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As I was driving from Pickerington Ponds
to Chestnut Ridge Metro Park,
I discovered this house and yard at the
corner of Wright Road/West Columbus
Street and Diley Road in Pickerington.
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-----I determined that I would have to cross
Diley to get a better look!
(All of these photos were taken from my car.)
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-----It was as I had suspected:
there were THOUSANDS of dianthus flowers!
My grandmother used to grow these,
and each spring around Memorial Day,
we would take Ball jars and make tiny
bouquets of dianthus for the
gravestones of members of her
family who had passed away.
(We purchased sprays for her mother,
father and step-mother, but we couldn't
afford to supply bought flowers for
everyone that she wanted to
pay respects so we made
dianthus bouquets for them.)
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-----The traffic was quite heavy so I knew
why the city was having to improve the
streets with widening, but I was
saddened that whoever lives here
must have sacrificed hundreds of
plants to Pickerington's right-of-way.
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-----As I grew closer to my destination,
there were some lovely country homes
nestled in the first hills below
Chesnut Ridge.
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-----Chestnut Ridge...
This ridge is the first hill in Southeastern
Ohio's Appalachian Range.
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-----I was already high on the ridge when
I heard a rat-a-tat-tatting just to my right.
This tree, the roots of which are much
lower down the hill, had a visitor
trying to give himself a headache.
Can you find the woodpecker?
(You may have to click on the image
for a larger view of the photo.)
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-----I was disappointed that it wasn't a clear day;
nonetheless, there is the city of Columbus
in the distance. If I'm not mistaken,
the skyscaper on the extreme left of the
skyline is within a half-mile of where I live.
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-----This quotation is from a book called
Idle Weeds. (Read the subsequent
image's information for an explanation.)
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-----These are the maples he was referencing.
I hope to see them again this autumn...
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-----It's just a weed of some sort, but look
at the leaves on that thing!
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-----Isn't this pastoral?
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-----The city is reintroducing native wildflowers
to the landscape. Warnings of dire consequences
should someone pick these greet guests.
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-----The shot above shows a small stand of the
wildflowers. Below is a single bloom up close.
(Well, there is a second bloom in the background.)
The next photo after this one shows the
wildflowers in their natural setting.
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-----A pretty weed...
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-----A little creeks winds through the park.
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-----FINALLY!
Last year I discovered trees at another
metropark that had thorns all over
the trunks and branches.
I had no clue until now what they were.
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-----Another little creek...
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-----Nice blossoms...
(I have no clue what plant species this is.)
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-----Another view into the foothills...
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-----This is another wildflower that is being
reintroduced to the park--yarrow.
Some people call it achillea. It is a
medicinal herb.
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-----Facing southeast, we can see the valley below.
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-----A family lived up here for some time.
It is my understanding that they deeded
the property to the city for this park.
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-----Here is part of the home's foundation.
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-----The family introduced these trees to the ridge.
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-----The family loved to garden,
and remants of their landscaping
efforts still remain.
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-----As I head back to the car,
I spy a stand of yarrow.
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-----The lake near the car is nothing to write
home about. (...so why am I doing so?)
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-----But you know how anal retentive I am:
I don't want to miss anything!
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-----Sort of swampy...yuck...
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-----Well, other than the confounded
deer flies at Pickerington Ponds,
today was very nice. It was good to
end the journey here on
the ridge...
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