Not too much to report. Sunday Lise and I went down to Turkey Run State Park in Indiana. Lise had a conference and I tagged along for fun. It was gray and cold with some rain and sleet. Not the best for photography but at least I was getting out.
Turkey Run is a beautiful place. Or I should say it once was. It contains steep sided sandstone ravines with crevices and patterns eroded into the rock. Thanks to micro climate effects, the cool ravines are home to trees, ferns, mosses and lichens usually found way north of there. Like up in Northern Michigan north.
The Punch Bowl.
In Rocky Hollow.
In Rocky Hollow.
Reflecting sycamores.
Cliffs.
Cliffs.
Patterns.
As beautiful as the park is, it is also fragile and wasted on Hoosiers. The place is overrun by unappreciative idiots that can’t seem to read signs. The main ravine, supposedly a State dedicated Nature Preserve, has become a trampled mud pit. Apparently empty cans and bottles are just too heavy to carry out. And there is zero agency presence in a fragile nature preserve when the place is packed with people. On one trail we saw a very large, brand spanking new graffiti carved into a beech tree. I didn’t think anyone did that anymore but I forgot about Indiana. It had to take at least an hour to do it, and might not have happened if there was a visible agency presence. I’ve been other places that limit the number of people allowed in sensitive places and ban the use of disposable cans and bottles. Maybe it’s time for Indiana State Parks to really take care of what they are supposed to be stewarding. I guess that could be expecting a lot in a state that elected a legislature that voted to change the value of Pi. That happened a long time ago, but recent Indiana legislatures and governors haven’t demonstrated any improvement on the intellectual front.
On the up side, it was fun to see some old friends at the conference. I had to head back to Lansing but Lise is staying for the whole conference. Including a birding trip Goose Pond where rumor has it she got a Ross’s goose. Go figure. At least I did see a barred owl in the park.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 