Little Fireworks

Found throughout the wooded areas of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, these flowers remind me of little fireworks.

Called Blazing Star, the flowers are star shaped when fully open.

Vivid Red

The old saying, "Red sky at night, sailor's delight" was proven wrong on Saturday night. This glowing, red sunset preceded an overnight rain shower in LaPorte County, Indiana.

World War II Days

Each September, the Lockport, Illinois Park District presents reenactments of either the Civil War or World War II. This year, WWII was represented, and the final battle of the weekend depicted the capture of a small Polish village in 1939.

This early on in the war, the allied forces weren't formed, and the Polish fought to prevent a German advance.


Here, a battle-damaged house shows signs of Polish resistance: Mort a Boche - a derogatory way of saying, "Death to Germans"

Reflections on the Little Calumet River

Using a fallen Cottonwood tree as a natural bridge, I walked out to the middle of the Little Calumet River to check out the view up river. The end of summer is near, yet flowers still populate the distant bank.

The river was so lazy, the current could hardly be detected.

Posing on the River

Dan poses on a fallen Cottonwood tree spanning the Little Calumet River. Not sure how deep the water is right here (probably not more than two feet or so), but this tree made the perfect natural bridge.

Color Along the Little Calumet River

A Labor Day weekend walk along the bank of the Little Calumet River was quite peaceful and relaxing. Some Goldenrod on the far bank gave the landscape a pop of color.

Baby Turtle

This tiny turtle was found swimming in a small inland lake in LaPorte County, Indiana. Not much larger than a quarter, he seems almost too small for this time of year.

We put him back in the water, near some cover to help him hide from predators. Maybe we'll see him again next year.

Arrival

A father and son arrive at Central Beach on a beautiful August morning. No wind, no rip currents, and around 80 degrees - the perfect day for children to safely enjoy Lake Michigan.

Lots of people are back in school and away at college, so the beaches are no longer packed to capacity.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Falls of the Ohio

The recent dry weather has lowered the Ohio River quite a bit, revealing the fossil beds of the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, IN. Louisville can be seen a mile across the river, behind the Fourteenth Street Bridge, built in 1868. The longest span of the bridge is 644 feet over the fossil beds of the near bank and another span crosses the lock and dam on the far bank. The bridge is still used for railroad traffic today.

The Falls of the Ohio offers views of thousands if not millions of fossils embedded in the limestone bedrock. It's an expansive place. To get an idea of how large, look for the people near the center of this photograph; they're standing on the rocky bank.

Old Water Tower

On a hike around Mississippi Palisades State Park, we walked around the bend and encountered this old water tower rising up from a field filled with blossoming milkweed. No doubt a haven for Monarch butterflies flying around the Mississippi River.

Cooling Off

Children and adults alike cool off in the Whirlpool Compass Fountain in St. Joseph, Michigan. Just steps from Silver Beach, Lake Michigan, and the downtown shopping district, the fountain provided some much needed relief from the 90 plus degree sun.

Every few minutes, the top nozzles blast water overhead. In between sprays, dozens of small fountains of water come up from the ground providing lots of opportunities to cool off.

Sunset After the Storm

Following some afternoon storms, the sun made a brief appearance over the lake. The trees still dripping with moisture, glistened as the fog rolled in the distance.

Dye House

In 1860 John Dye lived on this 120 acre farm along with his wife , four children and six slaves. They raised corn, wheat, and hay on the nearby rolling hills. In 1862 Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner commandeered this house for his headquarters during the historic Battle of Perryville, which took place about a mile away. The house was used as a field hospital after the battle. Blood stains can still be seen on the floors of the upstairs rooms.

General Buckner later became Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and was the “Gold Democrat’s” vice presidential nominee in 1896. He died near Munfordville, Kentucky in 1914.

Sloan's Crossing Pond

In the midst of a 104 degree afternoon, we hiked around the mostly shaded Sloan's Crossing Pond. This pond is located in Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, and was formed by a sinkhole. The park is riddled with sinkholes, formed when the cave ceilings below failed and caved in. This particular sinkhole filled with water and created this small pond.

Even in the oppressive heat, the area immediately surrounding the water was teeming with life. Birds, frogs, lizards and countless other beings rustling nearby branches.

This image was created by stitching together eight individual photos.

Bluegrass Morning

In the midst of a string of 100 plug degree days, the rolling countryside of Hardin County, Kentucky showed signs of drought. Overnight, fog would fill the fields with a trace of moisture, only to evaporate before quenching the parched ground.

This field seemed relatively healthy, possibly due to it's low-lying location. Many other fields were brown, and several creeks were completely dry.

Mt. Zion Covered Bridge

The last of seven such bridges in Washington County, Kentucky, the Mt. Zion covered bridge (or the Mooresville covered bridge) is the longest multi-span covered bridge in Kentucky. Opened to traffic on November 6, 1871, the 246 foot long bridge used Burr Arch truss type of construction, named after the truss engineer and patent holder Theodore Burr. Designed and built by Cornelious Barnes, the bridge cost the county $5,000 to construct.


The arch truss can be seen in this interior photo.

Bridges in this time period were often covered to protect the wooden timbers from the elements. They also provided shelter for travelers during storms.

Now closed to traffic, the Mt. Zion covered bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You can still walk across this historic bridge to get a sense of what it was like to traverse the Little Beech Fork River back in the late 1800's on the way to Mooresville, Kentucky.

Morning Mist

On the way to an early morning hike to the top of a secluded, not-so-well-visited knob (prominent rounded hill), I was presented with some beautiful scenery along a small country road.

Daytime temperatures were well into the 100s, and at 6:30 am, the countryside was filled with fog - the only source of moisture in this region for weeks.

Peaceful Hills

Now peaceful, these hills were witness to an important event in Kentucky History. The Battle of Perryville was fought here on October 8, 1862, marking the end of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's famous "Kentucky Invasion." It was the largest battle fought in Kentucky during the Civil War.

1426 men were killed, 5552 wounded. It's considered to be one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

Resting

A dragonfly I found struggling to get out of an abandoned spiderweb. I removed him to let him fly free, but instead, he stayed perched on my finger for about ten minutes - resting after the ordeal.

Lift Bridge, Lock 21, Hennepin Canal

One of the first large scale uses of concrete construction in the country, the Hennepin Canal linked the Illinois River with the Mississippi River. Along the 104.5 mile waterway, locks were constructed of concrete, unlike the Illinois and Michigan Canal's limestone block locks.

Lift bridges were located in a few places to provide a place for wheeled vehicles to cross the canal. This lift bridge on Lock 21 near Wyanet, Illinois still stands, and traffic is allowed to drive over.


The location of the Hennepin Canal is much more rural than most of the I and M Canal, so a walk along the towpath is very peaceful and scenic.