A valedictory walk

I am "retiring" again.

Yesterday was my last day as a part-time employee of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. For the last eleven and a half years I have worked as Storyteller/Naturalist at Arrowhead Environmental Education Center. For most of that time I worked under a grant from DNR in cooperation with Floyd County Schools. But for the last couple of years I have been a part-time employee of DNR. 

Being the sentimental old fool I am I had to take a walk around the property for a while. Part of me wished for some company on the walk. It might have been nice to have Vivian Davis and Marilyn McLean my first two Arrowhead cohorts, or Sarah Baker who worked with Vivian and me a little later. Or my short-time director (2023-24) Eric Lindbergh or Arrowhead's brand-new director Emmi Losasso. But, on the other hand, I have always loved my solitary walks through these three hundred fifty acres.

Before I even started on my way for the day, I took a selfie in one of my DNR shirts -- I had to turn those in with my keys and laptop today.

After turning everything in and before heading to the DNR office for paperwork I took a selfie out front.

How many times during the last twelve years have I shown off the beaver wetland to groups of kids and had them role play silly scenarios about how the beavers created a habitat for many other critters.

This panorama shot includes the huge s-shaped beaver dam that created the big wetland.

I wonder how many pictures I've taken on or of this boardwalk.

This is a panorama taken from boardwalk.

I've been here long enough to remember when this tree was living.

On walks it was our custom to stop in the middle of the boardwalk for a "Kodak moment"; here's mine.

Then I walked all the way around the series of waterfowl ponds (once fisheries ponds).

Of course there were lots of examples of this type of natural occurrence and I thought, as always, of "The Scat Song".

Tulip Poplars are one of my favorites... 

...They are beginning to turn yellow.

I am not always so fond of Sweetgum trees; their spiky seed balls are an aggravation... 



... but their star shaped leaves are fascinating in the fall. 

I'll bore you with lots of pond pics...

Especially with younger kids, I enjoy teaching folks to recognize Georgia's most common tree...

... the Loblolly Pine...

...Its needles come in bundles of three, about as long as your hand and wrist, and tending to twist into spirals as they dry.

Beaver slides all along Lovejoy Creek

During my early days at Arrowhead I'd walk these paths and rejoice that these glorious walks were actually a part of my job; I needed to know what was happening to the flora and fauna of these acres to prepare for my nature walks with visitors. I was being paid (not much but paid) to do this!

I thought I would add myself to the picture to show the heft of this Loblolly trunk.

A piece of lichen covered bark at the base of the tree.

Leaves on the big pond the beavers created on Lovejoy Creek.

If the beaver dam survives many of these trees will not and this area will become a different sort of habitat.

The beaver dam...

The beaver dam and pond

This is a very common little aster in full bloom right now.

One of many wood duck nests maintained in or near the creeks, wetlands, and ponds at Arrowhead.

The huge hairy vines? Poison Ivy

The beavers have eaten the bark from the bases of these tree trunks.

Red Oak leaves

A sycamore at the edge of a pond.

A fly on a sunflower

A young sycamore

The sumacs punctuate the forest edges like out-of-season Poinsettias

More sumacs

More scat

More asters

Evening Primrose?

It's been dry so the pine cones are open. If it rains they will close again.

I hadn't walked over to this little pond in a while. Uh-oh.

And as approached my car and the end of my walk, right on cue...

here came the big Robbins airplanes on their regular training runs. 

For nearly twelve years I have watched them, usually flying quite low as they come right over our center. 

When I am with kids when this happens we stop what were are doing and wave. I'll take that as a wave of goodbye to me.