prairie point » places

path

Bill — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:49:44 +0000

The Natchez Trace was a wagon path which ran for almost 500 miles from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. It began as an Indian path and was noted by the first white explorers in the area. It was used extensively in the early 19th century and then began to be abandoned around 1830.

You can still hike along small sections of it. Traffic has worn the path down 3 to 4 feet below the normal elevation.

A modern road follows the trace nowadays which makes an interesting scenic drive itself. It’s restricted to two lanes and limited access and a speed limit of only 50.

symposium

Bill — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:37:36 +0000

Just got back from a three-day symposium on native plants and prairies in Georgetown, Texas, jointly sponsored by the Native Plant Society of Texas and the Native Prairie Association of Texas. Over 400 people attended the event which was chock-full of great speakers and great ideas, about which I will have more to say later.

Although I have zoomed through Georgetown on the interstate countless numbers of times, this was the first I’d stopped to see what it was actually like. It turned out to be a neat little college town, with a lively town square, and lots of beautiful restored old houses. Unfortunately its also got a busy interstate highway and uncontrolled growth.

It’s said to be the most popular retirement spot in Texas and a good part of the reason is that it has it’s own little suburb called Sun City, which is a planned retirement community. Our symposium was actually held in the facilities at Sun City and they are first-rate. They have their own auditorium, activity center, sports facility, and hiking trails. It looks like a great place to live if you like a lot of planned activities and don’t mind living…

up the lazy river

Bill — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 03:17:11 +0000

Our neighbor has his deckboat running again and one cool morning last week he called and asked if we wanted to go up the river. Of course. We had never been up the little creek that flows into the lake we live on. We had heard it was an interesting little trip. It’s way on the other side of the lake from us where the water gets very shallow in places. Even though the lake is full to the top of the spillway now you have to watch out for submerged rocks and stumps there.

As you head toward the far shore it is not easy to know where the mouth of the creek is.

Thank goodness for the depth finders which enable you to stay in the channel. There are sandbars near the mouth with willows growing on them. And a grey heron looking for his dinner.

We follow another bird up the river. People who grew up here tell me that they used to waterski on this creek before the water was impounded to make the lake. I can see how that would work now although it would have been lower then, because the dam keeps…