This resource was created by Abigail Schmid 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.
It is so important that we keep our rivers and oceans clean, espeically in a coastal state. We need to understand that our freshwaters connect to the ocean, just like how the Raritan River does. This means that any pollution that is found in lakes, rivers, and streams isn’t necessarily confined to those waterbodies. That contaminated water can flow downstream where it will eventually meet with the bay and ultimately the ocean. Depending on the levels of pollution in these habitats, it can directly affect species that live in and use these waters, possibly altering the biodiversity of the area and various food chains.