It doesn’t happen very often, but this was as close to a shut-out as I have experienced here at the Falls. On this trip I didn’t make any sculptures and the resulting images weren’t as memorable. Granted I didn’t give myself any time out here to speak of and there were other frustrations. For one, I could barely get out of my neighborhood because of two simultaneous Derby festival events. In a relatively tight area you could watch 15,000 runners go by or attend an arts and crafts fair. Over the years the running thing is getting out of control and a different course needs to be constructed that goes around the city instead of paralyzing it. You should have seen all the plastic bottles left by the side of the road and the hundreds that were discarded on the Second Street Bridge. Many of these bottles were blown into the river by a steady wind. Oh, and an hour after arriving at the park it rained really, really hard. Sorry to be so down, especially when the sign above says “NO DUMPING”!
I knew it would be a hassle with the festival activity and potential bad weather, but I went for it anyway. It’s migratory bird season and I reasoned that if there was just one bird that I hadn’t seen before or if I made any other memorable sightings than it would be worth it! At least the iris flowers looked nice by the Interpretive Center.
I decided to take the Woodland Trail that goes through a variety of habitats and see what was around. I came across a small flock of White-throated Sparrows, but that was today’s avian highlight. The sky was overcast and had that quality that makes everything seem backlit and tough to photograph. I will say there was one thing happening that was absolutely delicious and a joy to partake in.
The lovely fragrance of honeysuckle vines and blooming honey locust trees hung in the humid air. Their combined scents created a heavy, sweet perfume that it made it easier to appreciate the day for what it was. On the walk back, I checked out the river and did find one interesting item. It’s nature’s template cast off after use! This is how oaks and tulips came to be.
I have been planning a drawing project and so this is a serendipitous find. I definitely will put this template to work. As I was walking along the river the little bit of mist became a monsoon. There was a single huge flash of lightning and the resulting thunder could be heard bouncing around the valley. I guess even Earth Day must take back seat to the Kentucky Derby Festival because the park moved their observance from the official day of April 22 to May 8! That’s one way to make any day, Earth Day!
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
What a rotten day weatherwise – but not wasted! I love the smell of honeysuckle, probably more intense in the rain? That template looks like its either a cookie cutter or a stencil of some sort (card making or spray paint). How odd to find it amidst nature. I wonder if you could use it as a template to cut styrofoam? probably a bit too fiddly and lumpy eh. I suppose you could use as a template to cut bits of tin can out, thread wire through and hang from lightning trees to rust and corrode – 🙂 perhaps this might be a bad idea though as it would act as a further conducter 🙂 You must use it though – a gift from nature? or one of natures rejects?
What happens to all the plastic bottles in the river? Aren’t people thoughtless…
Hi Lynda, What does “fiddly” mean? As for the plastic bottles…these were given to the runners to hydrate themselves with and then just thrown to the ground to be gathered later. In the meantime, some of the bottles on the bridge were blown into the river where some will wash up at the Falls…and others will begin a journey to the Gulf of Mexico and places in between. Yes, very thoughtless!
Fiddley means pernickety, fussy, tricky, hard to handle Al 🙂 Wow ! that’s some journey for a bottle!
I guess if allowed to…everything flows back to the oceans where we originally came from. Thanks for defining “fiddley”, I enjoy reading how the British use English!!!