Category: Traveling

Texas oil

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature, Traveling

Smoky Mountains in Spring

We love to hunt wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. One of the most elusive is the Lady’s Slipper. I will never tell you where we found these, as folks tend to want to steal them, hoping they will grow in their garden. Well, frankly, that is against the law and most likely they will never grow at your house as they need very specific conditions to grow and then to bloom.

According to the U.S.D.A. Forest service “In order to survive and reproduce, pink lady’s slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil from the Rhizoctonia genus. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds. Pink lady’s slipper seeds require threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach them to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the pink lady’s slipper seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older and producing most of its own nutrients, the fungus will extract nutrients from the orchid roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species.

“Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to go from seed to mature plants.  Seed-bearing harvest of wild lady’s slipper root is not considered sustainable. Pink lady’s slippers can live to be twenty years old or more.”

So we go to the Smoky’s to relax.

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And we hunt for these.

And even the ones that are wilting bless our hearts!

Then back to the river for more refreshment.

And maybe one more surprise !

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Posted on in Spiritual growth, Traveling

Structured or Unstructured?

There is an old saying that if you aim at nothing you are bound to hit it. While walking in my friends’ subdivision in Corrales, New Mexico, before the area was fully developed, I came across this image and was pierced with conviction.

There are so many areas of life that are our personal responsibility. How are you at SELF CARE? Most women in America have a lousy track record with self care. We tend to always put others and the needs of the many above our own. When was the last time you took time for self examination, (and I do not mean for lumps or growths) I mean for spiritual and emotional well-being. I learned many years ago that I am personally responsible for myself. Not my husband, not my children, not my family of origin or the pastoral staff at church. Me responsible for me. So how are you doing with that practice?

So back to the image – it seemed as if each rectangle could outline one area of my life: exercise, Bible reading, prayer and mediation, finding joy, study, crochet, cooking, journaling, gardening, small group meeting, church attendance, play, fellowship with friends, family gatherings, marriage building, self examination, confession etc., etc.NewMexico-50

Do you have a plan? In her recent book Talking as Fast as I Can Lauren Graham wrote:

I still find that, in general, having a plan is, well,
a good plan. But when my carefully laid plan laughed at me,
rather than clutch at it too tightly I just made a new one,
even if it was one that didn’t immediately make sense.
In blindly trying a different path, I accidentally found one that worked better.

Can you be this amenable with reality? First plan does not work. Don’t spend time beating yourself up over supposed failure. Just make a new plan that is more in line with reality and possibility. If it does not make sense at first, try it anyway and find the way towards your goals. This is not New Year Resolution talk. This is for self discipline and spiritual growth, well being and overall joy in living. For several years I made a list of those goals and re-read it once a month to see how I was doing towards balancing the activities.

Find a way towards your fulfillment.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature, Traveling

Eeyore! In the Black Hills

Did you know that Custer State Park has donkeys who run wild? They are fairly tame though. Bob had great fun watching me balance and walk across an extra wide cattle guard that was similar to this photo so I could get a closer look at them and some photos.

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Now mind you, the guard I crossed was crowded with people and cars all flocking to see the donkeys. But it was this color with very wide spaces between the bars.

It was worth the crossing though! The “Burros” (which is Spanish for donkey) are undomesticated. They were released into the park after the original herd that took visitors to the top of Black Elk Peak had their job discontinued. So the donkeys there today are descendants of the working donkeys.

They are also called Beggar Donkeys as they have learned to beg from the tourists. And the tourists have spoiled them rotten with vegetables and apples.

They were tame and soft. Some larger than others. I especially liked the one with the black stripe!975f5930-c938-4ac0-bec6-d93fada9a69d.jpeg
So as Eeyore might say, “Guess I’ve seen everything now! Donkeys being fed by tourists and begging rather than foraging the prairie of delicious grass! Oh well. Tomorrow is another day. Maybe, I will get some free food if I find some tourists. We’ll see.”

Posted on in Marriage and Memories, Traveling

Oklahoma!

When we visited the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City we were amazed to find these sculptures, larger than life, of famlies in wagon trains and men on horseback. At first I really had no idea what the purpose was. My imagination went wild!

Look at this couple. He is determined!

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Now notice the close-up of his woman below. Can’t you hear her terror?

DSCN2489“Honey, ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THIS THING?” It seemed as if she would rip his head off!

And then this couple – upright and focused.DSCN2486In their close up she looks eager and excited.

DSCN2487He seemed to be having a bit of trouble with his horse. A rider came up alongside him to help.dscn2484.jpgWell it turned out they were in a group of 50,000 people in the 1989 Oklahoma Land Rush (OOPS 1889 was the year) to lay claim to Unassigned Lands for homesteading. Paul Moore created these bronze statutes to commemorate the event and they are tremendous. If you like horses, be certain to stop here on your way through Oklahoma as the detail on the horses is magnificent.

A suit? Yes, he was wearing a suit!

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Posted on in Traveling

Prairie Dogs

… are known as  herbivorous burrowing rodents with no relation to canines.
The black-tailed are a member of the squirrel family,  NOT one of my husband’s favorite animal families!  According to the National park service they are an important species to the native mixed-grass prairie ecosystem at Badlands National Park.
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Art in the west!

They have many purposes! “Several federal studies indicate that more than 160 species of plants and animals can be found associated with prairie dog colonies. They serve as prey for black-footed ferrets, swift fox, badgers, coyotes, bobcats, and many species of resident and migratory hawks and eagles.

“They also create habitat for black-footed ferrets, burrowing owls, tiger salamanders, mice, voles, and insects. Burrowing also helps aerate the soil which helps to recycle nutrients.

”Foraging on grass and keeping the vegetation short provides better protection from predators. The constant clipping of grass also creates nutrient-rich forage for bison, who are attracted to prairie dog colonies for dirt wallows.“

Below is perhaps Jabba the Hutt of the P Dog world? Seriously, well fed!

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What! Being stepped on by a bison would be bad enough, but wallowed upon! Stop! Stop I cannot take the truth!

“A plague began to appear in the park in 2008 spread by flea bites. Several colonies of PDs have been dusted with an insecticide to kill the fleas. An oral vaccine is also being tried by scattering peanut flavored pellets throughout the prairie dog towns.”

Posted on in Traveling

Ya Sure, You Betcha!

Minnesota saying for certain! Found myself saying “You betcha” before we left Minnesota. We ate at Kroll’s Diner. It looked just like Cruisers Diner near our home.

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Way different things on their menu, though! Fleischkuechle, kuching, and knoephla soup. Sauerkraut and cheese buttons do not appeal to me, but I tried the soup and chicken wrap. The soup was a  rich chicken broth with potatoes and dumplings cut in rectangles. Also called lumpy yellow soup! It tasted good, but my body protested the next day! Billed as authentic North Dakota cuisine with a logo of “Sit down and eat” just like your Mom might tell you!

Posted on in Traveling

Fargo! Calls Itself “North of Normal!”

We also visited Fargo, North Dakota. Obviously, I am not blogging these cities in the order we visited them. We saw the tv show and it was dark. We saw the movie and it was funny but gross.

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C097603C-CA83-46DB-8D70-E6FD41654EB6And then we went inside!

B26F1AF5-27A0-4690-88CE-000A875D4D4EFCAF597D-5DED-408F-B2D5-26F31FC18335Yes, we are feeling very traveled now!!