As we move into autumn and the days earnestly become shorter, there's still plenty of time to enjoy Big Rock Park. Birdsongs have given way to the fading buzz of cicadas and the soft rustling of wind through the trees.
Don't let the silence fool you. Plenty of wonder awaits those who search for it.
When the days are warm and wet, the waters come alive.
Above: Ben and Sophia hunt for minnows
Big Rock Park is an excellent learning environment. Professor Mary Stark and her class, Ecotones: Literature, Science, and History, took field trip to Big Rock Park. How do literature, science, and history relate to each other? As the course syllabus states, "Perhaps these different disciplines and texts with the different languages and ways of thinking can contribute to our understanding of the biodiversity of all life. "
Besides visiting the rock, the class found frogs!
This one below looks like a cricket frog. Like many frogs, their population is on the decline.
The frogs aren't calling now, it's not mating season, but in the spring, they call and they sound like maracas.
The students also found some Spring Peepers
Cold water will send frogs burrowing under leaves. Some frogs produce a type of antifreeze to tide them through the winter. This is true for the spring peepers. Next spring, we will hear their call.
Autumn is a time for reflection, for taking a moment to pause and appreciate the great outdoors. Big Rock Park is a great spot to do just that.