State Parks

[osprey_archer]

Last Tuesday I decided that I needed a break from writing, so I treated myself to a week’s vacation, and over the next two days hit up the gardens at the art museum and then Fort Harrison, a state park less than half an hour from my house which I have meant to visit… since I moved here four years ago…

Clearly my past self was saving it for my present starved-for-variety self without realizing it. The trails are not as challenging as I might prefer, but I managed to inject some semi-unintentional challenge when I followed a path off into a meadow, which continued to look like an intentional human-created trail as it wandered down a hillside, until abruptly it trailed off to nothing in the tall grass.

I was contemplating my chances of finding the trail if I retraced my steps (low, it seemed to me) when I heard the music of human voices up ahead, and blundered happily through the grass till I reached a creek. It was deep on my side, sandy and shallow on the other, so I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my cargo pants and took a leap, and ended up soaked to my knees and splashed rather higher and overall extremely pleased with myself, as nothing says Adventure like leaping into a creek.

My shoes were only mildly damp, which was fortunate, as it took me some time to find my way back to the right trail… whereupon I came face to face with a deer! “Hi!” I said - the doe was really very close to me, just a few yards down the path, I could have gotten an amazing photograph - except, alas, the deer drifted off among the trees when I reached for my phone, so the photo was not to be.

Then I walked back to the parking lot and had a picnic lunch at a table tucked in among the trees, with sandwich and blueberries and an icy cold ginger beer, which made me feel like a character in Swallows and Amazons; an Osprey perhaps. (The solitary Osprey meets the Swallows on a forest adventure… and learns about the power of friendship and also how to set patterans so she doesn’t lose her trail!)

I had such a good time that I went on to look up every state park in the state (who knew there were so many!) and marked down the ones that seemed within a reasonable driving distance for a day trip. With some trouble I let go of Clifty Falls, which has four waterfalls AND a tunnel that is seasonally closed to humans for purposes of bat hibernation - a literal bat cave!!! But one can only drive so far in a day. Perhaps after the pandemic I can take an overnight trip.

Comments

[asakiyume]

nothing says Adventure like leaping into a creek. Agreed! And with a doe awaiting you--NICE.

[osprey_archer]

There's nothing quite as thrilling as coming face to face with a wild animal! (although obviously depending on the animal this can sometimes be a bit TOO thrilling.)

[anna_wing]

Yes! I remember meeting a Brahminy Kite sitting at eye-level in a local park, literally next to the trail. My friend and eye were hesitating, not wanting to disturb it, when along came a park worker on a bicycle, who stopped, made kissy noises at it and cycled on, while it observed him, unmoved.

So we assumed that it was used to passers-by, and duly passed (taking photos at a polite distance, since we weren't sure of its tolerance for clicky camera noises - this was before camera phones, or indeed, digital phones) right in its face.

The snoozing tiger snake I encountered by the path in an Australian botanical garden, on the other hand, was tiptoed past with extreme caution....

I remember the Swallows and Amazons (Enid Blyton too, it was a revelation when I saw a stoneware ginger-beer bottle for the first time and realised what she had meant by "stone" bottles), and yes, the addition of ginger beer to a picnic does instantly throw one back to those books!

[osprey_archer]

I too would pass a tiger snake with extreme caution! Nice snake... just stay asleep and I'll slip right on by...

[littlerhymes]

You met a DEER!

The solitary Osprey meets the Swallows on a forest adventure… and learns about the power of friendship and also how to set patterans so she doesn’t lose her trail!

I would definitely read this story and look forward to the chapter where they teach you, with only a little gentle scorn, about the right way to light a fire. Omg and the one where you and Dorothea would bond over novel writing!

[osprey_archer]

There is nothing quite like meeting an animal on equal footing!

The Swallows are also SHOCKED by my lack of seamanship. TBH I'm a little worried that I don't have any valuable skills to bring to the table; Dick and Dorothea might not know semaphore or sailing or how to light a fire, but at least they can ice skate, you know? Maybe I had better give my fictional self a wilderness skill of some sort.

[lokifan]

with sandwich and blueberries and an icy cold ginger beer, which made me feel like a character in Swallows and Amazons; an Osprey perhaps.

Lolllll! And such a plausible storyline!

[osprey_archer]

I don't think the Swallows & Amazons ever do meet a solitary adventurer (I've still got four books left in the series, though). Clearly a missed opportunity!