Beneath the mossy oaks near the Flint River, the modern world fades away. Time bends between where we are and where we have been. And once upon a time, when the waters rose,
they were there, too.
If only they could speak to us as we walk beneath them and we could hear their stories and feel the history amidst the wonders of the Flint. For there is a forgotten birthplace crouched next to the sleepy banks of a river, full of a special rock that when struck together drew a spark to a new city.
It’s like standing next to immortality and witnessing the arrival of the Creeks at Thronateeska, the departure of cotton and tobacco from these shores, the emerging freedom of the pickers and laborers of Georgia, the floods of Civil Rights and the mighty Flint flowing through Albany.
Oh, there is too much history here to experience in one afternoon, but if you look up and see the wren, the sparrow, and the dove singing a chorus of praises, then you would know that you are in a great, sacred place walking beneath the mossy oaks of Thronateeska. For they are there waiting, along the River Walk and overlooking the gates of the shady acres of the Oakview, standing noble and majestic. And there are plenty other safe places to go sight-seeing this time of year, as they are beginning to shed their mossy overcoats of winter for their evergreen garments of spring.
So take a moment to visit the natural wonders right in your backyard and remember that these guardians of the native sanctuary surrounding you are the last living remnants of a lost place and time in our city’s thriving history. And see for yourself how the world can change while standing beneath the mossy oaks of Thronateeska.
Albany resident Cedrick Shelton is a Monroe High School and Morehouse College graduate with a degree in sociology.
