Author: Liam Connolly

Originally I wanted to see how a rainstorm could change up the environment of the park, perhaps follow the stream to deduce just where all the runoff leads. That was the original plan any way, but as I parked the car and prepared to walk the same familiar trails, I realize there was one last area I had yet to explore. It was a small area many wouldn’t give much thought at first, but my overwhelming sense of discovery made it ideal for a final post. It was the small trail that leads from the park’s entrance to the Butterfly Meadow and I can honestly say for an area so small, it packed quite a lot of wonders.

As I started walking, the first thing I noticed reminded me of a common passage I’d looked over int he management plan. Since a lot of old trees have been falling over, new ones naturally need to be planted and a large amount, possibly donations from the Hebrew Academy, encompassed the left side of the trail. With the recent rainfall all we can hope for is that they’re getting the proper amount they need to make up for the trees of old. I realized that despite hearing about it in the plan, up until now I hadn’t noticed a lot of new trees. It was nice to finally see a decent chunk out and about. From there, I saw some red berries that looked like they were almost ripe enough to eat, emphasis on almost. This small trail was simply breath taking in the rain, with some spider-webs strung up on a tree with little droplets caught inside if you looked hard enough.

 It really emphasized this idea that beauty can be found in the smallest and most unlikely of places. I’d say that’s a pretty great lesson to learn when your young. Learn to examine your surroundings, find things you may have glanced over without much thought before. In the end, just when I thought I had seen everything, I was wrong. I’ve learned that no matter how many times you visit the same place, if you look hard enough and think about it logically, you’ll always find something new to discover. 

I’d like to end this with more of a tribute than a mere reflection of events, if you will. As I walked to the entrance of the park and the big wooden sign that read “Welcome to Price Park” greeted me once again, I noticed a metal sign to the left of it. It was a simple sign with a simple goal, but I believe it is essential to hear as it perfectly summarizes the goal of Price Park and its parents. It read “Piedmont Land Conservancy permanently protects important lands to conserve our region’s rivers and streams, natural and scenic areas, wildlife habitat, and farm land that make the Piedmont a healthy and vibrant place to live, work and visit for present and future generations”. To me, this perfectly captures the essence of the park. It’s a big place with loads to discover and much more that’s worth preserving and protecting. If not for us then for our children and theirs.

I’ve never been great at identifying spring weather. Anytime it ever seems to get warmer around here I immediately get amped for the warm days and fun times summer brings to the table. With the semester coming to a close and the weather warming up into the 60s and 70s, I was feeling a little nostalgic for a summer setting, often spending some weeks down in hot places with huge bodies of water, like Smith Mountain Lake and Hilton Head Island. It was a feeling of tranquility, one you get as you look out over a lake or ocean with the hot sun beaming down to make it shine, with a stench of warm, moist air and seawater ever present. While I remembered this feeling, I realized during my last trip that a large lake was located at the left edge of Price Park. Now despite the fact that this lake is technically private property, not associated with the actual park, it was still accessible through the park’s trails. So, I knew I just had to talk about it and the way it made me feel after spending a good hour just lounging near it. So I set out to recapture an old, comforting feeling and make the most of my day off from classes. To put it simply: the park did not disappoint. 

As I walked down the left path and gazed out over the field and the swamp, the heat was rampant. But while most would probably find it discomforting and start to sweat, I merely appreciated the fact that we’re finally at that time of the year where heat’s even an issue. After walking just a little bit further, I arrived at the lake and just gazed at it’s beauty. The sun beamed down, creating white, shiny spots in an otherwise dark blue void in the middle of hole. Although from some angles it definitely came across more like a light green than blue, but regardless it was a familiar sight in an otherwise unfamiliar setting, which brings me into my main point of this post. 

This whole time I’ve been exploring the park, a place I never had a history with before the blog began. But this entire time I’ve been exploring this unfamiliar land, I’ve been feeling nostalgic about other spots, places I’ve been familiar with for a long time, and as I fondly reflect on those places, I become more familiar with the park itself. The lake here is just the most recent example of this trend, as I find myself growing more and more adjusted, to the point where one day I’d dare say the park will fill the role of a nostalgic place from youth that I yearn to visit once more. 

