Books I Read In June

 Summertime and my reading habits change - only seven books read in June.

A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry (a new author for me) is about an eccentric millionaire who hides his treasure somewhere in the hills of West Virginia, provides clues to it, and invites hunters to try and find it. It was a different part of the counry, but very much like real life Forrest Fenn's treasure hunt in the Rockies. (Art imitating life?)

Code To Zero by Ken Follett is set in 1958 during America's attempt to launch its first satellite and catch up with Russia in the space race. It's a time during the Cold War when spies, deceit and betrayal were all a part politics and of our daily lives. (I remember being certain I would wake up some morning and find Russian military in our front yard.) Follett is such a fine writer, I will read any and all of his books even if I'm not crazy about the subject matter.

The Rules Of Magic by Alice Hoffman, another excellent author. I believe I mentioned last month that I plan to read all the books by her that are available at the library. 

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly is his sixth book in his series featuring Harry Bosch, but the first in order of the ones the library has. I plan to read my way through this series, too. 

Where Truth Lies is by Christiane Heggan, another new author for me. I wanted a paperback to take with me on our two-day trip to Eastern Iowa and I found a good one. It is a little romance with a good murder mystery - so a quick read with a story line that held my interest - and lasted the two days away.

the summer of lost and found is #7 in Mary Alice Monroe's Beach House series. I really enjoy these books set on Sullivan's Island and The Isle of Palms. They were a big part of why I wanted to visit both places when we went to Charleston, SC in 2014. 

Practical Magic is the first of Alice Hoffman's books featuring the descendants of one of the witches of Salem. I had read it before, but it has been a few years. After reading The Rules of Magic, I decided to revisit Practical Magic.

I still have three more books I got the same time as these last three, but like I said, my reading habits change during the summer months. I need to only check out three or four books instead of five or six.

Regardless of the season, reading is still one of my top pleasures. 

Two Days In June - Day II - Part II

After lunch, we drove the fifteen miles from Mt. Vernon to Wapsipinicon State Park near Anamosa. We took the Upper Park Road to the parking lot close to the river then walked a lovely winding path to the historic Hale Bridge over the Wapsi.

Which passed along a huge field of flowering milkweed. Their fragrance was heady. 

I would love to be here to watch the orange and black spectacle when the Monarchs begin hatching.

I really thought this was the bridge I had driven across when Doug and I visited the park in 1967.

But no, signage told us that this bridge was moved here sixteen miles from the village of Hale by Iowa National Guard Chinook helicopters in 2006 to become part of the pedestrian parkway. 

Hale Bridge is the longest bowstring truss bridge in Iowa.

We saw a number of these turtles in the water and on the banks of the river.

These reptiles are different than the ones I'm used to seeing.

I believe they are Smooth Softshell Turtles.

According to Wikipedia, the name of the river is from the Objibwe language meaning river abundant in swan potatoes on account of the large quantity of arrowheads or wild artichokes, known as "swan potatoes", once found near its banks.

Back in the car, reversing our route and splashing back through Dutch Creek.....

.....and past this little stone hut with the ferns growing on the side and which left me wondering when was it built? what was its purpose? and if it is used for anything now?......

....and across a couple of these one-lane, arched stone bridges to the parking lot near Ice Cave and the path to Horse Thief Cave which we didn't find, but maybe we didn't walk far enough along the path.

Dominique and Bud did both go a short distance into Ice Cave but decided not to explore too far.

Meanwhile, I took snaps of some of the many dragonflies around the creek.

More fungi.

These seem to be at least two different kinds.

And more ferns growing out of crevices.

I love nature in all her manifestations.

Upon leaving the state park, we drove a short distance to this old bridge along the edge of the park.

It is closed to traffic now, but this is probably the one I remember driving across to enter the park back in 1967.

The Cemetery Road Bridge across the Wapsi was built in 1887 and has always been at this same location.

That plaque at the top reads: 1887 - Milwaukee Bridge & Iron Works. The decorative scroll on the right side has been broken off.

A different day, a different river, a different dam - but the water going over it is just as powerful and dangerous.

We saw a number of Blue Herons. This one was fishing below the dam.

Doesn't the Wapsipinicon River make a beautiful backdrop for these Mullein plants?

Historically, these plants were used as an herbal treatment for coughs, congestion, chest colds, bronchitis and inflammation. A tea made from its leaves was used to treat asthma.

Four miles west of Anamosa is the village of Stone City. If you have ever heard of it, it may be because of Grant Wood's famous painting of the same name, painted in 1930.

In the late 1800's there were at least three limestone quarries in operation here and the town grew to 500. Limestone was being shipped to other states by rail for use in building bridges, foundations and houses. 

After cement replaced stone for building purposes, the quarries closed and the town dwindled away.

From 1932 to 1933, Grant Wood and others had an art colony in Stone City. 

I took a few photos of some of the stone buildings that are still here.

Unfortunately my picture of St. Joseph's Catholic Church is of the back side.

The old blacksmith shop is on the road to The Stone City Quarries which began a revival in the early 1950's.

They have continued to grow and are now one of the largest quarries in the Midwest.

The one remaining building in Stone City I remembered for certain was the old general store. It was kind of run down the way I remembered it from when I lived in the area and first visited here. But I knew it now had a new life and identity as The General Store Pub. 

