Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park

All three of our destinations today are adjacent, and National Geographic rates Custer State Park one of the best in the nation. It is easy to see that designation, as the scenery is magnificent. The "vista" picture is just to show why this area is called the "Black Hills." Unfortunately, much of the pine forest (just like we saw several years ago in both Colorado and Alberta) is being devastated by an epidemic from the pine beetle - mountain after mountain of dead trees. It is really sad to see such mayhem. The Park service staffs are working hard to minimize the damage, but it is no easy task. Oh, guess which rock formation is named "Eye of the Needle."

Badlands National Park

The great plains - aptly named - as there are all crisp lines on the horizon, everywhere you look. The horizon is grass and sky, rocks and sky, mountains and sky, but never trees and sky. The rocks of the Badlands are very weird, rising up out of mile after mile of grassy plain. We also visited a pioneer, sod-buster, sod home, built only 100 years ago. Settlers paid $18 for 160 acres, which were theirs if they stayed at least 5 years - most did not. Another time, another place - the treatment of the Indians in the whole "homestead" process was pretty shabby. The western part of the Badlands Park is more high prairie, with lots of space for prairie dogs and bison. Here are some images from the day.

Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota

As we travel west and north, the roads get faster, the prices lower, and the people friendlier (although we met wonderful friends in Chicago). You know you are getting older, however, when the front desk asks if a handicapped room is acceptable, when you go out on Michigan Avenue, and a woman asks if we are lost, and can she help, and when they don't ask at the Art Institute if you are entitled to "senior" tickets. Ah, well, we are in Sioux Falls, SD, so here is a pic of the falls.

Chicago Architectural Foundation

We took a river cruise today to see the vibrant and varied architectural heritage of Chicago. The whole east side of Chicago was built on a land-fill, with debris from two sources - (1) they used refuse from the great Chicago fire, and (2) they dredged up more dirt from the Chicago river than was dug out of the Panama Canal! Why - to make Lake Michigan flow south and west (instead of its natural north and east flow) into the Mississippi - all the way to New Orleans! Mies Van Der Rohe, Phillip Johnson and others led Chicago in developing the first skyscrapers using steel construction. Here are some views:

Chicago

This PM we saw Millennium and Grant Parks in Chicago. Does anyone else remember 1968, Abe Ribicoff and Mayor Daley and the Democratic Convention? Well, now they are beautiful parks, not riot central. We visited the Chicago Art Institute, a museum that certainly is world-class (think, Philly, NYC, the Smithsonian, Louvre, and Hermitage - especially for Impressionist works). One thing I found out -I'm not contemporary - more Grant Wood. It is quite difficult maintaining a straight face while two young women are laughing hysterically at our attempt to mimic American Gothic. Here are some pics from the day.

In style

As we get ready to travel, I have the good fortune to be reading another wonderful garden book: The Wild Braid, a conversation with Stanley Kunitz, poet and gardener. So to set up our trip, here are two of my poems and a picture of why we are ambivalent (somewhat) about leaving. Down the path/ Walking through the woods/ Turtle cove and frog hollow/ The stream rushes by./ Swaying branches/ The underside of leaves/ Create darkness compared/ to those basking in the sun./ That is, until the breeze Lifts and twists and Mines silver in the air. As we walked around the pond, Donna was able to get a picture of Madison while she was picking flowers. Madison is definitely in style.

Does it get any better?

What should a garden look like? Try this.

Getting Ready

We are getting ready for a National Park trip from Chicago to San Fransisco with major stays in Glacier and Yosemite. By chance, Pop Pop recently read a fascinating book called Second Nature by Michael Pollen. He argues that the Thoreau ideal of "romantic nature" where we are but observers of beautiful vistas should be confined to spectacular spaces like Yosemite, but that our real ideal should be the garden, or a place where man is not only part of nature, but adds to its usefulness and splendor. So later blogs may just drool over spectacular vistas, but may also speculate how we should interact with nature in a balanced, responsible way. As a start, here are some pictures of our current (home) garden, a place where we have tried to interact in a way consistent, hopefully, with Pollen's principles.

Growing coral

I mentioned earlier how the coral is growing, but not as colorful as thirty + years ago. Here are a series of primarily coral pictures, just to show what is going on under the waves.

Butterflies

Earlier, I promised some pictures of the butterflies. It is a small area to view, but very nice if you like butterflies (we do).

Bonaire - north side

Bonaire is shaped like a boomerang with the outer edge pointing northeast (to the open Carribean and Atlantic) and the inner edge pointing to adjacent Venezuala. Soo ... you snorkel on the inner, leeward side, and - not so much - on the northern side.

Bonaire's south side

Bonaire has one of the world's most unusual sights: a Cargil "farm" for sea salt. They have taken about 20% of the southern tip of Bonaire and made what look like rice paddies except the flat areas just have sea water in them. As the water evaporates, what is left is salt, which is piled into hills of the white stuff, and loaded onto ships docking at the end of a humongous conveyor belt. Other "southern" sights include the town, a mangrove swamp, a butterfly sanctuary (pics on that in a separate blog), and flamingos.

Schools of fish

Not all fish swim alone - in fact, schools and congregation abound. The blue tangs are interesting - pale blue if the sun shines on them, deep black if the sun is behind them.