Gordon Butler Nature Preserve

One of my favorite green blob discoveries thus far has been Gordon Butler Nature Preserve in Hope Mills, NC.  It is a beautiful patch of land right off the main road in town that seems to be relatively unknown.  We've hiked out there many times this summer and each time is a joy and treat.  The paths are jeep trails and fairly well maintained and it's a very easy walk for young hikers.

Since this is an undeveloped piece of property, there are no bathrooms or available water on site so we have to pack everything in.  It's a short hike exploring the main trails, but I've yet to explore some of the lesser developed footpaths because they're very overgrown and the ticks and snakes have been very abundant this year.

The best features of this preserve are the Little Rockfish and Bucknose Creeks.  They converge together on the property and continue down through the woods to join up to the now non-existent Hope Mills Lake.  There's a dock out there where the water used to flow up onto a beach called Stone's Landing, but since the dam blocking Hope Mills Lake burst, the water level is much lower and the creek is shallow and fordable.

You can see where the water levels were once very high by the eroded banks, but the lower water means that much of the fallen trees that were once covered are now exposed and a joy to look at and explore.

We have gotten into the water here and paddled around a bit, but I keep the children in the shallow sections where it's usually no more than waist deep.  We've of course explored up and down the creeks that feed into the main body, specifically Bucknose Creek, but we haven't gone too far.  Maybe about 1/2 a mile.  It's pretty rough going and hard for smaller kids to navigate.  There's a lot of tree debris like logs and branches in the water so if someone isn't wearing the proper footgear they could potentially hurt themselves.

I've explored as much of the immediate area as possible and this spot is forbidden to the children who visit with us.  The current is rather swift where the creek splits and the bottom drops out to where I'm almost fully submerged.  I'm an experienced river swimmer and still had difficulty regaining the shallows where the bottom dropped out.  It really can sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention which is why I'm very cautious in allowing kids and poor or inexperienced swimmers to join us when we're first exploring a new area.

There are beautiful, unique trees in the preserve.  I believe I've identified them as bald or pond cypress.  They are awesome trees but because they grow very close to or in the water, they don't last a long time.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see that the water actually flows under and through this tree.

I'm sure it won't be long before it falls and looks like this.

Because most of this fallen wood has been submerged for a good length of time, the water has eroded and worn it into awesome shapes.  My favorite fallen tree remnant is this one.  If it weren't so fragile I think it would make an awesome perch for sitting.

But we follow the Hiker's Creed:

Let me enjoy this land while hiking.
Let me take pictures and leave nothing behind.

Because people are assholes, there's litter and debris out there.  The past few times we've gone I've brought in my large wood cart to help haul out trash we've found.  It makes for a bit of a crushed ride to the preserve as it takes up the entire trunk of my car, but it's awesome to see the trash dwindling away and not being replaced.  We've probably filled three trash bags in the times we've gone out and we've cleared some old trotlines out of the creek as well.  I'm sure we could go daily for months before we get it all out of there, but we've made an impact, and a positive one at that.

This is truly a special place that is close to my heart.  It makes me so happy we can drive for five minutes and enter a nature wonderland that is still pure and intact so close to the hubbub of shopping centers and busy life.  It's not well-known and I hope it stays that way.

Green Blob Summer

I live in an area with a lot of water, however it's water you have to pay to use.  There are three lake "beaches" or water parks that charge $12+ per person for people to access their water.  Fort Bragg has a lake on post that they charge to use as well, other than that, lakes are mostly off limits.

I'm a Florida girl.  I grew up two houses from the ocean and spent my life on the beach.  When I moved inland as a teen I lived in a county that was peppered with lakes and freshwater springs.  I lived on lakes and in the springs.  I was always swimming, skiing, waterboarding, or floating in the water.

I grew up in the water.  I live to swim.

When I get into the water I am at such peace.  It doesn't matter how horrible the world may be right then, the water just sets me at ease.  It doesn't matter if I'm standing in a trickling stream or stroking across a river, water is my element and when I'm in the water I am full of joy.

My fondness of water extends to my children.  They love swimming and as they gain confidence in their swimming ability they enjoy swimming in waters that are a little less bound in by see-ment walls.  This summer, I want to give them their fill of water while I attempt to fill in the gaps left by the ocean that should be across the street from my house.

Surprisingly this is a very difficult task.  I have spent the past month poring over google maps looking for blue and green blobs that indicate bodies of water and parks.  Countless phone calls have been made, I've gone driving all over three counties, and I've talked to a LOT of very odd people.  I've found the best way to find swimming holes is word of mouth so I've taken to badgering everyone I know and sending The Man to work to badger everyone he knows.  If I know someone grew up here or has lived here a long time, they get texts, emails, and calls from me begging for info on swimming locally.

It's starting to pay off.  I've found one great lake and another good swimming hole on a creek.  We've already visited the lake three times, but have yet to visit the creek save for a scouting expedition.  In addition to this I've found several areas to hike, one with a creek we can wade and explore.  I'm a huge hiking buff and this year the kids have discovered that hiking really is fun and enjoyable.  We hiked four miles last week at Raven Rock State Park, a favorite park to hike and this week I found another state park for hiking and canoeing.  Now I just need to find a canoe, oh how I miss having a canoe.

Snow Day!

