“The real things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Real Things
7
Tag Archives: natire
The Very Best Thing
In telling the story of this last long weekend in Cincinnati, it seems prudent to start with the very best and favorite thing that we did. I hope you like it too because you most likely will hear about it more because there are so many pictures and stories to tell from just this place.
Our very favorite place was …… drumroll, please……. a cemetery.
Crickets.
I know. Hear me out.
It isn’t just a cemetery. It’s an arboretum too and the Grande Dame of all the amazing cemeteries at least in this part of the country.
Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum was established in 1845. This nonprofit has 750 acres of trees, 44 miles of paved roads and fifteen lakes. We never left the historic section so I have no idea what the new sections look like but the old areas are amazing.
We parked at the visitors’ center (yes, they have a visitors’ center) and went inside for maps and an overview from a nice man who helped to orient us. There’s a printed walking tour as well as lists of notable people buried here.
From the visitors’ center, you walk under an old stone railroad bridge into what feels like Heaven on Earth. I will be honest with you, we did most of the walking tour but not all. That’s because every stop on the map was surrounded on all directions by other things we wanted to see.
Spring Grove had been on my radar for some time but I had never made it there for one reason or another. I had seen pictures and heard stories but none of it, and I do mean none of it, prepared me for this place.
It is stunning.
When I told Adam about it, I just described it as a cool old cemetery, purposefully trying to surprise him. Little did I know how shockingly beautiful, amazing, and jaw droppingly awesome it would be for a couple of cemetery nerds.
I suppose I should explain that trees are unwelcome in our local cemeteries. Even gorgeous old trees that people love aren’t safe from being cut down if they are too near the boundaries of a cemetery. To find a place that not only has trees but celebrates them is wonderful.
The trees alone are incredible, providing comforting shade on the hot sunny days we visited. They also provide wonderful habitat for an abundance of birds that flitted about chirping and singing their little hearts out.
We were delighted by the turtles, swans and ducks that call the lakes home.
There are monuments of all sizes and mausoleums of varying architectural styles. One monument put up by the International Order of Oddfellows celebrates friendship, love and truth.
There’s a sense of one-upmanship in the historic areas as one wealthy family after another built grandiose mausoleums and erected artwork at their family plots. Columns, obelisks, statuary, granite reliefs, busts and orbs are common.
The true showstopper though is the Dexter, a mausoleum and chapel that robbed me of words for a full minute.
We saw people out walking and running. The cemetery actually puts out mile marker signs along a suggested route to help folks reach their fitness goals. We saw a woman painting and a man reading book. On Sunday, a group of volunteers had convened to plant flowers and I was jealous of them all. We agreed that we would be there all the time of we lived close enough and I’m sure I would volunteer to help out.
Come back tomorrow to read about the Dexter. It has a great backstory and one worthy of its own telling.
Want to visit Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum? Click here for their website. Here you’ll even find a list of upcoming events including tours and volunteer days.
Outdoor Inspiration From Durango
One of the things I like best about visiting Colorado is seeing how active people tend to be. Everywhere you look in towns and cities there are people out walking their dogs or jogging. They are kayaking, mountain biking, hiking and on horses.
They seem to just accept that the weather will do what it wishes and they will simply dress for comfort.
It helps that there are so many bike paths, state parks and well maintained sidewalks.
Fast food doesn’t appear as readily available as it is in Ohio so people seem more likely to sit and eat real food and their waistlines show it.
Visiting here always makes me want to do better at getting outdoors and eating my vegetables. I have high hopes for better habits based on inspiration gathered on this trip.
We hiked one morning at Horse Gulch Trail System on the outskirts of Durango. The parking lot is paved and then you hike or bike to the top of a hill to access several miles of trails.
The trail we chose had some old telegraph poles, wildflowers and gorgeous mountain views. There’s little shade but it was still a fun experience.
It reminded me that discomfort, like the harsh sun, isn’t a good excuse to skip out on outdoor time. Ohio’s ridiculous humidity is a better excuse but I eagerly hit the trail last night and thoroughly enjoyed that experience too. Even in the humidity.
I hiked about two miles at Cedar Falls- not a long hike but enough to relax my mind and work up my heart rate.
