Field Note Contest RUNNER-UP: A Lifetime Of Experiences On The Arabia Mountain PATH

The Arabia Alliance hosted its first-ever Field Note Writing contest, open to writers throughout Georgia. We picked one adult runner-up Katy King, whose personal essay about her connection to Arabia Mountain is below.

I have created a lifetime of memorable experiences along the Arabia Mountain PATH (AMP). Even before there was a paved PATH or Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area, I was a part of this special place. I began this journey as a young child, going to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers. I remember around the age of four loading up the car with my parents on Rainbow Road to make the journey to this magical place that assisted with the development of my spiritual being. My parents would get their weekly bread order, which I may say, I can still recall the smell of this delightful morsel today. During this time, I made a connection with a special person at the monastery, Father Francis Michael. Each time he would appear like a forest gnome to greet me with ice cream and a lollipop. These were magical memories, often with a picnic with my parents beside the monastery’s pond, dining with the geese and hearing the exotic sounds of the peacocks (which were donated by famous Georgia writer Flannery O. Connor).

I couldn’t have known then what the future held for me in this special place known as the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. I later became a docent for their architectural tours with Brother Callistus, or just Brother “Cal,” relying on my personal experiences at the Monastery to make the tours more in-depth. I later went on to be Brother Cal’s assistant during Junior Ranger Day events at Panola Mountain State Park, adding an artistic project for the young learners. We connected the history of the monastery’s stained glass heritage to the Civil Rights history here in our state. For instance, did you know that Father Methodius, who created the legendary stained glass at the Monastery, also assisted in building 30 new stained glass windows for African American churches burned by the Klan in 1963? That connected to my heart as an art teacher in my professional life.

For a long time, I wanted to bring this rich communal history into the classroom where I teach at General Ray Davis Middle School in Stockbridge near the southern end of the National Heritage Area. During my 15th year of teaching visual arts in Rockdale County, I did exactly that. Most of my students did not even know what a monastery was or that it was less than a mile away along the beautiful, newly created (and paved) Arabia Mountain PATH that passed in front of our school’s property. So, that was the day I connected this legendary land to my classroom instruction. I used my art knowledge connected with the student’s 8th grade social studies curriculum focused on Georgia history to discuss the history right outside our school.

The South River or Weelaunee is another place along the PATH where I’ve encountered nature of all aspects: animals, plants, and simply the land, itself. I soon took this as a challenge to teach our students about this river that touches our school property using the visual arts. We created murals on the storm drains at Lorraine Park nestled along the banks of the South River with messages about how we can protect this precious waterway.

This soon connected me to the South River Keeper, Jackie Echols. She started the South River Watershed Alliance and included me and my young artists in environmental art projects at Panola Mountain. We would join her on removal of the Chinese privet plants along the banks and assisted with many river clean-ups, removing countless tires out of the water. All along the way, my students carried their visual-verbal journals, drawing and documenting these experiences. This not only connected the land to my students, but they created art to bring awareness to the community.

The learning along the trail continued to Arabia Mountain, itself, and the amazing Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve Manager Robby Astrove. As a child, my parents took me to off the beaten path at Arabia Mountain before it was a popular county preserve. In the late summer, we drew the yellow daisies (aka Porter’s sunflowers) and, come spring, studied what I called the “fairy land,” which later in life I would know as diamorpha.

As a teacher, I wanted to connect this magical place to my students along the Arabia Mountain PATH. So I booked a guided field trip for my students to do nature journaling about the native plant species found at Arabia Mountain. Ranger Robby greeted us all and gave us a welcoming lesson about Arabia Mountain and the rules along the trail: most important of which was leaving the land with no trace of us being there. He was purely magical with the children; they hung on to every word and had meaningful conversations with him in a manner that I had not seen in the children.

My journey across this majestic land known as Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area continues on to this day. Recently, my brother-in-law passed away. His funeral and burial were on the Monastery’s Honey Creek Woodlands natural burial grounds. This was such a tragic event in my family’s life, but the experience we had at the natural burial grounds was like no other funeral I have ever attended. It was more like a celebration of his life connected to this land that has meant so much to my family. My niece who is 10 years old, talks about how her daddy is becoming part of a mighty tree at the monastery. We visit often and create pinecone wreaths around his grave and observe all the new plant and animal life around his burial site.

Getting to know this region has taken my life full circle and more. Sometimes, walking along the Arabia Mountain PATH for me is almost like taking a stroll through time. These experiences have opened discussions with my husband about our wish to be buried on this sacred ground in the Heritage Area. The thought that my life will always be connected to this land is so meaningful and complete. I have played, learned, loved, taught, and, one day, will rest on this land.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Katy King is a National Board-Certified Visual Arts Teacher with over 29 years of experience instructing students across the metro Atlanta area in grades K-12. This is her 20th year at General Ray Davis Middle School. She has been a GRDMS Teacher of the Year, RCPS Teacher of the Year Finalist, Georgia’s Distinguished Educator of the Year, Woodruff Salute’s Arts in Education Educator of the Year, and a recipient of the Presidential Award for Environmental Education. She has also held the Visual Arts Middle Level PLC Lead for the Georgia Department of Education creating webinars and resources for visual arts teachers around the state of Georgia.

Read the other Field Note Writing Contest entries that won or were named runner-up below. And please participate next year!

• “The Monk And The Butterfly Counter” by Joseph Goodall
• “The Key to Flat Rock” by London Ahyee
• “The Tidal Grey Impact Of Arabia Mountain” by Gabrielle Richmond