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Atlantic Center for the Arts Campus / New Smyrna Beach, Florida

A transitional upland at the intersection of conservation land and active airspace — where longleaf pine flatwoods persist beneath patterned aviation routes, and seasonal raptors return to the same canopy each year.

The path is overgrown. It is not maintained, but it is passable. Grasses lean inward where others may have walked before. Pine needles cover the ground in a loose brown layer. Cones lie scattered.

The trees rise at measured intervals. Some are slender and straight; others lift fuller crowns high above the palmetto. The canopy is open enough for light to reach the understory. Sunlight falls in angled bands, touching dried fronds and rusted seed heads.

A small prop plane moves overhead. The sound arrives first — a low, steady hum — then the aircraft appears briefly through the canopy. It follows a practiced path, part of the flight school nearby. A sharp cry carries across the clearing—an eagle circles above the treetops. I have been told a pair returns to this area each year. Their nest is visible high in a tall pine. The bird lands near it and settles.

The path glows in the low sun. Wind moves through the needles, and crickets begin to sound from the grasses. The plane’s hum fades completely. The sky is wide and blue above.