The Remains of Winter

 

Some leaves refuse to let go until the buds of spring force them off.

 

Seed heads remain to be eaten by  Goldfinch and other birds in the winter.

 

Seeds scattered by the winds of winter will bring forth new life in the spring.

 
Dropped seed pods get caught up on limbs as they fall from the trees on the cliffs above.

 

Some trees are scared and deformed and you wonder how they grow or stand under the ice, snow and winds of winter.

 

 
New life begins after death.

 

 

All it needs is a little fertile soil to take root.

 

Technorati Tags: Conkles Hollow. Winter 2012

47th Hocking Hills Winter Hike

 

The annual Hocking Hills Winter Hike will take place Saturday January 21st. The hike covers about six miles from the parks campground to Ash Cave.

Upper Trail at Old Man’s Cave

The hike is a wonderful time to see southeastern Ohio’s caves, waterfalls and streams.

Upper Falls at Old Man’s Cave

This is the one time that the hikers may wish for cold or inclement weather because the cold and snow create a beautiful backdrop for the hike.

The hike passes the spring filled Rose Lake and the falls and caves.

Old Man’s Cave 

At Cedar Falls the midway point of the hike hikers can lunch on bean soup and cornbread with a hot beverage.

Cedar Falls

At Cedar Falls they can watch the icy waters fall from the fifty foot falls.

 Along the lower Trail at Cedar Falls

From Cedar Falls the walk will continue on to Ash Cave.

Ash Cave Falls

At the end of the hike participants will be driven back to Old Man’s Cave.

  
Ash Cave Falls Basin

Hikers can assemble anytime between 9 and 11 a.m. There is no charge but donations are always welcome because of budget cuts.

If we do not get some cold and snow for the hike do not fear because it is still a beautiful hike. Five thousand hikers enjoyed the Winter Hike last year. Come and visit.

 
Ash Cave Falls

Cedar Falls

 
Old Man’s Cave Falls

  

Rose Lake

Winter Berries In The Parks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Hocking Hills State Parks,Native Berries

The Solitude Now at Conkles Hollow

 

 
It is a very wet Conkles Hollow to walk through these days with all of the rain we have had this year. Every cliff  ledge or face has become a little waterfalls now.

 
I saw a few new wooden rails had been put up along the trail. This is to keep the hikers on the paths to keep them safe and to keep down on the destruction that thousand and thousands of feet and uncaring hikers can cause. What took hundreds of years to create can be destroyed by one ungrateful hiker.

  
Several hikers fall to injury and death each year in the Hocking Hills parks because they do not heed these signs. They are there for their safety and should be obeyed.

Water is  standing in pools all along the trail. The wet soil has also caused several of the trees to slip from the hillsides and fall. The evidence is in all of the fresh  logs cut up along the paths.

It has been an excellent year for the moss to grow in the hollow.
I have not seen so much as there is on everything this year.
This log is completely covered and hidden by it all.

 
The hikers do not have to deface the trees and rocks because they can carve their names in the moss now.

 

 
The creeks have white foam from the water pouring over the falls and into the creek.

Nature has a way of growing on and in everything up in the hollow, even in a hallowed broken tree along the trail.

 
There is evidence of growth still to be found.

And the woodland ferns are still green and standing since there has not been any snows yet.

Looks like they need some new Blue bird boxes. Briars had grown through this one busting it open. I tried to fix it back but I do not take hammers along on my walks. LOL! Even the birdhouse was tinged in green algae from all of the dampness.
But there was not one bird of any kind to be seen on my walk last week.

 
In fact the silence up in the hollow was so calming and peaceful. A hush was covering the whole woods. No critters were scurrying around the forest floor. Even the other hikers talked in hushed tones as not to disturb the silence. The only sound was the splashing of water over the fall’s….

…. and the rushing of water around logs and rocks in the creek that runs through the park. Soon everything will be covered in white and ice formations and giant icicles will be hanging from the falls and cliff surfaces.

 

Technorati Tags: Conkles Hollow,Winter,Ciffs,Waterfalls,Moss

The Reason for the Season at the Courthouse

 

The streets and the courthouse at Logan, Ohio are decorated every year by volunteers who string thousands of lights.
This Nativity has grazed the courthouse for many years.

 

 

And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds in the fields watching over their flocks by night. And behold and an angel of the Lord appeared and said to them “Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy. For there is born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”. “And this will be a sign unto you; you will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger”.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying;
”Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace, goodwill toward all men”.
The shepherds said “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass.” And they came in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2: 1-20.

 

 

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem wise men came from the East and came to Jerusalem saying “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? Matthew 2:2-11

For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.

 

And when they came into the house they saw the young Child with Mary His mother and fell down and worshiped Him.
And when they opened their treasures they presented to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Wise Men Still Seek Him.

 

Technorati Tags: Logan Courthouse,Nativity,Christmas

Don’t Cry For The Horses

 

On a hill along State Route 93 in Vinton county, Ohio stands a metal statue with  an angel upon a horse. The owner is definitely a lover of horses or may have lost a beloved horse which signifies the statue and a plaque that reads
” Don’t Cry For The Horses”.

I have to admit I had never heard of the meaning of the statue or the phrase and had to look it up.
The answers were found and the meaning are as follows:

Don't Cry For The Horses, by Brenda Riley-Seymore is written by a modern day heroine who lives in Sun Valley, California.  A cowgirl with a cop for a boyfriend, she was born in Kentucky and raised on a ranch. A semi retired animal trainer for motion pictures, whose heroes are cops and cowboys, she now works Los Angeles in information systems. Brenda and her 18 year old daughter who saves all creatures great and small.

Don't Cry For The Horses, by Brenda Riley-Seymore

Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free
A million white horses
Forever to be

Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band

They were ours as a gift
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep

Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against the blue sky

Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved

Manes and tails flowing
They Gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine

Don't cry for the horses
They will be back someday
When our time has come
They will show us the way

On silver wings they will lift us
To the warmth of the sun
When our life is over
And eternity has begun

We will jump the sun
And dance over the moon
A Ballet of horses and riders
on the winds
to a heavenly tune

Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here

Don't cry for the horses
Lift up your sad eyes
Can't you see them
As they fly by?

A million white horses
Free from hunger and pain
Their spirits set free
Until we ride again.

Technorati Tags: Vinton County Ohio,Don't Cry For The Horses,Statue