Wildflower Rendevous in the Cumberland Plateau

To quote Henry David Thoreau, “We can never have enough of nature. He wrote “For it is in the fields and in the woods that he found himself more completely in the possession of all his facilities more than he did in the crowded streets of town.” I have been reading this book of Waldon's Life in the Woods for about five years off and on. This book came to me from my mother’s bookshelf. My mother lived in the place where nature was at its best. The wildflowers covered the steep hills and the low side road. The side road, Buckeye, produces an amazing number of various species of wildlife and trees with a stream going wayside. My mother had been combing this area for beauty since she moved there in 1979. My mother was a product of generations before her that knew about foraging for herbs and plants for medicinal needs.

My love for being in the woods came naturally as I came from the life of loveliness by birth in 1947. I still live here. That speaks! Being out in nature is not all positive. Your drive to the side roads might bring one in contact with a company foraging for lumber which affects undergrowth. You may run into those who gather ginseng or “Sangers.” You may find them digging or planting the red berry for later seasons’ procreation. You also may run into trash dumps. The hairs on my arms stand up and I want to speak up because I care for the environment. We should all want to protect. The beauty of our countryside can remain so only if we protect the limestone edges covered with ferns and the large open fields where wildlife runs.