Lazy Summer Afternoon

Many people have sighed for the 'good old days' 

and regretted the 'passing of the horse,' 

but today, when only those who like horses own them, 

it is a far better time for horses.  

~C.W. Anderson~

Wide View

Rural scene near Galena, Illinois 

in the northwest corner of the state.

This Old House

The Dowling House (1826) 

is the oldest one in historic Galena, Illinois.

When the Corn is Green

Wisconsin Farmland

 Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil 

and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. 

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Across the River

Looking across the Des Moines River 

from Bentonsport, Iowa.

Lone Star

The one-room Lone Star country schoolhouse was originally located on the Schudel Farm west of Fieldon, Illinois.  A few years ago it was moved to the Jersey County Historical Society site on the grounds of the Cheney Mansion in Jerseyville, the county seat, and lovingly restored for tours.

Rock On, Old Man

The Old Man of the Dalles, St. Croix River, Wisconsin

The Dalles of the St. Croix River is a scenic gorge located near Interstate Park, south of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and Taylor Falls, Minnesota. The lower 125 miles of the river form the border between the two states until its confluence with the Mississippi River. The river is a National Scenic Riverway under the protection of the National Park Service.  The Old Man of the Dalles is a famous natural rock formation on the breathtakingly scenic river.

Jay Cook State Park, MN

St. Louis River, from the suspension bridge, at Jay Cook State Park, MN

I first visited Jay Cook State Park, 10 miles south of Duluth, Minnesota in 1969, when I was 16 years old and on vacation with my best friend and her family. My second visit was 37 years later, in 2006, while on a field trip with the Split Rock Artist Retreat. 

The only thing I remembered from that first visit was the 200 foot long suspension bridge that crosses the St. Louis River Gorge.  Both times I was scared to death to cross it. When I was 16, I wasn't interested in beautiful scenery though.  My focus, then, was on the young, two-legged "wildlife" of the male gender. On this second trip, so many years later, I was stunned by the rugged beauty of the landscape and the power of the mighty river roaring beneath the bridge.