Sunday, November 9, 2014

Collecting Seeds At Panola Mountain "Power of Flight"

 

Since I just did my last post about Oscar Hammerstein, it seems appropriate to quote from one of his songs....

"The corn is as high as an elephant's eye,

And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky!"







Wait, you are thinking that perhaps this does not look like corn to you, but more like wheat? It is Indian grass and it does remind me very much of stalks of wheat. (In this photo, I have reached up and stripped it of the seeds!) 

In the English language, the word "corn" used to refer to any grain but especially wheat.  When the first English settlers came to America, they called the grain that Native Americans ate, "Indian corn", but eventually the "Indian" was dropped and it was just called corn.


As I did last year, I volunteered to collect grass seeds from the "Power of Flight" area at Panola Mountain State Park.  (The seed will be stored until Spring and will then be planted for the birds and butterflies.) What a glorious day!  It started out quite cool but when the sun came out, it warmed up considerably.  There were only three volunteers along with Phil, the Park Ranger.  (There had been a larger group the weekend before, but I couldn't make that one!)

We collected seeds from Indian grass and also, little Bluestem.  We placed the seeds carefully in the clean pillowcases provided for us and we did this for hours as Phil told us what birds we were hearing, the names of butterflies that we saw and all kinds of facts of nature...in other words, it was heavenly for me! 
(One of the young volunteers arrived late and when we all turned to go back to the parking lot to show him the way to the grass seed area, a very large buck came from just behind us! It had a very large "rack" and it was quite easily the largest white tailed deer I have ever seen! Sorry, no time for a photo...it must know it has to be fast to escape the deer hunters here.)


In my first photo on this post, that is the nature center building at Panola Mountain State Park. It has now been painted a different color and they no longer have that painting of Panola Mountain on the front door.  That makes me a bit sad since I always liked it but never mind, the painting now has a home on this blog posting!  And you will never guess, I just found out that it was painted by none other than our friendly ranger guide on Saturday!  Good job, Phil!  And ahem....I hope I didn't drive you TOO crazy on Saturday.  My blogging friends will tell you I am really a very shy and reserved kind of woman.  Right, friends?  HA!  You all know how much I LOVE my monadnocks!  I will talk your EAR OFF if you let me!

Oh! And you might remember that I have been very much bothered by a bad cough for weeks which has left me with some severe breathing problems.  The wonderful thing...being outside in all that fresh air on Saturday just did me a world of good, truly it did!  I think I recognize that I need to be around Stone Mountain, Arabia Mountain and Panola Mountain, not just for my mental health but for my physical health as well!

Hey! I found someone singing "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" for you! Man, it makes me feel good to hear this from someone so young.  I love how she sings it too. Enjoy.

35 comments:

  1. We used to sing Oh What A Beautiful Morning every morning in school right after saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National anthem. We then sang Good Morning To You to our teacher before we began classes. It helps to begin the day with a happy song.

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    1. Ah, Good Morning To You! Isn't that the same tune as Happy Birthday To You? I did a post about that too, I think! Do you forget all the posts you have done? I do!
      I like happy songs. If they are sad, you can keep them!

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  2. I remember your post from last year about the seeds collecting, and I am as impressed today as I was then with your willingness to get up early on a weekend, drive there and spend hours doing this kind of work.
    Thank you for explaining about corn! In German, Korn can be generally used for all types of grain, but usually people mean wheat (Weizen) when they say Korn, same as it used to be in the English language. And isn't this just another word that makes the common root of our two languages so very obvious?

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    1. So glad you are feeling better!

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    2. Ha! You should be more impressed by me getting to work in the morning! Going to Panola Mountain is a joy and spending hours there feels more like minutes, it is amazing!
      Thanks for telling me about Korn and weizen! I find that fascinating myself!

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  3. I'm glad that you had such a good time and that you are feeling better for it. Such a good thing to be involved in too. xx

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    1. It was wonderful! And I felt so good on that day, only the next day, my illness was back in force. Oh well, at least I had one good day! :-)

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  4. What a beautiful place to spend the day. It's always good to be out in nature. I like the way they call it the Power of Flight Area. I'm very glad you are better.

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    1. It's a special place. It is also a National Natural Landmark, we don't have too many in Georgia!
      Power of Flight, yes I love that too! It is where they have bird walks and you are only allowed there if you are with a guide.
      I do get better and then, I kind of have problems again...but that's okay, I think I am headed in the right direction!