The cold frigid northern south has gotten snow for the first time in five years.  This means that life grinds to a halt, everything closes, and we all hunker down with good food, strong drink, and entertainment.  Since I grew up in the very southernmost part of the country, I still see snow as a novelty and squeal with excitement when it starts to flutter down from the sky.  Of course, even sleet and teeny tiny specks of snowflakes are enough to make me jump up and down, but by the time I went to sleep last night I admit that I was feeling a bit of despair as it had been sleeting/icing (not sure what terms to use, frozen precipitation that's not fluffy?) all evening and I'd promised my kids snow in the morning.

Thankfully, oh so thankfully, there was a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground when I woke up early this morning.  Then I realized I'd left my camera at my friend's house after a get together last weekend and I felt a bit of annoyance since I have my camera phone to shoot with.  I made the best of what I have, and even lowered myself to use my boyfriend's Nikon, but I think my phone took better images since I'm unfamiliar with his camera and wasn't sure how to operate it in manual mode.  It makes me feel dirty to use a dSLR in point and shoot mode.

So we woke up to

and there were two very excited children begging to go out.  I told them later and grabbed two very reluctant chihuahuas to take them out for potty time.  My female did her usual dance at the door and jet out as quickly as possible only to stop stock still, leaving little doggy paw skid marks in the snow on the porch, because she had no clue what was on the ground.  My male took a bit of encouragement to even get out the door since he can smell snow and despises it passionately, a well placed slipper got him moving in the right direction.  The poor things had a record-time morning potty break and the male was sent back out several times to "Go Potty!" since I know he'd much prefer to do his pooping the warmth and comfort of a hidden corner, but they did it and then scurried back into the living room and burrowed under blankets and children seeking warmth.

I fixed a hearty breakfast and then sent the children on a scavenger hunt for long underwear, clothing, and winter gear.  After about an hour of "I can't find" and "I can't get it on" we were ready to head out into the cold and snow.

They dove straight into the snow and I hedged my way into the backyard to check on the chickens.  The girls were huddled in their coop with the heating lamp for warmth, but seemed fine so I knocked the ice out of their water dispenser, threw them a double ration of feed, and joined the kids for a snow fight.  

This snow isn't snowball snow.  I've never seen snowball snow in the six times I've been in the snow, but powdery stuff that doesn't compact isn't snowball snow, even I know that.  So we made do with scooping up handfuls of snow and chucking it at each other.  I, of course, was the victor until I gave up when two neighborhood kids joined in over the fence and it was four against one.  Even I know when the odds are stacked against me and when it's time to wave the white flag.  So I tooled around the yard, shooting with the boyfriend's camera, and fiddled with stuff in the yard.  Girl and I played together and ran around, played on the swings, and then we moved to the front to go for a walk and scout out potential sledding hills.  I grabbed a lid to one of my storage bins, just in case.

Well, the storage bin failed, but we found a spot and headed home for lunch.  After some screen time, lunch, more screen time, sewing (for me), and playing, I finally succumbed to the pleas and took the kids out for a second time.  I inflated a tube we use at the lake in the summer and we headed to our hill.  We spent about forty five minutes tubing before I begged to go inside.  I was wet from kneeling on the snow to fling kids down the tiny hill and getting very cold.  For some reason it just felt so much colder the second time we were out.  The kids had a blast and I had fun too, I even slid down the hill several times and only shoved the kids down to get an extra turn a few times. 

I feel I set a fine example by making a running jump onto the tube, jarring my neck and shoulders, and showed them exactly why we don't do such wild things.  It was still fun, though my neck and shoulders disagree.  Back in our yard I cleared some snow from my car, filled a bowl with the clean snow underneath, and set it on the porch for a snow cream carrot to dangle when they got unruly.

Then we just laid about and vegged.  I did some laundry, we watched another movie, we played some games, and we plugged in.  Girl and I got into a heated game of Jenga while Boy watched and cheered me on.  I fixed beef stew for dinner and once I successfully bribed them into eating a satisfying amount, I pulled out the snow and snow cream fixings.

Snow

1/2 C sugar

1 C milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

I mixed the milk/sugar mixture earlier in the day to let the sugar dissolve and just stored it in the fridge.  I spooned the snow into the bowl to fill it about halfway and poured the mixture over it until it was just slightly wet.  At first I whisked it together, but grabbed a spoon since it wasn't doing a very good job.  It took about two minutes to stir it up properly, but once it was ready it was delicious.  Very creamy and very vanilla.  The kids loved it.  I didn't use much of the ingredients so I put the snow outside again and the mixture back in the fridge for tomorrow.

The snow really compacted down when mixed up and I now understand why the recipe I found online called for a full gallon of snow for 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of sugar (I halved the sugar).

After snow cream, the kids sort of devolved and I'd reached my limit by that point.  Boy brought in a huge load of wood and then I sent them to brush their teeth in the hopes of signaling a wind down and beginning a quiet evening by the fire.  It was not to be as they screeched and howled at each other since one decided that the toilet lid was a fine seat to use while brushing and the other felt it was their seat first.  I ignored them for a while, but finally reached my breaking point and screamed that the day was over and it was time for bed.  Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth as fingers were pointed and blame was shifted.

Then they went to bed.

They're off school tomorrow too.  I had to shift my work schedule to be home with them so I'm off as well.  I hope we make it out alive.