kissalostsoul

I was off fairly early this morning to drive in to visit the Folkston Funnel.  The Funnel is a very busy place for trains.  All the trains headed from Savannah to Florida, or coming from Florida to Savannah and points beyond have to funnel through Folkston, GA. Folkston is a mecca for train lovers.  70 trains a day funnel through this small Georgia town.  I was hoping to understand why people watch trains by talking to them at this train viewing platform complete with picnic tables, a bathroom, a charcoal grill, and internet access. Yesterday I visited the Chamber of Commerce and was given a train schedule.  I chose to come this morning before nine so I could be prepared to see the Tropicana Express from Florida bringing oranges north from Florida.  I was hoping to see the white cars which I assumed would have oranges painted on them.  I was also told a local train enthusiast named Cricket would be there on his cart. Well folks, no one was at the platform.  It was chilly and

Holy Moses, we’ve had a lot of rain!  My guess is about 5 –6” in the last four days.  Emma and I only made short forays out the door so she could relieve herself yesterday.  On the positive side, we really needed the rain and it was a great rest for my hip. Emma and I were able to sit outside this evening, and while we were doing that Connor, the biology intern, came to tell me that he had spotted some guests taking up residence in my rig.  Thankfully, it wasn’t mice. The view out his window is of the driver’s side of my rig.  He had noticed a couple of Carolina wrens visiting the space under the front slide out.  I went to take a look, and here’s what I found: I pulled out this rather large nest that they had built in the protected area where the slide arm goes in.  No eggs yet, so I yanked it out.  Male wrens usually build several nests, and the female chooses which one she likes best.  I’m guessing she liked this one and would have been laying some eggs in the near future

Glienicke Castle which is situated at the soout-west of Berlin just at the border to Potsdam was once  the Summer residence of  Prince Carl of Prussia, the third son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Ther first building on this site was a Manor  (which was described as Castle in documents from that time) which was build in 1753 for Johann Jakob von Mirow a Docotor from Berlin. After he came in finacial trouble he had to sell the Estate in 1764. It changed the woners a few times in the following until it was bought by Count Carl Heinrich August of Linedeau.He changed the look of the Estate and also gave the Manor a new meaning.   After Prussia's defeat by Napoleon's army at Jena and Auerstedt in 1806 Count Lindenau fell into financial difficultiesand sought to sell the Estate but without succcess. In 1811 and 1812 it was rented by the prussian Cancellor Count Karl August of hardenbergwho bought it in 1814. In addition to remodeling of the interior and exterior of the Ma

After four days of work, I’m ready for a few days off.  Three of those days were split between roving and working the VC, but that floor in the VC is still doing a number on my hip.  We are entering the busier season for visitors, so that helps with the boredom, but I still prefer the roving assignments.  They not only get me outside, but I also enjoy the interaction with visitors on the trails and nature drive. Winds were absolutely calm this morning after last nights thunderstorms and rain.  Alligator pond was very reflective, and if you had a pair of binoculars, you’d see a gator on the far bank. I thought I’d include a picture so you can get an idea of how the Honey Prairie fire of 2011-2012 resulted in stands of totally burned out upland forest.  That fire, which lasted a year, burnt through over 80% of the refuge.  While it looks rather devastating here, Mother Nature knows what she’s doing, and the swamp will come back rejuvenated. As we near the end of February, the

As I write this post tonight, there’s a nice moderate rain going on outside.  The swamp needs it badly.  Over the four months I’ve been here, I’ve noticed the water levels drop.  Ponds and borrow ditches are drying up.  That’s not a good thing.  Rain has been forecasted for the next two days, and I, for one, hope the forecast is correct for a change.  I would also much prefer to have rainy days on the days I have to work, so it can rain all it wants for tomorrow and Sunday. Yesterday was supposed to be a day of training about the environmental programming we do for schools.  The morning almost went as planned, and our volunteer/intern group followed along as fellow volunteer Barry led us on a hike to discover those things that most people wouldn’t notice along one of the trails.  He did an excellent job pointing out things you’d normally just walk past. The afternoon didn’t go as well, as there were a couple of unexpected emergencies.  One involved a visitor that had recently had b

After the great day on the swamp on Friday, I worked the next two days in the VC.  Business has picked up as predicted, so at least there aren’t hours and hours of no visitors. When I drove to work on Sunday, I noticed one of the pine trees about to explode with pollen.  Luckily I’m not allergic to this pollen, as it has been coating everything for a couple of weeks. I found each end of the branches to be very geometric with the round spread of needles, and the bouquet of catkins in the middle. The centers kind of reminded me of those ‘snakes’ you light with a match.  Remember those?  As a kid I loved the smell of the sulphur when you lit one of those little black pellets that grew before your very eyes.  This looked like a whole box got lit at once to me.                                               A SMALL FOREST OF CYPRESS KNEES IN THE SWAMP I was pleasantly surprised to get an email yesterday, on a National Holiday, from the Volunteer Coordinator at the National

After our rescue of the turtle and lunch, we were back in the boats to head for the Big Water area on Friday.  The boat I was in brought up the rear for this portion of the journey.  That meant that most of the wildlife encountered was gone by the time our third boat drove by.    We had to settle for enjoying the cypress scenery along the way.  I found the warped reflections from the wake of our boat interesting though. This great egret was perched far enough away that it wasn’t bothered by our passage.  I liked the swirling branches of the big tree.  Of course, there were quite a few alligators out sunning themselves.  They really don’t move if they’re on the shore, but gators closer to the water trail roll off and swim away at a boats approach.  I lost count of how many we saw.                   We all had a good chuckle at the exuberance of this turtle catching the sun’s rays.  As we made our way along the trail, we lost sight of the two boats ahead of us.  Event

When i startet this Blog i only covered Royal Evetns i have been and Royal Sides and Castles i have visited. Since Summer 2010 also News about the former reigning german Houses and the mediatized Houses are covered here so i thought it is time for a Reorganizatiion to make it easier to find Posts. You can now find here the different Posts: News : News about the former reigning german Houses and the mediatized Houses german Houses : generalInformation about the former reigning Houses as such as History of the Family and Information about the present Family members Special : Reports about the Royal and noble Events i have attended Castles and Sides : Information about Castles, chruches, burial ground and other Sides connected to Royalty i have visited

Yesterday, 12 volunteers and two staff headed off for a day long fieldtrip into the swamp.  Our destination was Big Water which is reached through the west entrance.  It’s a 70 mile drive from the east entrance, so we packed lunches and dressed in multiple layers for this on the water adventure. After many days of overcast skies, Friday dawned clear and cold.  By a little after 10:00, we were on our way in three refuge boats to enjoy the cypress swamp area of the refuge. We motored our way through Billy’s Lake to then thread our way through the canoe paths.  One of the pluses of volunteering at this refuge is the number of fieldtrips that we are able to do so we get a true feeling of the swamp that we can relate to visitors. It’s hard to explain the beauty of traveling through this wilderness.  Alligators lurk around many corners, and I find the cypress knees especially wonderful to look at. After several miles of travel, we arrived at our lunch stop.  Connor, the new b