Down By The River

I had to take a drive down south in Ohio this week for work, so I decided to take advantage of being down on the Ohio River and take a few pictures while I was there.  On the border of West Virginia, along the Ohio River, is the city of Marietta.  I passed through this city a lot as a teen, traveling between my home in Northeast Ohio and our new home in Charlotte, NC....but even though I was familiar with the city as a favorite stopping point in the 8 hour car ride for lunch and a restroom break....I never knew how beautiful the town was or how much history was here!  Marietta was the first American settlement in the Northwest Territory.  George Washington explored the area as a young surveyor in 1770, and wrote of it's beauty and potential settlement.  In 1788, Washington said, "No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at the Muskingum...If I was a young man, just preparing to begin the world, or if advanced in life and had a family to make provision for, I know of no country where I should rather fix my habitation..."    In 1787, Benjamin Franklin said, "I have never seen a grander river in all my life."

The city was holding a couple events and the threat of rain diminished, giving way to a cool evening along the river with many friendly townsfolk strolling around.  Street performers playing music, craftsman and artists showcasing their wares....it was a great night to see the old buildings, the river, and stop and smell the roses in a part of my home state I had only every seen from interstate 77.

 It was awesome to stand and see the Harmar Bridge, once a covered bridge, converted for the B&O railroad, now a walking bridge, glowing in the summer night across the lazy Ohio.  I love the mix of historic architecture and nature....seeing and feeling how people came to live around and tame the grandeur of creation in period of time with far fewer conveniences and technological advancements....it was pretty cool! 

 Marietta and Washington County are known for covered bridges, old barns, and rolling farmlands.  Despite more threats of summer rain, it was worth the venture out into the hills, with no GPS or cell phone reception, just to see a few of the sites before jumping on the interstate and heading home.

One of the exciting and unplanned subjects was this baby fawn bolting across a hayfield as I stood getting ready to photograph a covered bridge.  An old pickup honked as it dashed across the road, and I looked up in time to grab a series of shots....perhaps not the best but the excitement was enough to demand that I share the thrill I caught on "film".
 

 This is the bridge I was intending to photograph when the little fawn stole the show.   I think it would be better to capture in spring, fall, or even winter, as the summer growth covers the creek and part of the bridge.  But it was still fun to photograph and take a drive through the countryside.

Also saw a piece of American art too!
One of the iconic Mail Pouch painted barns! I live near one that is in worse shape and in a worse setting so it was fun to see this nice one and get to snag a couple shots.

Lake Erie

My trip to Lake Erie over Memorial Weekend led to a trip down memory lane as well.  As a kid my family would vacation in the summer up on the shores of the lake....the closest thing to the ocean I ever saw until I was 13.  It is different than the ocean in a lot of way....for one there is no picking for shells.  The shores are lined with pebbles and rocks....and glass, pottery, bricks, and all kinds of other neat stuff that has been knocked about, worn away, until soft and smooth.  Although the extra coarse sand is anything but soft....it will however save you from paying for a pedicure and pumice your feet "au natural".    The first night was very hot, and the sunset was obscured by thunderstorms moving in over the water.  (The lighting show that night was great from the hotel window....can't imagine how awesome it would have been to photograph from the lake, but my camera ain't waterproof!!!)  The second day was cool, cloudy, and windy...the water the first night was calm and lapping...the next day it was very choppy with waves.  The great lake offered great variety!

Below is a selection of photos taken on the shores of the lake, and the dunes along Headlands State Park, including the old lighthouse.  Many a mariner appreciated that light I am sure, as the history of Lake Erie is fraught with shipwrecks.  Enjoy a couple nice reading selections I found to accompany all the photos!

Shorebird trying to stand against the wind

By C.H. Spurgeon:

The sea obediently respects its boundary, and though it be but a belt of sand, it does not overleap the limit. Mighty as it is—it hears the divine 'hitherto'; and when most raging with tempest—it respects the God's boundaries. But self-willed man defies heaven and oppresses earth, neither is there any end to this rebellious rage.

The sea, obedient to the moon, ebbs and flows with ceaseless regularity, and thus renders an active as well as a passive obedience; but man, restless beyond his sphere…

Cooling off on a hot evening

Every drop in the ocean, every beaded bubble, and every yeasty foam-flake, every shell and pebble, feel the power of God's law, and yield or move at once. O that our nature were but one thousandth part as much conformed to the will of God! We call the sea fickle and false—but how constant it is! Since our fathers' days, and the old time before them—the sea is where it was, beating on the same cliffs to the same tune; we know where to find it, it forsakes not its bed, and changes not in its ceaseless boom. But where is man—vain, fickle man?  We need more watching than the billowy sea, and are far more rebellious. Lord, rule us for Your own glory! Amen.

