Talks & Walks Calendar

Wild DFW at Frisco Book Fest

September 6 Saturday — 2 to 4 pm

Frisco Public Library — Community Event Room
8000 Dallas Pkwy, Frisco, TX 75034
https://friscolibrary.com/

“Local authors will display and talk about their creations in the Library’s Community Event Room. This is for true bibliophiles, community supporters, and author fans. Our local authors love connecting their stories with the community, and they just may inspire you to become the next local author.”

Harvest Full Moon Labyrinth Walk with Amy Martin, the Moonlady

Sept 6 Saturday — 7 to 9:30 pm

Greet the rising Moon. Enact the Earth, Sun, and phases of the Moon in a lunar circle class. Experience an introspective meditative walk in the full moonlight. Share experiences. Howl at the Moon.

Horizon Unitarian
1641 W Hebron Pkwy, Carrollton, TX 75010
https://www.horizonuu.org/

7:00 pm – early birds flock to Horizon for socializing
7:19 pm – moonrise watching begins
7:30ish pm – gather, Amy leads interactive lesson on Moon phases and how to live with them
7:45 – sunset (dark by 8:10 pm), Amy leads smudge purification
8:00 – moonlit labyrinth walk on your own
8:45 – hanging out and post-walk discussion
9:00 – the timid head home to bed; the lunatics head out to howl8:45 – hanging out and post-walk discussion

Ned Fritz Day walk in the Bonton Woods

Sept 21 Sun at 1 to 3 pm
Please be aware it is frequently too hot. Check back the week of to see if it gets rescheduled.

Ned & Genie Fritz Texas Buckeye Trail
7000 Bexar St, Dallas, TX 75215

Over four decades ago, acting Governor Lloyd Doggett decreed Sept. 24, 1983 to be Ned Fritz Day. The citation herald’s Ned’s work in thwarting the Trinity barge canal, fighting against clearcutting of forests, and work establishing public park lands. The team at Ned Fritz Legacy insist now that it be celebrated every year. No better way to honor Ned than a walk in the woods.

Come walk the soft-surface (natural) trail segments of the Ned & Genie Fritz Texas Buckeye Trail to the Trinity River. The Legacy team of Kristi Kerr Leonard and Amy Martin may be joined by some Fritz family members.

Along the 2.5 mile round-trip, view the 2nd Saturday workday team’s habitat restoration efforts. Join their efforts. https://volunteersignup.org/QREYA

This amble recreates the trail’s chapter in Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth (Timber Press). The hike, one of the book’s 25 adventure narratives, was taken in spring with Leonard, Martin, and Eileen McKee to experience the Texas buckeye blooms.

Trinity River talk for World Rivers Day with Amy Martin
Followed by a discussion with Rich Grayson & Fouad Jaber

September 28 Sunday — 2 to 3:30 pm

First Unitarian of Dallas
4015 Normandy Ave, Dallas, TX 75205
https://dallasuu.org/

Sponsored by First U’s Climate Action Team https://DallasUUcat.org/ and Ned Fritz Legacy https://nedfritz.com/

The Trinity River: The Watery Tie that Binds North Texas

There is only one river in North Texas: the Trinity. Once rejected and forgotten, paid attention to only when it floods, the Trinity is transforming from a place of refuse to refuge.

We’ll take a tour of the Trinity’s four forks—Clear, East, Elm, and West—exploring each one’s unique characteristics, plus the nature preserves and attractions they are home to. This riverine network is home to the Trinity River Paddling Trail https://trinitycoalition.org/paddling-trail/, a National Park Service recreation trail with over 120 miles of floating fun.

The talk concludes with a brief overview of our river follies, including the time when the West Fork was known as the River of Death, the misguided attempts to turn it into a barge canal that was thwarted by Ned Fritz https://nedfritz.com/, and the absurd idea to place a freeway in its floodplain, which took over a decade to be abandoned. Yet there are more Trinity indignities in the works.

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In celebration of World Rivers Day, after the talk Amy will moderate a discussion with Rich Grayson of the Texas Rivers Protection Association https://txrivers.org and Texas Stream Team https://www.meadowscenter.txst.edu/…/texasstreamteam.html/, and Fouad Jaber, professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University. Both are members of First Unitarian of Dallas, as was Ned Fritz.

