Foggy Panoramic Vista in Jefferson County, Alabama

Foggy Panoramic Vista near Brookside, Jefferson County, Alabama

Foggy Hillsides near Brookside, Alabama

Foggy Hillsides near Brookside, Alabama, in early November

   As I began the drive toward Marion County in early November, keeping in mind my goal of photographing something along the way, I got on Corridor X and was almost immediately brought to a halt.

     The rising sun was streaming into the fog-laden valleys to my right, bringing into view a scene that "picturesque" only falteringly begins to describe.

Fog-Laden Valleys in Western Jefferson County

Foggy Valleys near Brookside, Jefferson County, Alabama :: Canon T2i, EF 24-105 f/4 L

State of Affairs of North Jefferson County's Waterways

Like much of the rest of the waterways that make up the Five Mile Creek watershed, Black Creek has been subjected ecosystem-destroying pollution for most of the last 150 years. Much of that the result of coal mining operations along the creeks' banks, in the form of beehive coke ovens (below), found along Black, Five Mile, and Newfound Creeks.

And while those operations have long since ceased, other forms of pollution continue to endanger and uglify (I think I just made that word up, but it seems befitting) these local waterways. Drive along Stouts Road in Fultondale, and you can't help but notice the accumulated trash that people continue to carelessly discard on the banks of Black Creek and its tributaries (below). The town of Brookside, Five Mile Creek Canoe & Co., and the Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership collaborate annually to remove hundreds of pounds of tires and debris from a single stretch of Five Mile Creek (Black Creek runs into Five Mile Creek just west of Fultondale).

But awareness is leading to progress and a renewal of life in these creeks. If you go to the Children's Park or Black Creek Park in Fultondale, you may see dozens of crawdads, turtles (some the size of dinner plates), and fish. But I wouldn't say these waterways are teeming with life. But they could be again, if we're diligent and faithful stewards.

Interested in contributing to a local organization? Each of the following organizations have regular events seeking participants from the community: Cahaba River Society, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership, Friends of Shades Creek, Friends of the Locust Fork River, and Turkey Creek Nature Preserve.

Blight in Brookside

Ivy League

Brookside, Alabama :: Canon Rebel T2i, Tokina AT-X 12-24mm II @ 20mm, f/8 @ 1/100s, ISO 100

Magic Lily in the Magic City

Apparently, this flower is known by at least four different name: Naked Lady, Hurricane Lily, Spider Lily, and Magic Lily. According to an acquaintance, this latter-most name for the lycoris radiata is a result of the following: "The leaves grow in the Spring and then die back. Later the flowers appear as if by magic." So we have the magic lily in the Magic City.

Brookside, Alabama :: Canon T2i, Tamron 70-300mm Di LD @ 180mm, f/4.5 @ 1/320s