8/20/2021 | This resource was created by Miranda Kay, Von Scully, and Kate Reilly.
Summertime will sizzle on the Duke Farms Distance Learning Portal through an eclectic array of environmental topics that feature the sights, sounds, and smells of this sensational season as was artistically captured in Dunbar’s historical work. We hope that you are inspired to find your own nature-based adventures and create reflections and memories to last a lifetime.
Summer in the South
The Oriole sings in the greening grove
As if he were half-way waiting,
The rosebuds peep from their hoods of green,
Timid, and hesitating.
The rain comes down in a torrent sweep
And the nights smell warm and pinety,
The garden thrives, but the tender shoots
Are yellow-green and tiny.
Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,
Streams laugh that erst were quiet,
The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue
And the woods run mad with riot.
Paul Laurence Dunbar, born in 1872, is the author of numerous collections of poetry and prose.
He is one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition.
The natural beauty of its core property is just one of the many aspects of Duke Farms that brings visitors back season after season. Undoubtedly, summer is a busy time out on the trails, in our programs, and especially behind the scenes of all the ecological work that goes into maintaining, restoring, and protecting the land that we enjoy. Duke Farms offers hundreds of educational programs and classes each year, and we base much of what we teach on the invaluable research done by the Natural Resources Department.
Cover image credits to friend of Duke Farms, Mike Parker.