 

 

 

By J.C. Philpot (1867):

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your  loving-kindness—according unto the multitude of  Your tender mercies blot out my transgressions."
    Psalm 51:1

What a sweet expression it is—and how it seems to convey to our mind that God's mercies do not fall 'drop by drop'—but are as innumerable . . ..
  as the sand upon the sea-shore;
  as the stars that stud the midnight sky;
  as the drops of rain that fill the clouds before
they discharge their copious showers upon the earth.

It is the multitude of His mercies that makes Him so merciful a God. He does not give but a drop or two of
mercy—that would soon be gone, like the rain which fell this morning under the hot sun. But His mercies
flow like a river! There is in Him . . .
  a multitude of mercies,
  for a multitude of sins,                           
  and a multitude of sinners!

" How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand..."  

Psalm 139:17-18

Trees Grow Slowly

If you have ever sipped an aged wine, or received good advice from your grandpa you already know that somethings get better with age!  The aging process is usually slow....and although most of us are prone to impatience there are some things in life you just can't rush.  I give you roast beef for example....or today's photo subject: TREES  And as Horatius Bonar points out below, there are a few other good things, like a tree, that don't happen overnight.

The first thing I saw at Holden Arboretum was this display of a section of a coastal Redwood tree.  Below is a photo of the plaque explaining the tree's approximate age, and the historical events that occurred during the life of the tree.  The diameter on this thing was so large I couldn't stretch my arms wide enough to touch the outsides with my fingertips.  Amazing! 

(As an aspiring dendrochronologist, I jokingly point to my "birthdate" on the tree rings. Thought I would include it so you could get a sense of the size of it as a whole, and better appreciate the close up shots I took of the thin growth rings, each representing a year of the tree's life). 

**NOTE: Dendrochronology is the fancy word for the scientific method of dating based on patterns in tree rings....impress your friends and work that into a sentence!

As the plaque states, this tree was about 882 years old when it was cut down in 1978, but could have lived 2000 years!  That means there are trees on this planet that were beginning to grow when Christ walked the earth.  Let that blow your mind!

     

Redwood rings upclose

By Horatius Bonar:  “God’s Trees Grow Slowly”



A cedar tree growing in the park



God’s processes are not always rapid. His greatest works rise slowly. Swiftness of growth has been one of man’s tests of greatness; not so is it with God. His trees grow slowly; the stateliest are the slowest. His creatures grow slowly, year by year; man, the noblest, grows the most slowly of all. God can afford to take His time. Man cannot; he is hasty and impatient…. He forgets how slowly the palm tree and the cedar grow. They neither spring up in a night nor perish in a night… He insists that, because it is God’s purpose that His saints should be holy, therefore they ought to be holy at once.

 

It is true that our standard is, and must be, perfection; for our model is the Perfect One. But the question is, "Has God in scripture anywhere led us to expect the rapidity of growth, the quick development of perfection in which some glory and because of the confessed lack of which in others they look down on these others as babes or loiterers? Is there in scripture any instance of a PERFECT MAN, excepting Him who was always and absolutely without sin?



On Holden Pond

Well, not quite. As you drive down Sperry Road, in Kirtland Village you do get the sense you are in a perfectly quaint town.  Winding up and down through hills, around sharp curves, you pass charming farm homes, old growth trees, and the clear, rock studded waters of Chagrin River gurgling along the roadside.  "Tucked" away on this road is Holden Arboretum, and while they have many ponds on the 3,500 acre preserve, I don't believe any of them are called Holden Pond. (Although it does have a nice ring, doesn't it?)  Once you get a few miles away you see evidence of the industrial revolution, corporate America, and all that....but out on Sperry Road you really feel a world away and maybe even get a vibe for what it might have been like when US President James Garfield lived on his farm in the area.  I can't even image how pretty it must be when the fall leave colors pop!

Well, I hope you enjoy some of these shots taken around the arboretum...I really enjoyed taking them!  Due to the threat of rain I wasn't able to traverse very deep into the preserve but I still found plenty of God's wonderful creation to keep me busy for hours.  Including the manicured butterfly garden, with a waterfall....shots I am shocked to say were taken without a tripod!  Also, below is a little photographic ode to my mama...I found an arbor of honeysuckle, full of red blooms, which are her favorite!  

By Francis of Assisi, 1225

All creatures of our God and king

Lift up your voice and with us sing,

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou burning sun with golden beam,

Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

Refrain

O praise Him! O praise Him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong

Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,

Ye lights of evening, find a voice!

Refrain

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,

Make music for thy Lord to hear,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Thou fire so masterful and bright,

That givest man both warmth and light.

Refrain

Dear [Heavenly Father], day by day

Unfoldest blessings on our way,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

The flowers and fruits that in thee grow,

Let them His glory also show.

Refrain

Let all things their creator bless,

And worship Him in humbleness,

O praise Him! Alleluia!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,

And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

I took this snapshot of a young shutterbug also photographing on the same trail.  He seemed to take his hobby rather seriously.  I can relate!