Now, because the lake is technically private property, I had little to resort mostly to my surroundings and only a little excerpt from the management plan to better understand its significance. From what I’ve gathered, the lake drains under Hobbs Road, connected between the Jefferson Village Shopping Center and the Hebrew Academy, the same academy that has supplied the park with numerous species of plants for the greenhouses and habitats. So the lake acts as drainage system of sorts for runoff, which would makes sense considering I saw a large drain trail on the other side of the lake, which lead under a road. But within the lake were fish as well. Despite it being a little too murky to make out their color schemes, they seemed to be relatively average in size and I was lucky enough to get a distant, blurred photo of one as it swam up to the top for a moment. 

Overall, I’d say the trip this time around was very comforting. It reminded me that the end is near yet reinforced this new feeling of familiarity with the park as I let nostalgia take over and do it’s thing. I’m gonna miss this place when summer roles around but I guarantee I’ll be back to see it as soon as the new fall semester rolls around.

This time around I wanted to do something different. I wanted to see what the other side of the park was like. Since day one I’ve mainly kept to everything that’s right of the library if you’re entering and it got me thinking about what’s on the other side, the side I’ve heard and seen so little of. So after parking my car near an absolutely beautiful Porsche Cayman S, I headed left to see what, if anything, was back there just waiting to be discovered. Needless to say, while there wasn’t much, there is quite a bit to talk about. 

At first glance I noticed another vast field like the one near the parking lot, complete with grass of multiple different shades as the cloudy but somewhat clear skies faintly shined down on the patch. In a strange way the cloudy atmosphere made it only more beautiful as it outlined the vastness and color variety of the land. When examining the Price Park management plan on the subject of the field, it appears that many of its rules and history are tied to that of the other field. The grass can be a real pain to mow and controlled burns haven’t been ruled out as an option if things ever got too out of hand for the crew. But beyond that there just wasn’t much to talk about with the fields. They were beautiful but definitely weren’t going to win any popularity contests. 

And so, I ventured a little further and stumbled upon a real gem of the park in the form of a swamp within the field. Strangely enough I couldn’t find anything on it, but it looked like the recent rainfall had really done a number on it. It was sludgy, puddles were everywhere and the trees around it were skinny with not a leaf in sight. The only other real thing of note were these weeds that popped up all along the trail, but all I could find on them was the fact that butterflies seem to like them. 

I think this really goes to show that I’m getting used to the park and as we near the end of the blog project I’m nearing the end of discovering its secrets. The park has been a great place to unwind when it need be and really helped me reconnect with nature since arriving at the school. What I’ve found the most fascinating about the experience is the fact that I can never really predict what parts of the park I’m gonna like. I just have to head over, scope it out and then sit down and get a feel for the area. In the case of the stream, I had seen it before but not until I actually sat down one morning and watched it did I realize it was my absolute favorite part of the park. That’s an important thing to know about yourself, because it can inspire you to try new things and work outside your comfort zone, something I’ve been doing a lot of recently. With two posts left and just a couple weeks till the deadline I’m sure I’ll be making another one of these very soon, hopefully with more to talk about. But that’s all for now folks.

Despite coming down with some kind of cold, I wanted to do at least one productive thing by the end of the day. And so, I went to the park just to get a little time in the sunlight and unwind after a rather stressful and busy week. So after parking my car under the cherry blossoms once more, which still looked absolutely beautiful by the way, I walked down that long, grassy field to the left of the library. I wanted to get some pictures and just relax while taking a little time to examine an area I hadn’t paid much prior attention to.

As I just sat in the field and snapped a few pics, I was captivated by one particular tree that had just begun to bloom, containing a purple flower of some kind as a gentle breeze pushed the branches. I tried doing a little research on this flower in the management plan but nothing concrete came up. Despite that, it was absolutely beautiful close up and as for the field itself, apparently it takes quite a bit of effort to keep the grass mowed. The plan mentions that while typical mowing is always an option, controlled burns are an effective albeit rather strange technique to try as well. It appears this technique has yet to be utilized recently as no evidence suggested it, but overall it’s a funny thing to think about in hindsight. After spending a decent amount of time near this tree, I decided I wanted to see the streams again and listen to the calming, heavenly sound it makes as it endlessly flows.

