A Great Escape

When I discovered the Bog Garden I was immediately mesmerized by its tranquil beauty, and the great escape it offers.    Nestled in a wooded area, right off Hobbs Road and Starmount Farms Drive in Greensboro, NC offers an abundance of much needed serenity in our busy, chaotic world today.   There is a undeniable stress in the air right now, and Greensboro’s Bog Garden invites one to escape the chaos by stepping into a dream land, without leaving town.   It offers extraordinary aesthetics, invigorating great inspiration to many artists of all mediums.

While the bog is a city park, it has become quite a wildlife sanctuary, abundant with mallard ducks, owls, geese, chipmunks, snapping turtles, and birds galore.  This summer, a deer has even been spotted several times, thriving among it all.  

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One summer, a couple of the newest attractions that stood out and arose everyone’s curiosity, was a lone white duck and a family of beavers.  The beavers hard at work, also brought a few of us out late to see them, just before the sun went down, quite late.  We quickly became quite attached.  They would appear after dusk, swimming alongside the edges of the lake, into the creeks protecting their young, and entertaining all who were there. 

The duck stands out, and while she didn't fit in, I found something very endearing about her, because of that very reason.  She was different and yet didn't seem to mind that at all.   She became the talk of the people who regularly visit the bog. She knew no stranger.   We were all wondering how this beautiful white duck came to the bog.   She was friendly and not afraid of people at all.  She could be found wondering throughout the boardwalk, as well as nestling in the woods with the other ducks.  She seemed to be accepted.   I called her Daffy.    Eventually, she was taken to a duck refuge since wildlife wasn’t suitable

Each day I would gather up my camera equipment with my dogs, racing to get a few more shots of her, hoping she would still be there and safe.  Then one day, she was gone.   Everyone was in a buzz, wondering what happened to this beautiful white wonder, and I recently found that she was rescued after being attacked by one of the snapping turtles.  A few people helped rescue her, and while her foot was wounded, she took refuge with a rescue team, and was safely moved.    I will miss her, but knowing she if safe makes it worth the while she graced us with her beauty, and her wonderful personality.

                                                                                                         Photo Credit:  Tamarah Ellen

The bog has become my “quiet place.”  It’s a place that I take refuge to from all the noise in the world, and steal away to blend in with the wildlife, enjoying their beauty, and their ability to dwell among their territory in peace, amid all their differences.   We could all learn from wildlife and all of God’s creatures.  They manage to mingle and intertwine, no matter what their differences all.    They survive and there is a mutual acceptance of their differences, and perhaps it’s because they rely solely on each other for survival.  I have observed many times, their quiet meditation, something which we could all learn from.

"Imminent Change"  One of my Fine Art Prints

The owls and their owlets are always the biggest attraction in the spring, as well as the little ducklings.   I find myself counting the ducklings each time I visit to make sure they have survived another day.  Sometimes they do, and sometimes they are taken, and it’s all the circle of life. 

                                                                                                             Photography by Tamarah Ellen

What I find fascinating about the bog, is the fact that it is nestled, among one of the busiest areas of town, known as Friendly Shopping Center.   Believe it or not, it remains to be quiet and a great escape from the hustle and bustle of our busy world.   When you visit often enough, you will find new friends, who also share the love of nature and the wildlife. 

Baby Owl called an Owlete

I’ve enjoyed great solitude just sitting on a bench, watching the geese frolic and bathe in the lake, along wit the blue heron and the ducks.   Even a simple bath, has become a quick shower in my life, and after watching these geese make it a spiritual event, I have been inspired to look at bathing more spiritually.  I never knew it could be so fun!

"Spell-Caster"    Fine Art Print  |  Photography by Tamarah Ellen

  Many wildlife photographers drive a distance, to spend time in our beautiful bog.  Families love visiting on the weekends to be enchanted by the dance of the wildlife.  The wildlife have become accustomed to people walking through the boardwalk to observe them in their natural habitat.  There are plenty of places to sit and observe, and one of my favorite spots is what I call the bog’s “bay window” overlooking the lake.  This is where all the magic happens. 

Photography by Tamarah Ellen  | Red-Shouldered Hawk

There is a place for everyone, and even those who love to hike.  A beautiful turn off the boardwalk, crossing a small bridge, will cascade you into the most beautiful and picturesque waterfall.  Whether you take a right or a left, you will find well-manicured paths that lead you into the woods for hiking, with a bench here and there, to sit and meditate.  I especially love the circle of stones.   This stone circle invites spirituality to the woods, with the sounds of the waterfall very close by. 

 Photography by Tamarah Ellen  |  Great Blue Heron

The owls have certainly been a favorite of most people.  Each year all the photographer await for the new little owlets to arrive!   They bring such joy to the bog with their inquisitive looks. 

 This past summer, the owl had three babies and they all survived.  I spent countless hours in the bog staring out the owl house, along wth others, waiting for one of the babies to peek out!  You had to be quick with your camera. 

I think this past summer was the absolute most fun I've had at the bog watching three owlets grow up into beautiful owls!   They were healing for me and I think everyone who visited on a regular basis grew quite fond on them throughout the course of the summer.  It was terribly sad to see them leave!   When you spend quite a bit of time with the wildlife, it becomes a spiritual thing!  I feel I have become one with the wildlife at times, especially when there are not many people there.   I can just watch them for hours and observing how they live. 

Photography by Tamarah Ellen  |  One of the young owlets growing up, but not yet gone!

My hope is that Greensboro Beautiful will stop their plans to change the bog.   They are removing a lot of the bamboo which the owls have used to camoflaugge themselves during the winter months.  It also adds some color in the bleak winter.  The bog is changing and for me, it's not for the good.  I love the wildlife and it should remain a refuge for the wildlife, which is what Dr. Christian intended it to be.  Now they are making it look more like every other park in Greensboro, and for the wildlife photographers,  that is not a good thing; nor for the wildlife itself.

God's great creatures deserve their space and their habitat, and yet we still keep taking it over.   I hope that something will change in the future.   There isn't anything spiritual about a park without wildlife; not to many anyhow!   I go there for the quiet and the wildlife to spend time with God's miracles.   Hopefully someone will open their eyes to this and keep it the way it was meant to be.

Spending time with these magnificent wildlife creations is what keeps me in a state of grace, as well as in sanity.  I am forever grateful for their beauty and the gift they give the human race.   It's a time where a human being can get away from the ugly of the world; the hate, the politics and the constant stresses of the world.  It's the one place where we can observe and learn from nature, and observe how others creatures coexist without hate, being very different from one another,  and their natural instinct to survive. 

                                                                                     "Sealed with a Kiss"  Photography by Tamarah Ellen

 Find your peaceful place in nature, so you can regroup your mind, allow yourself to be quiet and remember we are all here to live our lives in peace & harmony.   Get quiet and get back to the reason you are here; experiencing all our human emotions, while experiencing the joy of God's great earth and all its creatures.

Tamarah Ellen