Worth celebrating in 2014?

A simple first-day-of-the-year reflection, "What is worth celebrating in 2014?"

It has been said:

For me that translates to: trees, plants, birds, butterflies, my children, family, friends and parks.

Over and over, my photos repeat the theme of  land which has been "saved."  National Parks, state and city owned parks and land protected in trusts, all come to mind. But is it us who saves the the land, or this land which will ultimately save us?  

About 5 years ago I purchased a CD series for my octogenarian father.  We were about to travel across the country together and I hoped it would fill time in the car. Who knew that this epic production by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan would fill my heart as well? 

Money well spent, those CDs have been re-played many times over. Burn's prose build in me an anticipation for my next adventure, my next National Park.  Indeed, National Parks are America's Best Idea. Ask any of the numerous Europeans who have come to our country to visit these Meccas of nature: Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree, Cuyahoga Valley.

A Joshua Tree  (left) and rock formation at California's Joshua Tree National Park.

My latest trip to California provided an opportunity to visit the long anticipated Joshua Tree National Park. Of course, feasts of this order are best served up with friends and loved ones.

Queen of the Hill, J.J. Soski

Nearly a Nature Valley commercial: Jan and Hu Auburn

Our National Parks not only preserve the land, beauty and wildlife which makes this great country unique. Our parks also preserve many of our memories, of people and shared places. These unique sites must be kept safe for our future generations; they were already deemed worthy of protection.

Lined-up at Shenandoah National Park.

 The National Parks were closed for a brief, unfortunate period during the late summer of 2013.  When that closure was lifted, I noted people were anxious to return to our parks. This long line of eager patrons is not at the gate to Disney World or some exclusive resort.  It is the gate to Skyline Drive, the main corridor of the Shenandoah National Park, an "Eastern Park in the Western tradition."

My parents shared this park with our family when I was a mere child in the 1960's. My oldest daughter and I re-visited that experience in 2013. Unlike the rest of the world, very little here has changed.  

Shelly Soski Goodman smiles at the view 

If we value our children, our birds or butterflies, our land, it is time to protect them.  

Our natural areas, parks, beaches, forests should not be opened to the highest industrial bidder for mines, gas exploration or wind-power.  Public lands have a more valuable use for our society.  They hold our dearest shared memories, as well as our nation's greatest natural assets. Our highest and best use is to keep them intact as a gift to future generations.

Happy New Years!  What's worth celebrating in 2014? 
The National Parks are at the top of my list.   Let's all go visit a park and then, tell a politician what they mean to our family!

Hiking the A.T.

One might have noticed I have been missing from the blog-o-sphere for about a week.  It was a week of traveling and camping with my daughter throughout West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland.  The highlights of the trip seem endless. Several dreams were attained, starting with a day hike on the Appalachian Trail.

Sign post for the A.T. located within the city limits of Harper's Ferry Virginia.

Smack-dab in the middle of the Appalachian Trail is Harper's Ferry.  It was once a sleepy little Virginian town, known as the crossing point where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers meet.  It was a small city of bustling commerce and a little-bitty arsenal. (This portion of Virginia became a West Virginia, just before the Civil War.)

Your blogger, Cheryl Harner and daughter, Michelle Goodman standing in front of Harper's Ferry's most famous building.

 A feller named John Brown thought this town would make a good place to stage a slavery insurrection. He chose this very building to make his stand.  The history books can tell you the rest of the story, but I encourage you to visit and decide for yourself if ole bearded-John was just a crazy-coot or a principled man who thought it past time to make a real stand for justice.

The Appalachian Trail's most hospitable stretch.

Just across the river the Appalachian Trail is wide and hospitable, even accommodating bicycles in this location.  We hiked along in the mid morning, taking a side trip up the famous Maryland Heights trail.

The Maryland Heights portion of the hike is not for sissies.  It was steep and rocky terrain at the top and had been key as a strategic Civil War site.

The view of Harper's Ferry from Maryland Heights

The view is breath-taking. Of course, the hike to the top already had me winded.  It is no surprise that whomever held the "Heights" was strategically in control of the city. 

