My last trip to Beersheba Springs was in 1990. I was asked to lead an activity at the Tennessee Environmental Education Association’s annual conference. I stayed at an old hotel that has since undergone major renovations.
Since that visit, I have traveled to nearby places, including South Cumberland State Park, Savage Gulf Natural Area (now a state park in its own right), and the iconic Fall Creek Falls State Park. I do not even recall passing through Beersheba Springs in all these years.
I return to Beersheba Springs Assembly this weekend to attend the Trails and Trilliums event. The trilliums and lady slipper orchids should be in bloom unless I have already missed them, but more importantly, there will be naturalists from across the state, gathered for learning and comradery.
On Sunday, I will speak about Robert Sparks Walker, a Poet and Literary Naturalist, and founder of the Chattanooga Audubon Society. I have given this talk before, but only to local groups. This presentation requires that I take my talk to a whole new level.
I have been instructed to give a PowerPoint presentation, but I hope that the technology doesn’t get in the way of telling the story.
I have also registered to participate in several other activities. They will be both learning experiences and fun. I hear there are still spaces open for registration, so if you would like to join this fabulous event, follow the link for more information:
Beersheba Springs is on the Cumberland Plateau. To prepare for the visit there, I have been rereading portions of The Forest Unseen by David George Haskell. He sought to discover the nature of the forest through the lens of a 1-meter-wide circular observation area in the old-growth forest owned by the University of the South. I wrote an article about Haskell's writings after interviewing him. It appeared in the Hellbender Press.https://hellbenderpress.org/news/the-sounds-of-science