Twelve Hills: The Moon & Nature at Night (talk & walk)

Friday, October 4 at 7 to 9 pm

Twelve Hills Nature Center https://twelvehills.org/
817 Mary Cliff Rd, Dallas, TX 75208

Take a walk in the Full Moon light with Amy Martin, the Moonlady and author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth. We’ll recreate the hike from Wild DFWs’s After Dark chapter with Marcie Haley and Kristi Kerr Leonard.

But first, let’s talk poetic about Moon, how the lunar phases affect our mood and shape wildlife’s activities. Attendees acting as the Sun, Earth, and Moon, attendees will embody the lunar phases to show how they’re created as Amy explains the pertinent points of each one. Plus why life on Earth owes its existence to the Moon and synchrony.

Then off on a night hike with breaks for discussing the qualities of moonlight and why the Moon moves us so deeply. Plus plenty of Moon-shadow dancing and Moon song singing. Bring ultraviolet lights to see lichens glow!

Photo of Full Moon rise at Twelve Hills by Stalin SM.

A Life in Moonlight

Nov. 2 Sunday — 11 am to noon

Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff
3839 W Kiest Blvd, Dallas, TX 75233

Become swept away by the Moonlady and enthralled by the magic of the Moon in this purely poetic talk. Amy Martin, author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth (wild-dfw.com), will share her relationship with the Moon and expound on the nature of moonlight and the art of living with lunar phases, and how we owe our existence to tides and the nature of synchrony. Learn to live in tune with the Moon.

Part of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff service on Sunday. Open to all faith traditions of those of none at all. All are welcome. Afterward or before, enjoy a walk on their outdoor labyrinth or ramble their wooded grounds.

Amy Martin has been deeply tied to nature, on Earth and above, since a toddler. She writes about nature in books (Wild DFW, Itchy Business, Speaking of Mother Earth) and for GreenSourceDFW (greensourcedfw.org), and volunteers extensively to aid urban nature in its healing. She recommends a good howl at the Moon on a regular basis. Better than therapy. Which is why she’s called the Moonlady (moonlady.com).

Full Beaver Moon Walk at Elm Fork Nature Preserve

Elm Fork Nature Preserve in McInnish Park – 2335 Sandy Lake Rd, Carrollton, TX 75006 – Google maps

A Dallas County Open Space property

Managed by Carrollton Parks & Recreation

• Nov 4 Tuesday
• Check in at 5:15 pm. Event starts at 5:30 pm, ends at 7:30 pm
• Sunset 5:33 pm, twilight ends5:59 pm, moonrise 4:48 pm.

Leader: Amy Martin, author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth https://Wild-DFW.com/ �

Take a walk in the Full Moon light with Amy Martin, the Moonlady and author of Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth. While we wait for full darkness, Amy will present a poetic overview of the Moon and lead an audience-involving demonstration explaining the lunar phases and why we only see one side of the Moon. After this, you’ll be a pro-level Moon watcher, able to predict where the Moon will be at any time.

Then off a hike on wide, well-maintained, trails among the large trees of Elm Fork Preserve past a spur of the Elm Fork, stopping at a moonlit pond for a nice howl at the Moon. Enjoy breaks for short raps ranging from synchrony and the formation of life on Earth to the nature of moonlight. We’ll chat about nocturnal denizens, their use of Moon phases, and how urban nature turns to darkness for safety and adaptation from Wild DFW’s After Dark chapter. Plus plenty of Moon bathing, Moon-shadow dancing and Moon song singalongs.

Reserve your spot here.

The Flora, Fauna, and Fantastic Nature of Wild DFW

Nov. 20 Thurs – 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Dallas Co. Master Gardeners

location tba

North Texas nature is anything but average! The area has astounding diversity, frequently landing in the top 10 of iNaturalist competitions worldwide. Drawing from her popular book, Wild DFW: Explore the Amazing Nature Around Dallas-Fort Worth, learn from author Amy Martin how that diversity arises from our unique tilted layers of bedrock and discover the plants and animals that live here.

Get to know the ecoregions that shape the area and why we serve as an integral ecotone linking east and west. Journey through the wonderfully wild areas of North Texas via incredible photos from the book. Meet the courageous volunteers who preserve these precious places and derive deep healing from them, a gift of nature available to us all.