Upon entering the area of the streams, I was quite surprised to see that it looked a lot cleaner and clearer than in previous encounters. While certain areas still looked a tad bit murky, the majority of it was a clear, beautiful and almost crystalline looking stream that shined bright in the warm sunlight of Spring. While I was certainly happy to see the stream in better shape, I was curious as to why it looked cleaner. Despite the obvious assumption that perhaps it had been cleaned, I consulted the park’s management plan for a more official confirmation. While I couldn’t gather much on that, I did learn that the park’s streams take in quite a bit of runoff after major rainfalls and storms. In response, manmade streams have been formed in order to handle this but that doesn’t mean the pure streams are free of all runoff. So it led to my assumption that perhaps the combination of vegetation deficiencies and the previous rainfall led to that murkier look last time. Regardless, sitting on that smooth rock and just watching the stream run its course once again was utterly breathtaking and after a few decent minutes communing with nature, I decided to head home and nurse this cold.

However, there was something small and prickly I noticed while walking back: the Sweet Gum balls. While I never gave them much thought before, today they fascinated me for some reason and I wanted to see if the management plan had any intel on the little prickers. I learned that these things are a bit of a nuisance for the park and occasionally herbicides become involved when they get out of hand. Really made me realize that not everything in nature can have a deeper meaning to it and in the case of these little things, like we always assumed, they’re just a sweet nuisance and that’s all for now folks

After working almost all day I needed to relax. With the cherry blossoms in bloom and the weather clearing up nicely by the time I was ready, I headed down to Price Park for a little down time. I know I’ve only briefly touched upon the park’s resident flora before, so this time around I knew I wanted to dive a little more in depth on just what inhabits the park. Needless to say, the expedition was a success as I saw not only the cherry blossoms in full swing but numerous other wonders within the park trails.

As I walked down the trail, with sweet gum balls scattered all around me, I noticed a peculiar piece of litter off the beaten path. It was a half broken glass bottle that looked like it still had some mysterious substance inside. Upon a closer look I was rather surprised to find not just dirt but some type of algae growing inside the bottle. Almost like some kind of vegetative ship in the bottle. It left me wondering whether or not this was purposeful on someone’s part and if not, exactly how long has that bottle been there to reach such a state. Needless to say, it looked awesome though, to the point where I found myself examining it for a solid two minutes before finally deciding to take it back and properly recycle the bottle later on.

As I continued on the trail, I came across a familiar sight with a vast array of flora near some trees, complete with a sign identifying the types of plants by assigning them all illustrated appearances and different colored shapes that they would make signs for and hang on the trees. The two that were most prominent at the site were the orange, hexagon-coded American Hornbeam flower and the yellow, circle-coded Flowering Dogwood, both of which were fairly present and eye-catching in an otherwise bland selection of the scenery’s vegetation.

While I couldn’t get any great pictures of the Flowering Dogwood, there were plenty of Hornbeam flowers all congregated around a particular area, that made for the perfect shot and with the park’s management plan now at my disposal, I wondered if there was anything to note about the plant. Strangely enough, there was nothing really to note and I realized a quick google search was in order. By far the most fascinating thing I learned is the fact that they are actually a slow growing tree. Really makes you realize that there’s more to flora than what meets the eye. 

And so, with some new flora knowledge and a stress free activity over and done with, I was ready to call it a day and whip this post up for you guys. I wanted to bring a little more awareness to the park’s trails if anyone’s ever looking for a nice, quiet place to take a walk. The scenery’s downright beautiful with some nice fact signs and flora along the way, perfect for nature lovers of all kinds. Next time I’ll try to find some more flora and fauna to emphasize and discuss, but that’s all for now folks.