If you have not visited Harper's Ferry, I recommend you make plans to go. It is a well-run National Park.

School House Battle Field, Harper's Ferry, VA

 The surrounding farm lands are scenic and also available to hikers and day trippers.  My only regret of this visit was that we did not allow more time for discovery.

Monarch Caterpillar shares its milkweed with milkweed bugs.

Of course, we checked the local milkweed on the field edges and were happy to find some friends, in the form of caterpillars, in Virginia.

My favorite fall flower quickly became Elm-leaved Goldenrod, Solidago ulmifolia.  We often found it growing in the shade of campgrounds and woodlots.  The sprays of florets reaching for the sun took on the look of woodland fire-crackers. The effect was altogether charming.

Hope you are also enjoying  fall, and taking a bit of time to discover the different Goldenrods in your area.

America's Best Idea

Several years ago, America was smitten by film maker Ken Burns', "The National Parks: America's Best Idea."  It inspired my new-found pride in country, and a desire to see the refugia of our nation's most beautiful and historic places.

President Lincoln was the first to set national land aside with a protective grant. It later become a National Park, called Yosemite.  It was named a park in 1889 in order to offer the lands more protection, in part due to the influence of conservationists, such as John Muir. Prior to being named a park, the efforts to protect the land grant from unlawful sheep grazing and wildlife poaching consisted of regular Army troops sent to monitor the situation. Those troops were Buffalo Soldiers, black units led by a young West Point graduate, Charles Young.

On April 2, 2013 the newest, the 401st National Park was announced in Wilberforce, Ohio. It was the home of Charles Young.

Col. Charles Young

Col. Charles Young was loved and admired as a citizen and a soldier. He was an exemplary leader. His life history is an inspiring story of perseverance in the face of incredible odds.

 This will be the last new park announced by Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior, as he is about to retire. He spoke encouraging words of embracing all of America's cultures. Our parks and monuments should reflect all of our peoples and histories. This is a step forward in telling those stories and protecting them for posterity.

Congratulations and thank you to the many people who made this possible, our friends at Trust for Public Lands and the citizens and organizations in Wilberforce who protected this historic property and made it available. This house will enshrine the history of the Buffalo Soldiers who served -separate and unequal- for a country founded on equality. The time has come to honor all who served our great nation.  Part of that greatness is our willingness to now- lift up those who were held down in the past.

National Parks are also good for the economy.  Not only do they preserve our most precious natural landscapes and historical monuments, they stimulate tourism. In fact, the Nation Park Service has documented for every $1 invested, there is $4 returned to the economy.

Now that sounds like the Best Idea yet.

Zion's American Dipper

What is a trip out west without big expansive scenery? The kind that barely fits on a jumbo-tron screen, much less a 4x6 postcard. Here is a view you fairly need to breath in: mountain, sky, river and shore.




The Riverside Walk is the gate way to The Narrows at Zion National Park in Utah. The trail head begins at The Temple of Sinawava, this vertical wall nearly 3,000 feet tall. Water and time carved the canyon out of the Navajo sandstone, and man has but a brief history shared with this ancient temple.

We took the earliest bus possible to the the far end of Zion's canyon. The morning mist hung clouds on the mountain tops, as we disembarked at our station. It also needs to be said, Zion has the most efficient transportation system and the world's most eco-friendly tourism. It should be a model for all National Parks.

I admit I was fairly obsessed with the possibility of seeing a water ouzel, currently known as the American Dipper. More than any other western species, this is the bird I longed to see. If ever it was to be, it would have to be here, in the portion of the North Fork of the Virgin River that best approximates a fast running stream. The Riverwalk would be our best opportunity to see this amazing aqua-phile .

And soon, we spotted the basic gray form dipping about in the rapids. Unlike any other North American passerine, the American Dipper dives underwater for aquatic insects and invertebrates. Soon my camera card was filled, how could I ever get enough photos of this bird?

...

The only left to do was to film it in action, and with any luck this video will work for you. Once you have seen the mesmerizing American Dipper in action, you'll know why I simply had to see this bird!