Our man Bill Holston has been busy at his new job, which hasn’t left him much time for writing. Spring break clearly got him in the mood to slack, though, and he sends us a dispatch. In this installment he finds that spring has sprung (and, as a bonus, he reveals the name of his favorite musician).
A Season of Change
By Bill Holston
Spring is clearly here. I have mixed feelings about Spring. It usually causes me to think about the coming Summer heat. Still, this year, I’m particularly enjoying the Spring. For personal reasons, I’m enjoying watching change bust open all around me. I had a chance to hike twice this weekend and that this is a season of change was obvious.
Saturday, I led a walk on the Buckeye Trail in the Great Trinity Forest. I arrived early and walked the trails before anyone else arrived. There is a new decomposed granite trail over the Trinity Levee, so this trail is truly accessible to strollers and wheelchairs. This area was once the site of Swiss Immigrant Joseph Metzger’s dairy operation. It’s a beautiful wooded bottomland forest, part of the 6,000-acre Trinity bottomland. The trees here are a great asset to our city. An acre of trees removes 13 tons of gas and debris from our air. So, when you think about that, you can see why people might actually want to hug a tree.
I crossed the levee (and yes, Don Mclean, it was dry), and started walking on the well-marked dirt trails. It’s great to walk under the canopy of newly leafed out elms and cedar elms. The Pecans are not quite leafed out yet. Soon, I was walking through a dense carpet of native Virginia Wild Rye. This native grass was knee high and wet with dew, so soon, my pants were soaked to the knee. It was a warm morning, so it was actually quite pleasant. The Crow Poison was blooming as well. I walked down to the loop through the Buckeye Grove. The trees were covered with the intricate blooms. Aesculus glabra var. arguta It was gratifying to walk in these groves and see where North Texas Master Naturalist volunteers had removed the invasive Japanese Privit. Removing the Privit permits the Buckeyes to flourish and show off their impressive canopy of blooms. I walked through the grove and past an immense Bur Oak (quercos macrocarpa), which marks the start of the trail over to where White Rock Creek enters the Trinity River. I didn’t have time to do that hike as I was set to lead a hike.
I returned to the parking lot. There was a large group waiting to hike. We divided into two groups. One group went to the Buckeye Grove. The other group had several strollers, which really couldn’t navigate the dirt trails. So, I volunteered to lead that hike on the paved trails. The group was mostly comprised of employees of our local EPA office. They were great sports and seemed to really enjoy learning about the trees and plants of this forest. The older kids loved looking at bugs, including lots of butterflies. We could hear the call of cardinals, wrens, and tufted titmouse in the woods.
One of my fellow Master Naturalists had heard my interview on KERA about my new job at Human Rights Initiative of North Texas. It was fun to talk about my new gig.
Sunday was an even better hike. I drove over to Spring Creek Forest off of Garland Avenue after church. I think I’m becoming a quasi-pantheist as I’m beginning to see God clearer in the woods than in a building. I walked along the banks of crystal clear Spring Creek. I noticed that the Trout Lilies (Erythronium albidum) are finished blooming. The Chickasaw Plum Prunus angustifolia and Red Bud Trees are all bursting with blooms though. I walked along and heard the song of Cardinals filling the woods. Occasionally I heard the call of a Red Bellied Woodpecker. They fill these woods, and love the abundance of dead hardwoods, where they make their nests. I particularly love hiking here, because of the towering trees. This is a unique and special wood. Chinquapin Oaks Quercus muehlenbergii grow here along with Bur Oaks, and Shumard Oaks. The woods also have native pecans and Walnuts.
I love watching the change of seasons. I followed the primary trail, which eventually crosses a small creek, before wandering off to the right, in a branch of trail this is easy to miss if you don’t pay attention. I passed an Eastern Wahoo, Euonymus atropurpureus, also known as burning bush, because of its brilliant red foliage in the fall. Just a few weeks back it was covered in red fruit, which is not much favored by birds. But now it’s covered with new green leaves. I followed the trail along the creek, at one point startling a group of wood ducks. I really love the beautiful plumage of the males. I made my way past a small wood shelter someone had built, to a high bank with a rapid below. I sat there and listened to the sound of the water, watching Spiny Softshell turtles swimming. I watched a Diamondback Water Snake skim the water and climb up to sun on a limb. I pulled out the Psalms and read, Psalm 11:1 In the LORD I take refuge. Doug Burr covered this Psalm in his fine album The Shawl. Doug continues to be my favorite local musician. I’ve watched a whole room full of drinkers put their bottles down to listen to his carefully crafted tunes.
My favorite thing to observe, though, was just how green the forest compared to a week ago. Brilliant green surrounded me, and the Virginia wild rye was knee high. It caused me to reflect on Spring as a season of change. The Guess Who once sang, “Seasons change and so did I.” As I wrote earlier, I left 30 years of law practice to become the Executive Director at HRI. I don’t think I avoid change, but the fact is I don’t embrace change much either. I’ve lived in the same house for 26 years, which was our first house. I’ve been in the same church for over 20 years. I was in my law partnership for over 20 years as well. So, this change in career is somewhat out of character for me. It’s a huge move for me. Someone asked me if this was ‘semi-retirement.’ Hardly. I’m working harder with a greater learning curve than I have in many years. Still, it is exhilarating. I can’t really explain it any better than by stories. I get to help women who are escaping abusive husbands, showing up in our office with newborn babies. I get to talk to men who are theology professors fleeing torture. I get to hear the stories of people who risk everything to build a better world, who leave everything behind to come to America. I get to spend the day with young people, working extremely hard all day. They give me such hope. Just hearing their compassion and passion directed toward helping vulnerable people is simply breathtaking.
This time last year, I was writing about HRI’s 5k. Last year I was a volunteer. It’s coming next weekend. I hope to see some FrontBurnervians there.
Well, I don’t have as much time to write, and I regret that. I’ve loved writing about the trails I explore. But, as the Preacher once said, ‘To everything there is a season.” Spring is a season of change and this year I welcome it.