Inspired by our wonderful trek through the Guilford Woods this morning, I decided to head down to Price Park on this beautiful, sunny day after getting my after-class coffee. I knew I had to get some research about the park in this time around and after Jim showed those modules in class I knew I was all set for this next post. But I just wasn’t sure of what this one was gonna be about. That is until I got to the park and took a walk along the paved path.

As I started walking, jazz in the headphones and warm sun shining down on the gravel, I saw a familiar sight, but one I never looked close enough at to recognize it’s brilliance. There was a small little metal post in front of all the trees near the stream and it read “No cutting” as a tree behind it laid promptly on the ground, possibly due to winds. I just burst out laughing at the realization that society can make as many rules as they want, but Mother Nature obeys none. From there, I was captivated by the sunshine as it lead me past the sign to the trail’s stream, an area I had seen plenty of but never really stopped to admire. And on a day as beautiful and warm as this, with the sun shining down on the muddy but mesmerizing seascape, I realized I knew exactly what to write about this time around.

To even try and describe the beauty of this stream would not only be an injustice but a complete waste of time when these photos capture it all. What I will talk about was how peaceful the time I spent near the stream was. As I headed down to the main hub, I sat down on a surprisingly comfy and clean rock, I just sat there and gazed at the stream for the better part of 20 minutes as my playlist continued. Combining the scenery with the music and the warm feeling of the sun just made the place feel like something unreal, a place unburdened by society. Well, except for me, of course. Eventually though, I felt like there was more I could see so I walked a little further down and found a group of rocks with an amazing new angle of the stream, so naturally I stood on the rocks and collected some killer shots before finally feeling satisfied enough to head back to campus.

After getting access to the Price Park management plan, I flipped to the section about the streams I’d encountered and from what I’ve gathered, many of the park’s waterfront, including the streams have been restorations. The plan stated that the park’s streams have not met their expectations and do contain some issues that were visible when I reflected on the visit. The most prominent of these was the fact that reports from 2002-2005 and 2008 said that vegetative density deficiencies (which would explain the murky looking water) as well as channel instability problems were the main issues at the moment.

Regardless, the stream was a true beauty and it was quite a peaceful day thanks to that little visit. Now that I have access to the management plan I’ll definitely try and examine some aspects of the park I’ve already discussed with some added context but also continue to explore and expand on the areas I discover. But that’s all for now folks.

After a day to myself I realized I couldn’t stop thinking about the bird’s nest from last time. I wasn’t shaking or anything but I just had to know whether or not that egg I had put back in the nest had survived. Call it an instinct of sorts. So I took a break from binging Gundam Seed and drove on down to Price Park to see what had become of that egg. Smooth Jazz filled my headphones as I started walking and instantly I was hit with a dose of reality. The bird egg was gone. Not like it had rolled out of the nest, but it had just vanished, leaving no trace of ever existing. Needless to say, this rattled me a little as I assumed a wild animal may have come and eaten it while I was gone. But as heartbreaking as that felt, seeing that egg become a victim of the natural world’s cycle, I decided I should just take a nice walk in the warm weather while I was still there.

As I walked down a familiar trail, I was fascinated by the trees this time around. On the left you could see dozens and dozens of trees that had fallen over. To the point that it almost looked like they had fallen into the portions of art sculptures with pealed bark as a centerpiece for some. That’s when I remembered you could usually tell how old a tree is by the number of rings it has around it’s center. So after walking a little further I happened to come across one such tree with the top chopped away. The texture of the ringed side was quite smooth to the touch, almost like everyday hardwood floorboards without that glossy finish. While I tried to count the rings and see how old this tree was, I just kept losing count too easily. Definitely an oldie though.

From there I kept walking, hoping still to find something new to talk about as I continued to just explore and examine the different kinds of trees from each side. That’s when I stumbled across a path I had never been down, one with no paved roads or signs. It was simply beautiful at first glance as I saw mud-prints and fallen trees all around it while the sun lit the way for me, almost like it was saying to me “this way, kid”. 

