Muddy pants and doggie/ banana smell

Muddy pants and doggie/banana smell don't sound like descriptors for a perfect day, especially when that perfect day is the last day of November in Indiana; but that's exactly what it was for me. Kirk and I went hiking first at Hanging Rock close to Lagro and then to Kokiwanee Nature Preserve in Wabash county. After visiting Bicentennial Park and now, Kokiwanee I've come to the conclusion that the Acres Land trust sites are one of the best kept secrets that Indiana has to offer. I'm posting the driving directions here so I'll always have them handy until I know the route like the back of my hand. Here's a picture of my new anti-Bambi jacket he took. I wasn't trying to repel deer, just make myself more visible to the bow and deer stand hunters adjacent to the park areas. Each time we hike, Kirk shares more of his knowledge of local flora and fauna with me, mostly by identifying plants. On this hike, I learned to recognize meadowrue and hepatica. One of the most distinctive features of the meadowrue is the softness of the leaves. I'm surprised the common name isn't something like brushed suede leaf or velour plant. The only way I can fix the names of these common plants in my memory is by associating them with certain images. The wild ginger that Kirk taught me to recognize is so easy. The heart shaped leaf with wide space between the lobes looks like a woman's face with a sexy gap between the front teeth. Kirk remembered that cobalt is my favorite color so he sent me a picture of some hepatica that was blooming at Bicentennial Park just weeks earlier. The dark mottled leaves sans blossoms that we found foretell the dark cobalt blue flowers it will bear again in the spring. From Wikipedia I learned that Hepatica's name comes the Greek word hepar for liver. The human liver has three lobes just as do the leaves of this plant. While we we walking along the Salamonie river I heard a birdcall that Kirk had already identified as belonging to a Kingfisher. We started looking and suddenly it swooped down the river with its signature stubby body and shorts bursts of flapping gliding flight. What a wonderful day we had of sharing feelings as strong as ironwood and making memories.



From the SR 9 junction with US 24, continue straight south on SR 9 for about 3.5 miles to Division Road. Turn right (west) onto Division Road and drive 7.5 miles. Then turn left (south) onto 600E. You will see the ACRES sign on the corner at 50S. Turn right (west) onto 50S and look for the ACRES parking lot on your left.