Shaking the Trees

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Our Tribe’s Fortune 2500 Hours – Tom Shackelford

Tom Shackelford, 2018 and Past President (2020-2021)

I was born in Great Bend, Kansas and grew up farming and raising cattle along the Santa Fe Trail on land south of the Arkansas River, from Fort Larned to Dodge City. I did not realize it at the time but our home and the pasture lands where we grazed cattle were undeveloped, never used for agriculture beyond grazing and composed of western wheatgrass, blue grama, prairie three awn, little blue stem – native mixed prairie lands. This was my “Playground.”

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‘Dem Bones Update

Deborah Canterbury, 2014 and Past President
Master Naturalists in the Heard Fossil Lab recently laid out Colombian Mammoth bones that have been prepped just to see how they may go together. More exist and they are trying to decide how to best display.

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Long Time, No Hear

Clyde Camp, 2011 Possibly a very frustrated male.  Or Female.  The same bird (I think) has been arriving around 11pm and sitting in the door trilling until around 3am.  Sometimes leaving and returning several times.  Sometimes taking a nap inside.  Sometimes trilling from inside.   And several times spending the day sleeping before taking off at dusk. sitting in the door trilling until around 3am.  Sometimes leaving and returning several times.  Sometimes taking a nap inside.  Sometimes trilling from inside.   And several times spending the day sleeping before taking off at dusk.

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Introduction to the Great Trinity Forest with Bill Holston

Charlise Hill-Larson, 2019 Please join our February Speaker, Bill Holston, on Sunday, March 27, for an introduction to the Trinity Forest. We will meet at 11am at the Pavilion at Bonton Farms. The address is 6915 Bexar St, Dallas, TX 75215. Bill will lead us on an easy and flat hike on the Ned and Genie Fritz Buckeye Trail. All total, we’ll traverse about 2.5 miles. Bonton Farms will also be open for lunch following our walk, if you’re interested. 

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Mental Wanderings

Sally Evans, 2006 – Founder & Emeritus –
A wide swath of trees and vines and junipers has grown up along the back by a creek.  The front part was mowed several times a summer but often the grasses grew knee high and swayed in the breezes.  That lot became the resting place or home for the wild life that moved up and down the creek.  Birds roosted or nested in the trees and shrubs.  In one far corner a cottonwood tree grew twice as high as the rest of the trees and became the site for hawks sunning or scanning for prey.  Flocks of birds would stop in the top branches to rest and recoup. Families of crows would convene to pester the hawks or to just the surrounding territory and then move on to another perch.   Squirrels ran up and down the trunk or leaped from branch to branch.  One December night two great horned owls sat high in the tree and called and called to some unknown recipient. And one summer a pair of Swainsons hawks nested there.  Birders said it was not probable but photos of the birds verified their site.