Trees, Rocks, and Water

Trees, rocks, and water. This is how we escape from the hectic every day. We recently took a week to explore southeast Missouri in and around the Mark Twain National Forest. It was a beautiful time of exploring, hiking, and getting away from it all (including Internet service).

What do plant professionals do on their vacation? Visit plants. This is a beautiful corner of the country filled with mountains, streams, and lots and lots of trees. Lichen abounds everywhere and we often caught glimpses of broken geodes at our feet.

As with any vacation, we end up going underground. This time we toured the Bonne Terre lead mine, which is now a deep water cave diving experience. As we explored the huge mine, we passed under the New Madrid Fault and had a brief boat ride on the one billion gallon lake.

That’s the New Madrid fault right where the green laser is pointing.

There is something very special, though, about being alone in nature. We found cool caterpillars, tough little ferns, nifty wildflowers, and enjoyed the varied bird calls from the branches. Ancient granite boulders were warmed by the sun. We could slough off the stresses and remind ourselves of the connection offered by trees, rocks, and water.