Today (where I live) the sun was shining and the temperature was in the low 60’s. I was lucky enough to have the day off and I got to thinking… this could be the last gasp of Indian Summer. I did have chores to do around the house, but they could wait. I decided to take a drive out to Governor Dodge State Park, which is about 40 miles west of my house.
It was such a beautiful day today, I decided to head out with my camera and find some signs of Autumn.
Yesterday for the first time in my life, I went kayaking. After I got out of work, I went over to Lake Wingra (a small lake, not too far from work), stopped at the boathouse and rented a kayak. I was out on the water for about an hour and I am hooked.
My favorite part of my camping trip last week, was a visit to Effigy Mounds National Monument. Located across the Mississippi River (in Iowa) and about 15 miles north of Wyalusing, Effigy Mounds National Monument has over 195 mounds built by native peoples between 750 and 1,600 years ago. These earthen mounds probably had a strong religious significance for those who built them. Probably a means of connecting the people to the land, the spirit world, and their ancestors. In fact, some were used for burial purposes.
Even though Spring is just days away, we’re still getting snow in Wisconsin. I woke up this morning to see everything wearing a beautiful coat of snow. Here’s a picture I took at work today of the snow covered woods behind the library. As proof that beauty is fleeting, the trees were bare again in just a few hours.
What a pleasure it was to see the sun shining in Madison after about a week or so of cloudy, overcast (and sometimes snowy) weather. It’s during this time of the year when I can understand how people can become depressed and suffer from things like seasonal affective disorder. During these months (late February, early March) I always feel like my batteries are in serious need of recharging. On days like today I genuinely get an emotional lift from the sun shine.
Forty years ago this past Friday, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act establishing the National Wilderness Preservation System to “…secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness.”