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  5. If i ever get to visit any of your monadnocks, you may come along and talk to me all you want! It would be lovely to see them and hear all you've learned about them.

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    1. Let me know if you are in this area! I think Stone Mountain is one of the most visited places in Georgia and for good reason! There are a lot of folks who know more about our local monadnocks but I will make you love them whether you want to or not! :-)

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  6. It's good to hear you're doing better and all the fresh air helped. That sounds like quite a nice day out, but I'd probably die from heat exhaustion if I tried it myself.

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    1. Oh no, this was very comfortable this past weekend. If you want to talk heat, then this same field in the summer would be brutal!

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  7. Glad you're up and about, sounds like an interesting activity to be involved in.

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    1. Thanks! And it was a fun thing to do, hope the seeds that we collected will be good for the birds and butterflies!

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  8. er,...'Corn is as high as an elephants eye...'

    There are no elephants in Oklahoma missis!


    Interesting stuff about the corn mind.

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    1. Oh dear, now I can't decide if I want to do a post about elephants or Oklahoma...oddly enough, I have a fondness for both. Honestly.
      And I know lots of interesting things, and I can almost always find a song to go with any fact that I know!

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  9. What a pity the painting has been painted over....how thoughtless...how stupid! I'm glad you've preserved it by the photo, Kay.

    I'm also glad you're feeling better. The great outdoors obviously did you good. :)

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    1. Oh Lee, you make me laugh. You sound just like me! My husband took that photo from a few years ago and I am glad that I found it for you!
      I need a prescription for NATURE rather than DRUGS!

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    1. Shame on you! You just made me read all about pepper and peppercorns, and I am telling you, that is a long history about pepper.
      I didn't know that is where the got the word "PEP" from!! Speaking of which, I still haven't got mine back yet! Still hoping though!

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  11. A beautiful header, Kay! And wonderful photos today......I'm really glad you took a picture of the painting on the door....That guide/ranger is very talented.

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    1. Thanks! I asked Richard to take a photo of Arabia Lake with the pretty fall foliage reflected in the lake, but could he get a few fronds of that grass that reminded me of the Indian grass? He could!
      Glad you like the painting too! I will let Phil know!

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  12. I think it looks like climbing weather:-)

    Ps: You asked if the kids are learning about the war in school. Sure they do, as I recall, we had very much teaching about the war and Norway's role during WW2

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    1. I should think that most kids here would not have a clue about Norway in World War II, and possibly not too many adults either. They would know if they read that book by David Howarth. I think everyone should read that book! I have a link below to anyone reading this comment.

      http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/we-die-alone-david-howarth/1102175089?ean=9781599210636

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  13. I often sing that song when the weather is good and I'm outdoors. (So long as no one can hear me - my voice is nothing to shout about). I like Jenny Snipstead's version. I've been replaying in the background as I scrolled around other blogs.

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    1. Hey John!
      Why I love the idea of you singing this song too! Glad you liked this young girl singing this song too!
      Guess what, you would have loved to have heard Phil, he is an EXPERT on butterflies!! I think it was a Sleepy Orange that we saw when we were walking back after our seed collection but I can't remember! :-)

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  14. A heavenly day indeed.
    The painting on the door caught my attention right away. What a pity it's no more.

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    1. It was wonderful!
      Even though the door has been painted over, it now has a home on my blog!
      And the thing is, that is just how Panola Mountain looks, there are a lot of trees that cover it, and lots of trees surrounding it.

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    1. I took the photos at Panola Mountain but that header photo was taken the next day at Arabia Lake at Arabia Mountain by my personal photographer, my husband!

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  16. Sounds like a great day collecting in nature. Same thing happens here with things you like. Go back a year later and it's been altered. Nice painting too that you would have thought would have been preserved. Like the girl with an acoustic version of a classic song.

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    1. Thanks, Bob! Remember the expression, "wiser heads prevailed"? I don't hear that phrase much anymore. Could it be because it so rarely happens?

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  17. Such a sweet song and singer! Thanks for sharing and making me smile and wish we had blue skies! It's pretty cold outside right now! Your mountain is so lovely and it sounds like it was a "beautiful day" for you. I hope you're feeling better soon and that nasty cough gets gone!

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    1. Oh! You know I thought of you when I saw all the cold weather reported on the news! We will be getting that Polar blast in Georgia but it will be much more subdued for us. Stay warm! Thanks for your well wishes. xx

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