Once I started walking through, it reminded me a lot of the forest preserves back down in Hilton Head Island. There was an overall sense of calamity but preservation nonetheless. What I mean by this, is that these trails do feel man-made, but they still feel like they’re a part of the natural environment around us. That combined with the state of the weather, the bright but not too bright sunlight, and the overall smell of nature really reminded me of the nature preserve back in HHI and after getting a nice sense of nostalgia to take my mind off the egg, I knew it was time to head home. While I haven’t been able to dig up much in terms of this park’s history, I do plan on digging further come the next blog. But that’s all for now folks.

As Winter fades and Spring arrives once again, it felt great getting back to campus after a peaceful spring break. And with my compulsive nature to get stuff done in advance it meant this week was gonna be rather chill, making it the perfect time to visit Price Park once again. While I was still finding my footing and getting reacclimatized to my environment, I knew I should take an hour out of the time I spent running errands just to see how the place had adjusted to this new season. Thankfully, it was a welcome shift with a lot more to talk about this time around, starting with the main reason I went today: to help my buddy test out some roller-skates.

While I wanted to get some good photos and just unwind with some peace and quiet, my buddy Ryan bought these weird skates nailed to wooden plaques called Light Steps after watching a woman perform some downright fantastic stunts with the model via Youtube. With the park’s flat trails and not too many people around, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get some fresh air and watch Ryan continually lose his balance on these rolling deathtraps. Needless to say, things didn’t go too well but it sure was fun to watch. Just getting up onto the things was downright impossible, to the point where I literally had to act as a balancing pillar for him to grab onto as he tried to gain some balance and momentum. After a good five minutes he decided to turn to Youtube for help, while I told him I was gonna head down the trail to grab some photos. Now it was time to really immerse myself in the warm, spring air and see how the place had changed, or at the very least shifted with the seasons.

It was a little cloudy at first, but as time went on the sunshine became radiant as I headed into that big heaping patch of grass. The light was illuminating the trees, bringing out their detailed bark lines and almost blending them together at times into some strange art sculpture. Overall it was nice and quiet, just sitting down on the grass, taking in that scent of air as any stress I had, which wasn’t much, just blew away with the light breeze. I didn’t even have to wear a jacket this time around, the temperature was just perfect. It really gave me the chance to just think about and sort out all these ideas I had going on in my head, like some possible script ideas and location settings. 

Later on I ventured into the hiking trail for a good ten minutes, nothing major but I knew I wanted to at least see if it had changed since last time. To my surprise, it had a nice balance of familiarity and unknown, as these beautiful flowers had grown near the rocks. It was only one small patch (as shown below) but it was a welcome shakeup to all the piles of leaves and branches that filled the grounds. Beside it were these rocks. While I know that may not seem very cool, I was amazed by their formations once the sunlight brought all the detail to the surface. It looked like something out of an alien planet up close and that made me super impressed the more I stared. 

After that, I felt like it was time to head home. I didn’t plan on doing anything too big this time around, just getting back in the swing of things and get a good understanding of how the seasons change. But as I walked back to my car something happened that I never expected. I saw a bird nest on the ground, with one egg completely hatched while another was about an inch out of the nest. So naturally I picked the egg up and put it back in it’s nest, hoping to god that there was some chance it was still alive. While that probably isn’t the case, if that egg does end up hatching thanks to me, then I’ll know I’ve done a small part in helping give back to nature.

That’s all for now folks. 

With the recent string of gloomy weather I wasn’t sure when I was going back to Price Park for my next post. But fate has a habit of giving me crazy thoughts at inconvenient times. Despite the grey atmosphere surrounding the campus, on the morning of February 11th I decided I needed a break from all the work and gloom. So naturally, I warmed up the Camry and took a drive down to Price Park for my second adventure, my head filled with ‘80s rock.

While I mainly stuck to the dog trails and the field of weeds last time, now I was ready to just let loose and head into the park’s vast forest as well as begin to learn about its history. Just beyond the public library lied the destination, a large and mysterious set of woods that remained mostly untouched by the urban world, except for a sign post and slightly man made trail here and there. Once I entered, I could just smell the cold, moist air around me as I retreated deeper and deeper in. It was quiet, not too muddy and perfect to just let off some steam. While I mainly got a quiet and peaceful vibe the last time, the grey and gloomy atmosphere this time around gave the setting a new layer of depth. It felt more alive and real than last time, because now I was seeing nature’s reaction to the weather through my surroundings. A great example of this was the plants, but we’ll get to that in a second.