Time in nature is vital to physical health and mental well-being. I felt better after our hike at Horse Gulch and feel even better after my hike last night despite my sore muscles.
Time in nature can calm the soul and can heal old wounds. It can relax the body and quiet the mind. It can make sleep easier. It can make everything better.
Wherever you are, regardless of weather and all the other excuses, I highly recommend a walk outside. You can thank me later.
Happiness Is . . .
Happiness is a great picture from a past vacation. Photos remind us of fabulous places and that there are more adventure days ahead. This image from Colorado National Monument holds powerful hopes and memories for me.
What more could a gal want?
Favorite Trees And Fading Sunset
We have enjoyed a long run of gorgeous fall days. That all ends today when it turns rainy and cooler. Tomorrow will be rainy and cold, ushering in what appears to be a long patch of cooler days and cold nights.
The rain isn’t so thrilling but it’s hard to get excited about the impending holidays when it’s 68 degrees and sunny. So I’m kind of excited to see the mercury drop and maybe stop being such a grinch. All the same, I took advantage of yesterday’s sunshine with a short walk after work at Kinnikinnick Fen near Chillicothe. I have favorite trees everywhere I go and the picture above shows one of them at the Fen.
When I came home last night, the western sky was aglow with the remnants of sunset. You can see in the silhouette that the trees have lost their leaves. These are some of my favorite trees here at home – with or without their foliage.
It was a remarkable end to the day and to this streak of fine fall days. Better pack your umbrella and put on those galoshes if you’re out and about today. You will need them!
Musings On A Hike
I abandoned my household chores yesterday in favor of a stroll at Lake Katherine State Nature Preserve.
I hiked the Salt Creek Trail and a short section of another trail. Starting down the path to the Salt Creek trail makes you feel like you’re about to do something truly special. I always have the sensation that I’m walking into a storybook.
It starts out wide, gradually becoming a bit more narrow as you begin a gradual descent. It’s still wide enough to walk beside someone but the trees appear to be leaning in to see who is coming down the path.
Then a sharp turn sends you further down where you glimpse a concourse of these incredible boulders on which hemlock grow.
In this spot, you will have the feeling that you are the first to discover it and the only one to hold the secret of its mystique. It feels like a place where you might encounter elves or trolls or maybe a centaur.
This time of year, leaves release their grasp on the limbs overhead, floating down to return to the earth from which they came.
If you are paying attention at all, as you reluctantly leave this spot, you will turn and look back. I promise.
Down, down, down you will go, enjoying a slight decrease in the temperature while catching glimpses of Salt Creek along the way.
You’ll follow a rock face and, in one particularly spectacular place, go under an outcropping of rock. The leaves fell in earnest here yesterday. I saw a butterfly here, heard the insistent buzz of a bee, listened to a distant woodpecker, and enjoyed the cry of a far off train whistle. If I have to hear civilization in nature, the mighty whistle of a train is pretty nice.
I always marvel at how nature bends to the will of its surroundings and you’ll see a lot of that along this trail. Trees grow from meager patches of soil on a rock, not as strong as some of the neighbors but, with a will to live that cannot be denied. Others will grow in ample earth in the shadow of that same rock, leaning to follow the contours of the stone while reaching skyward.
Others will stand alone in a place with no cover, growing increasingly twisted and gnarled by the wind. But they’re still trying and I admire that about them.
It is on a short spur off this trail that you will arrive at a flood plain filled with Paw Paw, Maple and Sycamore trees.
In this space, you will begin to feel very small – in the best possible way.
When you find a place in nature that makes you feel small, you will realize that your life and problems, your joys and mere existence in this grandly designed Universe are minuscule.
If you have never experienced this, I suggest you stop reading now and go find a place like Lake Katherine. You need to know what it is to be both alone and accompanied, at the same time, through the wilderness we call life.
Remember Michelangelo’s painting The Creation of Adam?
This is nature’s rendition.
It looks like they are reaching toward each other. Can you see it? You won’t find this kind of amazement in any manmade place.
Remember, a hike isn’t a footrace. Get the exercise, enjoy your quickened pulse but stop and look around – look up, down and behind you. There are untold joys and blessings to be found along the journey.