The Sacred Journey

Olmsted Park Iroquois Park - Louisville, KY

The light comes to the one who is awake to the light's coming.

What I Saw - Eastern Red Cedar

Woods - Sisters of Loretto Farm, Marion County, KY

The shape of the branches coming from the trunk of this cedar holds an appeal.  The coating of snow is a part of its noble presence.  The specific appearance of the cedar is something to appreciate. 

Fear of being hurt

Jefferson Memorial Forest - Wildflowers

Parents in this region and in this country are saying to their children that they want to know where their children are at all times.  If  children are kept from outdoor play they are going to miss exploring the world around them.   Children need to discover tadpoles and dragonflies on their own path of discovery. Children need to absorb the scene that can only be experienced by star light.  It is good for anyone to experience seeing the scene of the land by star light.  If parents were to check they would often find that there is no more crime than at any time in the past thirty years.  The fear of crime drives people to avoid playing and exploring and parents to keep their children under supervision.  Are the risks from being a crime victim beyond the risks of being hampered by cancer, heart disease or pulmonary disease?  Are we letting our fears overtake our ability to decide the journey that would be most enjoyable for us?

Afternoon surprise



Wolf Creek Dam - Jamestown, Kentucky - Rainbow

Sometimes when one least expects to see something incredible something surprising happens.
This rainbow.

Yes.

Appreciation.

Nature's seasons

Woods North of the Green River Mammoth Cave NP - Hart County, Kentucky

Southern Magnolia - Marion County - Kentucky

American Holly - Loretto, Kentucky

Sometimes after the leaves are off of the trees the color of the woods looks gray.  In some regions the color is a deep green because of the pine trees.  In Kentucky there are American holly trees and magnolia trees that have full leaves and green color.  The trees here were fully green after the neighboring maples and oaks had their leaf color turned to brown.  Sometimes there is something to appreciate like a lotus flower that becomes revealed after awhile.  Even in places removed from the lands of lotus flowers.

Gingko leaves

Yellow Ginkgo Leaves - Loretto Motherhouse - Marion County, KY

The ginkgo tree is a survivor of a group of ancient plants.  The leaves of the ginkgo tree often have a deep notch in the margin of the leaf.  In the fall the leaves turn from green to a brilliant yellow. Each leaf grows from a long shoot.  The shoots are clustered on side shoots.  Because of the tree structure the leaves of the ginkgo fall all at once.  Complete leaf fall may occur in one to three hours.  The leaves in this photograph began falling after ten in the morning.   The amount on the ground around the tree accumulated in about two hours.

Mr. Olmsted's Design

Louisville's first park was created in 1880 after exhuming bodies buried at a site at Jefferson and Eleventh Street.  The land became Baxter Square Park.   Andrew Cowan was one of Louisville's prominent businessmen.  Mr. Cowan communicated with Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. in 1891 about planning parks in general and with the thought of building parks for the city of Louisville.  Mr. Olmsted had designed the park in the interior of the Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1873.

Mr. Olmsted Sr. planned the system of eighteen parks and six tree lined parkways that connect them in the Louisville community in Kentucky.  Mr. Olmsted planned the parks system in collaboration with his partners before his retirement in 1895. 

In a report from the firm provided to the city in 1891, the site for Iroquois Park was described as a place "of sequestered character-a treasure of sylvan scenery." Though built before automobiles were in use for transportation much of the layout can be seen today. The park system has been a place for recreation and appreciation for people for over a hundred years. 

Iroquois Park has  a high knob in the central portion of its area.  At several locations stone steps are set in the hillside.  These steps are said to be a part of the Olmsted design for the Iroquois Park landscape.

Steps - Iroquois Park

Iroquois Park - Louisville Metro

Wildflower with Fall Foliage - Iroquois Park - Louisville Metro

The steep slopes of the knob are populated with American Beech, Fagus Grandifolia. The beech's bark is smooth. In contrast to many trees the outside of the tree continues to grow as the inside of the tree increases in size. Most trees shed portions of bark over time but the beech does not.

Some parts of the slope have Virginia Pine, Pinus Virginiana. These trees are a Kentucky native tree and are commonly seen where land that was once farm land is slowly becoming a habitat for trees. The Virginia Pines of Iroquois have adapted to the dry, rocky areas where many trees would have difficulty getting established.

Some of the trees at the edge of the slope near the golf course are yellow poplars, Liriodendron tuliphera. These trees produce large orange flowers that usually bloom in May. Yellow poplars are said to be more abundant in Kentucky than any other state.



Manmade Places

Cave Run Lake - Rowen County Kentucky

Natural lakes are unique; most lakes are made from human intervention.  In Kentucky Metropolis Lake is a natural lake.  Though manmade lakes were altered from the natural landscape they still offer a scenic beauty.  The rustic stairs built in the woods by the CCC artisans are much appreciated constructions.  Perhaps some of the scenic lakes can be viewed with the same appreciation.  These lakes were built and the result became something to be appreciated.

Only in Kentucky

Overlook view - Mammoth Cave NP

Trail signs - Mammoth Cave NP
 

A National Park Service publication included the following:  "The National Park Service cares for
special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage."  When walking
in the forest in the Mammoth Cave National Park one finds the place to be a special place.  There is only one place; this unique place.  The River Styx flows in the subsurface and the surface.  Its water is a foundation to the life of its corridor.  Special places.  Some of Kentucky's tallest trees are found in Mammoth Cave National Park. 
Light and green places.

The heart

It has been said that in many languages the word for heart and mind are the same word.  So being mindful is like being "heartful."  And letting the winds of wild places fill you does something good for you.  When you stand on the peak of a mountain you feel the immensity of the land and the reinforcement that the land has been and is a miracle.  And you are a part of the mountain.

The picture of the fossilized animals was taken at the Sisters of Loretto community in Marion County, Kentucky.

Kentucky is calling

Harlan County, Kentucky

You can begin your Kentucky journey with these fine folks. http://adventureblog.kentuckytourism.com/
These folks give you many ideas about experiencing the beauty of Kentucky.  Can you take it all in?

The image here is from Knobby Rock in Harlan County.

This is the morning of creation.

Let nature speak to you.

Nature Now

There is a lot to see. Our world has been contaminated. Nature is not the place that our forebears saw.
It is up to us to see what we can.  It is up to us to care.  It is up to us to protect nature for our grandchildren.