As I continued my trek through the woods, I began to come across some beautiful plants and flowers that I completely failed to notice last time around. While they looked to be drooping down quite a bit from the rain, I realized this might’ve been good for them considering how dry it had been here previously. While I would say I was curious to know more about them, luckily for me there just happened to be some signs conveniently posted nearby, giving hikers like myself a great little overview of the surrounding vegetation. I believe the photo below says it all.

Once I returned to civilization, I was super curious to know more about the land’s history so I began by researching the Jefferson Pilot corporation, due to the fact that Price Park’s land was once a recreation area for their employees. From my findings it seems as though Jefferson Pilot is one of the U.S.’s largest insurance companies in terms of being owned by shareholders, originally founded in 1901 alongside 10 other insurance companies in Greensboro. Later on in 1919, Julian Price became the companies president and led it into prosperity through his leadership. It seems as though his business decisions made him  highly respected among his colleagues and could possibly be the reason for the park’s namesake.

While that’s all I have for now, I guarantee that library will have tons of better info into why and how the land became the modern Price Park. Next time I plan on looking over a management plan for the park and I’ll begin to look more into the actual park’s history once more resources become available to me. But that’s all for today. Ciao for now!

Sources:

https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/71/Jefferson-Pilot-Corporation.html

https://www.ncpedia.org/jefferson-pilot-corporation

https://www.greensboro.com/news/business/tracing-the-history-of-jefferson-pilot/article_010cc7d3-6e77-5e6a-9ff0-e5ea473077a6.html

Well, with my sign-in issues sorted all is right in the universe once more. So today I would like to begin by talking about my first visit to the beautiful Price Park just a few days ago, on February 3rd at sunset. The park was massive, with trails leading in all directions as dog owners flocked towards the woods. I took my buddy Ryan and decided that instead of going all in the first day, it’d be nice to just go hiking, get a lay of the land as I was still fighting off a bad cold at the time. 

One of the first things I noticed about the area was just how peaceful and quiet it was, despite being only a few feet from traffic and a large shopping mall district. It was like this place had been perfectly preserved in history as the world around it changed and urbanized. As we continued to walk along the trail I was suddenly overcome with a lingering sense of nostalgia as dog owners continued to pass by us. It remind me of Jack, my dog from back home that loves to go on long walks in secluded areas like this.

It made me realize that opening myself up to nature can lead to some startling conclusions about myself. I learned that despite the fact that I’m quite adjusted to living here on campus, occasionally I still yearn to be back home in Virginia, taking Jack on long walks through the creeks and woods near our old house. So, I would say that Price Park has already taught me something about myself. It’s taught me that despite what you may think about yourself and your situation, something as simple as a new environment, or even a brief flash of nostalgia, can change how you feel about everything around you. 

What I also loved about Price Park was just how much it’s surroundings suck you into the moment. We parked near this little field with nothing but a bench and a signboard around an otherwise clear and quiet field of grass, mud and weeds. With some extra time on my hands I decided to just sit on the bench and give meditation a try, see if I could clam my mind of all worries and rest away this awful cold. And I have to say, it might have been the most peaceful ten minutes of the entire semester. It gave me the chance to reflect on where I’m heading and why I’ve made the choices I have. I thought about my plans for the future and what my purpose in the world might be going forward. I’m not usually one to get deep but it was nice to finally have a peaceful to just sit down and reflect on recent events. I felt like I was at peace with myself and my surroundings and I owe that all to Price Park.

So, I’ll close out this first update by saying that I have found my nature spot and already learned a great deal about myself in the process. I’m looking forward to continually visiting this place and even more excited to begin learning about its personal history. So the next time you feel like you need to just get away from it all and find some inner peace, maybe I’ll see some of you around Price Park once in a while. After all, it’s only five minutes away.

Ciao for now!