As I do nearly every week, I visited two places of great natural beauty last weekend — one an urban forest that I‘d been to many times, the other a place I’d never seen before.
Both left me refreshed, spiritually uplifted and thankful for natural splendor, no matter where I find it or how many times I’ve seen it.
The urban forest was the Big Trees Forest Preserve in Sandy Springs, a 30-acre wooded swath described as a “visual, mental and spiritual oasis” in the midst of a dense urban area. Several of us Georgia Botanical Society members strolled through the forest as our leader, Ellen Honeycutt, gave tips on identifying native trees, shrubs and other plants in winter.
As usual, there were some surprises, such as seeing red maples already in bloom — a few weeks earlier than usual.
The next day I was in the Oconee National Forest in Middle Georgia’s Putnam County in the rolling Piedmont, where several of us Georgia ForestWatch members bushwhacked a few miles through a hardwood forest along a little-known stream called Rock Creek. Leading was J.P. Schmidt, a University of Georgia ecologist who knows his way around the forest.
The federal government in the 1930s began acquiring the land — mostly old worn-out, eroded cotton fields — that today is the 115,000-acre Oconee National Forest.
I had not visited Rock Creek before, but, seeing it for the first time, I was taken aback by its unspoiled beauty. Under a canopy of overhanging tree limbs, the stream’s bluish water flowed and splashed around rocks of all shapes, sizes and colors, creating gentle ripples and tiny, gurgling waterfalls — an artist’s delight.
In the forest bordering the creek were huge, stately pines, oaks, yellow poplars and sweet gums — several probably 90 yeas old or more.
For me, it is uplifting to know that the splendor of Georgia’s wild places can leave me breathless, no matter how many times I’ve seen it.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be a full on Friday (Feb. 10). Mercury is low in the east just before dawn. Venus and Mars are in the west around dusk and set about two hours later. Jupiter rises out of the east around midnight. Saturn is in the east about two hours before dawn.
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