been read last week
when we were more focused on vines.

After the
readings we all headed off for the Threatened and Endangered Plants garden
before heading down the Purple Trail to the Orange Trail, where we headed down
river to the wetlands area and then  up
along the creek to the upper parking lots. 
The emphasis today was ferns.  We
observed several ferns but, as usual, there were plenty of other things to
capture our interest.

Continue reading →

Events of interest to Ramblers:

Fri., Oct.
4, 2013 9:00AM – 10:30AM

Linda Chafin
on Piedmont Prairies

State
Botanical Garden of Georgia

Our big native plant sale at the
Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plants is this Friday and Saturday!

Friday, Oct 4, 6:00pm
– 7:00pm  is an SBG Friends Members event – preview party and sale. You
can become a Friends Member at the door!

 Species
list is on the SBG website, http://botgarden.uga.edu/eventdetails.php?id=13

Saturday,
October 5, 2013. 9 AM – 2 PM General Public
Welcome! 

2450 S. Milledge
Ave. Athens, GA 30605

This event is
free!

Don Hunter’s
wonderful photos of today’s Ramble are here.
We thank Don for allowing us to use a selection of his photos for our blog.

Several
people brought readings for today, but we only had time for two. Please bring
yours next time.  Lee read a story of a
revolutionary war soldier who stopped to think about the ways of a mocking bird.  Then Sandra read a very appropriate poem on
Kudzu.

          This morning about two o’clock, as I
was walking up and down past one of my sentinels, in order to keep myself
awake, I was very agreeably surprised by the singing of a mocking-bird. He sang
by himself and continued his notes till daylight. One would have imagined that
he was sensible of the merit of his accomplishments, and that it was in
complaisance to man as well as for his satisfaction that he was pleased to sing
when all was silent, (except the barking of some dogs) Nothing animated him so
much as the stillness of nature; twas then that he composed and executed all
his tones. He raised from seriousness to gaiety, and from a simple song to a
more sportive warbling, from the lightest quivers and divisions he softened
into the most languishing and plaintiff sighs, which he afterwards forsook to
return to his natural sprightliness.

(from: William Feltman, “Diary of the Pennsylvania
Line. May 26, 1781 – April 25, 1782, in Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution,
Battalions and Line, 1775-1783, ed. John Blair Linn and William H. Egle, vol. 1
(Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart, 1888), p. 689.)

Next was a poem by Oliver (“Ollie”)
Reeves, poet laureate of Georgia from 1944 to 1963, presented by Sandra
Hoffberg:

Song of the Kudzu Vine

The Kudzu vine is a hardy plant

And it grows where other good vines can’t;

Where the land is poor and the clay banks stand

And the gullies run through the tortured land.

Here it spreads its leaves on the wasting loam

And it sends it roots and clusters home.

And it saves the farmer hours of toil

As it spreads these roots to hold the soil.

Ah, you may have watched the black snake run

To the shaded hole from the blistering sun, 

And you may have stood at the old race track

As the thoroughbreds came thundering back;

And you have seen the swallow’s flight,

And the shooting star in the deep dark night,

But until you’ve watched kudzu grow,

You’ve never seen the fastest show,

Over the rock piles, under the brush,

Climbing the hillsides on with a rush,

Down the ditches, into the glade

Shielding the earth with a comforting shade.

There goes kudzu ever in flight,

Swift in the sunshine, swifter at night.

Happy the hog and grateful the kine

Nourished by food that’s held in the vine,

Happy the farmer, happy the day

Gathering kudzu, tossing the hay,

Come join the chorus, help us to sing

Down with erosion, “Kudzu is king!”

Today our
theme was vines.  We do not always have a
theme, but this was a request from Sandra and Joan.  They missed last week when we started working
on vines, so today we went on a vine hunt. 
Our trail took us down the white trail by the Callaway building to the
Orange Cut-off, left on the cut-off trail to the Orange trail.  Right on the Orange trail through the
Powerline ROW, to the big tree by the Privet experiment sign.  We then turned around following the white
trail back to the Lower Parking Lot.

Continue reading →

Announcements of interest to Ramblers:

Pie day!!! Please come!!!

Sandy Creek
Nature Center 40th Anniversary Celebration

Sunday,
September 29, 2013; 3PM to 5PM

Trail walk with Dan Williams!

Sandy Creek
Nature Center

Tuesday,
October 1, 2013; 9:00AM

Photos of
today’s ramble are courtesy of Don Hunter (the complete set can be found here.)

Today’s
Ramble began with Catherine Chastain reading a selection from a wonderfully
illustrated book, Middlewood
Journal:  Drawing Inspiration from Nature
by Helen Scott Correll, p. 78:

I can tell summer
is losing its grip.  It’s interesting to
note that I understand more every year that the seasons, which I used to
consider fairly distinct, are really quite blurred.  Cat brier and Virginia creeper leaves begin
turning red as early as July: fuzzy spring-like oak leaves sprout until
frost.  During this morning’s ramble I
saw the first “fall” silvery aster bloom for the year, and the grass-leaved and
golden asters, which have been blooming for a couple weeks.  Thoroughworts (upland, round-leaved, and
hyssop-leaved) are in bloom, but fading. 
Tall goldenrods already brighten the woodland edges.  Joe Pye weed and pale indian plantain are in
full bloom down by Meetinghouse Creek.

While I drew, fall
field crickets trilled in the field behind me, and a white-breasted nuthatch’s
loud and nasal ank ank! ank ank! ank ank! gave away his position as he walked
head-first down the trunk of an oak looking for insects.  I remember the bird’s name and differentiate
him from the brown creeper, who also hops on tree trunks, by thinking what a
“nut” the nuthatch is to hop head-first straight down the tree.  The way a brown creeper does it, starting at
the bottom of the tree and spiraling up the trunk, seems so much easier.  The name nuthatch actually comes from the
bird’s habit of wedging nuts into cracks in a tree bark, then whacking at it
with his sharp bill to “hatch” the nut from its shell.

A pileated
woodpecker screamed several times close by. 
A breeze kicked up and stirred the leaves, eventually becoming a steadying
cooling wind that persuaded me to stay a while after journaling, just to enjoy
it. 

We then
walked through the shade garden to the road, down the road to the power line
and then to the river. Today’s theme was “vines,” but we saw many
other interesting things, both flora and fauna.

Continue reading →