An isolated spot, a big tree and a blue sky with big puffy clouds. It’s all part of the simple pleasure of childhood. With the only exception being a spot in the higher elevations of the mountains (where I actually saw ice flowing out of a spring. Winter has finally ended. The near eighty degree weather has arrived and there’s just the right amount breeze coming out of the southwest. It’s time to open up the windows, shoo away the doldrums of the grey and lifeless seasons left behind. Breath in the fresh air and cleanse your spirit. Bathe your eyes in the cool green of the new growth. Watch your step as you stroll along the wooded path. The sleepers have awoken. There, in soft mossy beds by the trail. Orange with red spots. It’s an eft lumbering on its way to the pond where it will transform into a tiny aquatic dragon and lurk among the sunken roots and branches. He’ll join his cousins, the frogs as they gather for a chorus before the next rain. It’s a very good day indeed. It’s real life. And, it’s happening now.
Tag: landscape
Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park 4.29.18
I love the old Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park in West Virginia. I have been told that it’s the most photographed mill in North America. It always has an awesome scene to capture no matter what the season. The mill was actually built from the recovered pieces of other mills that had shut down. West Virginia is known for its coal mining but we have a lot to offer in green energy too. Our rivers and streams are in perpetual motion and capable doing a lot of work. This mill is still operating seasonally and grinds grain but others in the past milled lumber for our timber industry.
This image was taken last Sunday prior to meeting with a client for portraits. (Yes, I do portraits too 😁 anyone in southern West Virginia that is interested in portraits can contact me either on my website contact page or message me on Facebook)
Canadian Redbud
Today is Arbor Day! I’ve not really spoken much about my my educational background on my blog. My formal education is mostly in Forest biology. At one point my long term goal was to get into strip mine reclamation. Redbud is one of the trees that is used to recondition the soil. Redbud is a legume which means it has nitrogen fixing bacteria in it’s roots. While it seldom gets to be timber sized it can to be about 20 feet tall (6 meters). I used to have one in my backyard that was quite thick for a shrub. It was about 18 inches (45.72 cm) at the base. The beautiful pinkish purple bloom is actually edible and the pods are too when processed properly.
The best thing about Redbud is that it’s one of the trees that blooms early in the Spring. At the time I am writing this the photo is a couple of weeks old. After the long dark winter the burst of color from the Redbud is a breath of fresh air.
Quite Time
I have come to the conclusion that being healthy and happy requires that we take a few moments every day to just release all of the daily demands and experience peace and quiet. For me that means wandering down a quiet path and leaving the world behind. If you don’t do some mental and emotional housecleaning the concerned spirit soon becomes cluttered and disorganized. One of my church elders once told me that “if we don’t come apart then we’ll fall apart. ” He was referring to times when Jesus would take the apostles aside and rest. It was in these times He would reveal things to them because they were in a mental and emotional place where they could focus on the revelation and fully absorb what was being taught.
Our modern world is a place of wonder. But all of the distraction can be overwhelming. Take proper care of yourself and find a place where you can just get some peace and be recharged.
Mysterious Mountains, Ancient Walls and New Eyes
As I look at peaks and ridges of my Appalachian Mountains I have an overwhelming urge to go explore each of them. Somewhere in this group of hills and valleys is the hidden remains of an ancient empire. Long ago a stone wall was built here that stretched out for miles. The big mystery to me is what were they protecting themselves from? There’s legends of giants in the mountains. I have always had this fantasy of finding a hidden cave entrance and stepping inside to find ancient treasures and stone artworks. At one point we would walk along and find lithics. Stone age tools and points that made life possible turn up here often. The worked stone comes from all over North America. It was often used as a barter when tribes traded with each other.
There’s also the story of a scuttled brass cannon from the “War of Northern Aggression “. (American Civil War) as well as rumors of Confederate gold.
More than likely one might find old overgrown farms. When I was a kid we could find old mason jars on almost any given day of exploration. It was probably left behind by a family who canned their garden produce but in my eyes it was always an abandoned moonshine still. Not all treasures are golden. Sometimes they are rusty tin, glass or ceramic.
Whatever is out there it’s bound to be interesting. There’s a story in everything we leave behind. Old walls, broken glass or rusty barbed wire it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the lives that filled these mountains and the stories that they left behind.
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