Running water and daffodils

Montreat creek

Montreat College has a nice auditorium, Anderson Hall.

 And as you drive to it, you have to pass this little playground along the creek.  It has been upgraded since my grands and I poked around one summer a few years ago.

An inviting trail leads from a parking lot to a picnic table by the creek.  I took my Tacos there, and didn't have too many mosquitoes tickling my legs (wearing shorts...bit of a mistake).

Boys seem to gather together at any age.  I would have loved to get to come to a park like this when I was a kid...and I did take my children to a few river parks, but the parks in Florida were differently situated...mainly flatter.

This would have been me, about 65 years ago.  But I made my dams in the gutter outside our St. Louis apartment...until my mother caught me and said how dirty the water in the streets was.

I can appreciate the fellow in the swing with a book, just not into getting his feet wet at all!

 

There's even a climbing wall on the playground.  Let's see, that's a man-made object copying nature, put back out in nature for kids to climb on...what's wrong with that picture!

As I left, a family had moved into my picnic table and their lovely teen daughter was posing as a mermaid.

Quote for the day:

Along with faith comes the requirement for dogged persistence. At first meditation may bring you mild highs or some relief from suffering. But there may come a time — just as there does in the development of any skill — when there will be a plateau. You may be bored, discouraged, or even negative and cynical. This is when you will need not only faith, but persistence. - Ram Dass

Playing in water

In the town up the valley from Black Mountain, namely Montreat, is a wonderful little park that focuses upon straddling a creek.

Many children in the mountains of North Carolina grew up playing in creeks in the summertime.

But many kids these days live around concrete, not creeks.  So I happened to visit this park when a big bus also brought a lot of small ones to enjoy whatever kids do in water.  I know I wished I had worn my suit and felt like sitting in it and moving some rocks around.

I'll show a few more pictures of these happy kids tomorrow!


Today's Quote:

It always comes back to the same necessity: go deep enough and there is a bedrock of truth, however hard. 

May Sarton

 

water again

This is the same area where I took the last picture, today having had a LOT of rain, Flat Creek is roaring away.  Not a good day for rock hopping.  But I noticed there is a sculpture of sorts, a piece of branch which is balanced atop two rocks over to the left far side.

More creekside cascades

From the parkway this is what you are enticed to see.

I was glad that no hikers had parked along the road, so I could approach it and see more with each step.

But the hike up along the creek starts with a nice flow of mud and leaves where seepage has decided to create another stream-bed.  The water enters the hiking area where the stone with a short angled stick probed into the wet ground can be seen at the top of the mud.

A summer creek activity

Sculpting with leaves and rocks in July 2011

Submitted to Weekend Reflections meme for this week.

Creek bridge

A bridge across a creek is made rustic, but if you look close, you'll see it needs some repair.

The repair was made, and I'm including this post as part of Friday Fences.  Come on over to see more pretty fences.

Winter creek

Winter sometimes provides gorgeous walks for me, 2011