It wasn't open when we stopped by, but the owner graciously said we could take pictures and walk around the grounds which are very attractive with lots of flowers around the patio dining and other areas.

But something was very different from what I remembered - the store was on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the river. Ahh, memories - they are still nice to have even if they aren't quite perfect.

Dominique made her way down to the river (the Wapsipinicon, here, too) where she found a baby sasquatch. Or is the correct term bigfoot here in the midwest?

From here it was back to Mt. Vernon where I wanted to make one last attempt to find something that looked familiar in the area where I lived in 1967.

I knew the house I had lived in was gone. I knew there had been a lot of growth and changes in the area. For instance, the 'Old Lisbon Road' I took to work used to be gravel, but is now paved. Dominique pointed out where the bowling alley was "before it burned down". Doug and I used to walk there, a very short distance from our apartment house. 

As nearly as I could tell, storage units, the Lisbon-Mt. Vernon Ambulance Service where Ian and Dominique volunteer and a new housing development now are located in the area.

The closest I could come to something still there when I was, was this old quarry lake, now part of Nature Park. But I don't think Nature Park was a park yet then. If so, I don't remember ever going there.

                                                  Mother Mallard and babies on quarry lake.

Thursday morning we both woke up early, decided to pack up, check out and get on the road. It rained hard on us from Mt. Vernon to near Marshalltown. We drove straight through with Bud doing all the driving. We got home shortly before 10:30. On the way up, I drove the middle leg (mostly 4-lane between Marshalltown and Cedar Rapids) just because I wanted to see if I still could.

Here are some take-aways from our two-day trip, besides the fact that I still feel comfortable doing some of the driving as long as it isn't in or around a city or on I-80: 

1) It was good to be away on a little trip again after a year of staying home, isolating.

2) We can still be in the car together for an extended period without disagreeing.

3) Spending time with our youngest granddaughter is just as much fun as it was twenty years ago.

4) Being back in the area that held so many memories for me was wonderful; doing so with my husband and granddaughter made it special.

5) Arriving back home felt good. As Dorothy said: "There's no place like home."

 

"Nature is not matter only.

She is also spirit."  (Carl Jung)

Two Days In June - Day II - Part I

Early Wednesday morning when I opened the drapes it was raining and I saw something I hadn't seen in a long time - a rainbow. 

It had arced across the sky with a bit of a double image off to the east in this photo.

If there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it might well be found when this field of corn is harvested in the fall.

The rain is just what the crops needed.

By 6:30, it was already beginning to clear off to the southwest.

It was going to be another lovely day.

Dominique had invited us over to their house for a breakfast of waffles, bacon and orange juice. Mmm - mmm - good. 

We met a very friendly Tux.

 And the pretty, but elusive, Socks.

After breakfast we started out to Palisades-Kepler State Park on Old Highway 30, but when we got to Irish Lane, we saw the sign for Abbe Creek School Museum and decided to go there first.

The school was built in 1856 and believed to be the oldest standing one room brick school in Iowa.

It is on land claimed by William Abbe, the first white settler in Linn County. (1836)

The building wasn't open, so we walked around and took some pictures. Then we noticed some interesting specimens in the decorative beds of river rock.

It was hard not to pick up more. These are the ones that came home with me. The fossils! Oh my.

But the goal for the morning was Palisades-Kepler State Park.

First stop the beach. Where this dead tree lies bleached and beached.

The house on the bluff across the river from the beach is still there, but it looks different than I remembered.

And the bluff is only half as high as I thought it was.

And I remember stairs down to a boat dock on the water.

But here I am, back on the beach. This time with my youngest granddaughter instead of my oldest son. Doug was almost five years old when he played here in the sand while I sunbathed. 

This is a picture of me taken in the office where I worked in Lisbon at that time - 54 years ago.

We left the beach and hiked on one of the nearby trails.

Bud on his way up to a high outcropping

The two of us posing on a bridge.

This was about the time that Dominique commented that we represented relationship goals.

I thought that was so sweet.

"And what is so rare as a day in June?

Then, if ever, come perfect days." (James Russell Lowell)

 

And this was the most perfect day.

A perfect wild, white morning glory.

A perfect little trickling waterfall on its way to the Cedar River.

Some perfectly aligned fungi on an old fence rail.

And a perfect mystery in this iron ring embedded in a rock along the dam over the Cedar River.

Imagine boats tied up there? Or a rope or cable across the river? 

Was it always in this location? Or did it wash here in a flood?

Just the first set of stairs down to the dam.

I managed these, but didn't go any further down.

Dominique and Bud did go all the way down - wa-ay down.

The river may be low, but there is still a whole lot of power and danger in those waters going over the dam.

Some of the palisades at Palisades-Kepler State Park. The park was closed from August last year until April this year due to the damage from the derecho. It reopened exactly two months before our visit here on Wednesday. And even though they lost hundreds of trees, the park is still as beautiful as I remembered it. A very special place in my memories.

Ian texted that he was on his way to meet us for lunch at Si Senor so we headed back to town for some yummy Mexican food and a whole lot of fun with Ian and Dominique. I'm glad she could spend two days with us in the middle of the week, but I wish Ian could have, too.

For the afternoon - another state park, another river.

P.S. These are my Palisades-Kepler beach rocks.