On a tip from the St. Louis newspaper, we headed down to a place called Pickle Springs Natural Area – about 50 miles the other side of St. Louis – for a 2 mile autumn hike. This is supposedly the “peak” weekend for fall foliage.The drive through Southeastern Missouri was glorious. The trees are all in various shades of yellow, orange and red. It is neat to see this change in nature and know that we are all a part of it as well.
There were lots of “Pro-life” signs around this area of the state, and a lot of political signs (mostly Obama, I think.)
[Like Bill Clinton, I am opposed to abortion but I think that it should be safe, legal and extremely rare. Teaching sacredness of life and sexuality goes a lot further to reduce abortions than sending women to back alleys or jails.]The hike was just as the paper described it: “a gem”, “like a Japanese garden”. Rocks, giant ferns, moss (John has an obsession with moss), and gorgeous fall colors. Even though the hike was “easy”, there was enough up and down to make it feel more than just a walk through a park.
The Whispering Pine Trail is named for the shortleaf pines;
Pickle Springs flows into Pickle Creek, where Jubilee enjoyed a number of swims.
Afterwards we went into Ste. Genevieve, a charming and historic little town on the Mississippi River. Ste. Genevieve was originally a French settlement for fur traders. We didn’t get to the museum, so I’m a little lame on the history. A large Catholic Church dominated the area we saw, with “Vote Pro-Life” signs all around it. (I hope that they know that Pro-life means opposing to the Death Penalty as well as abortion.) Again, the Obama signs predominated.
There is a ferry just outside of Ste. Genevieve that takes you over the Mississippi River to Illinois – 4 minutes to cross the river.
More photos on Flickr.
Pickle Springs flows into Pickle Creek, where Jubilee enjoyed a number of swims.
Afterwards we went into Ste. Genevieve, a charming and historic little town on the Mississippi River. Ste. Genevieve was originally a French settlement for fur traders. We didn’t get to the museum, so I’m a little lame on the history. A large Catholic Church dominated the area we saw, with “Vote Pro-Life” signs all around it. (I hope that they know that Pro-life means opposing to the Death Penalty as well as abortion.) Again, the Obama signs predominated.
There is a ferry just outside of Ste. Genevieve that takes you over the Mississippi River to Illinois – 4 minutes to cross the river.
More photos on Flickr.
2 comments:
It's great to see all of your beautiful photos of the foliage -- something I have greatly missed living in Florida. Not so great to see the "pro life" signs at the churches. I was appalled myself when pro-life marriage amendment flyers were passed out last week at the Episcopal Church that Dianne and I have been attending. On a personal level I am against abortion, but I don't think the politics of it belongs in the churches--or in the courts for that matter.
The VOTE PRO-LIFE signs surrounding the Church in Ste. Genevieve were very strange. Definitely political, they seemed sacriligious to me, mocking and demeaning the sacredness of the Church.
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