Shabo Mekaw

My series of Lewis County wildflowers has brought up some questions; the most common of which is: where is this place? No one has ever heard of it, even in Kentucky. There is really nothing there, except for a few farms, lots of trees, and LOTS of rocks. It's at the edge of the Appalachian plateau, among an area of hills called the Knobs. The 60 acres that I'm fortunate enough to call mine is a place called SHABO MEKAW, which is Shawnee for "end of the trail". I suppose this name comes from the fact that it lies in the bend of the Kinneyconnick Creek, and so is bounded by water on three sides. Kinneyconnick is also a Shawnee word, but I have no idea of the translation. A man named Ken Lobitz, now deceased, built the redwood cabin and planted the acres of white pines up by the field and pond; apparently it was to be a tree farm, but I'm happy that no one ever harvested them. Someone commented that it was like Oz, and I have to agree, because it is in fact quite a magical place. Here's a brief tour.

Looking down at Kinneyconnick Creek from what I guess you could call the side yard; some might call it more of a cliff.

Looking up the creek from the "Swirl Hole", a very wide and deep pool right below the cabin. You can see a bit of our little "beach" on the right side.

This is a view of the pond from the ex-blueberry field. Unfortunately, the blueberry idea didn't pan out- they died.

A telephoto view of the field from the hill on the other side of the creek. The pines are directly behind the field.

Another view, from along the the creek in the other direction from the cabin. This one shows the bank of the island, which is also part of the property. The creek splits and goes around it, then comes back together further downstream.

Again, from the top of the hill across the creek, here is part of where the creek goes around the property. I couldn't get a view of the entire curve, because my wings are in the shop.

The log house in it's present state of progress. The floor joists are almost all in, just a couple more to go. After that, the doors and windows can be put in, and it will start to look more like an actual house. Eventually, the logs will be sandblasted and coated with waterproofing.

Back view of the log house.

Here are both cabins; the one on the right is the original redwood cabin built by Ken Lobitz fifty-some years ago. It has undergone a great amount of restoration, including a new roof and complete overhaul of the stone fireplace and chimney. The long range plan is to one day connect them with a middle room.

Arlo says, "Wait, wait, where ya goin'?" I will post future progress as it's made. Come back any time.

Unknowns and White Fuzzies

The last of the fall wildflower photos- maybe. Despite all my diligent research in Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky by Thomas G. Barnes and S. Wilson Francis, I was unable to figure out what these are called. Of course, I had to make up my own names just so I could recognize the files on my computer, but hopefully some day I'll find out what their real names are. I hope you like them.



I call this one the Yellow Mystery Flower. I've never seen anything like it before, and I think it's rather cool. The bumblebee concurred.




Here's another unidentified flower, which I'm calling the Snowball for now. Again, I found nothing like it in the book. Maybe I've found a new species!?


This is just a little seed that I thought looked like a little guy with white hair dancing in the wind. And no, I was NOT drinking!

If you have any idea about the identity of the first two, though, please let me know.

Cardinal Flowers, Alizarin Crimson, and Donovan

Here are a few wildflower photos I took last weekend out at our place on the Kinneyconnick. I guess you can tell the cardinal flower is my favorite- probably because it's the only wildflower I've seen in this area that's really red. This flower is REALLY red, no photoshop enhancements necessary. (Alizarin crimson, perhaps?) As evidenced by my artwork, I love intense, saturated color; I believe it's one of the sublime ecstasies of life!

Mist Flower (Eupatorium coelestinum)

Meadow Phlox (Phlox maculata) or Fall Phlox (Phlox paniculata)

Four views of the showy Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis):


Alizarin- a red dye originally obtained from the root of the common madder plant, Rubia tinctorum, in which it occurs combined with the sugars xylose and glucose. The cultivation of madder and the use of its ground root for dyeing by the complicated Turkey red process were known in ancient India, Persia, and Egypt; the use spread to Asia Minor about the 10th century and was introduced into Europe in the 13th.




As Donovan says, wear your love like heaven!

Kinneyconnick

This place is sacred to me; a place of peace and beauty. Profound connection with the Earth is an experience for which there are no words, because it is beyond thought- it's in our very blood and bones. Walt Whitman tries to express this truth in his poem "Song of the Rolling Earth", excerpted here.



A song of the rolling earth, and of words according,
Were you thinking that those were the words, those upright lines?
those curves, angles, dots?
No, those are not the words, the substantial words are in the ground
and sea,
They are in the air, they are in you.



Air, soil, water, fire-those are words,
I myself am a word with them-my qualities interpenetrate with
theirs-my name is nothing to them,
Though it were told in the three thousand languages, what would
air, soil, water, fire, know of my name?



Whoever you are! you are he or she for whom the earth is solid and
liquid,
You are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang in the sky,
For none more than you are the present and the past,
For none more than you is immortality.



I swear I begin to see little or nothing in audible words,
All merges toward the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the
earth,
Toward him who sings the songs of the body and of the truths of the
earth,
Toward him who makes the dictionaries of words that print cannot
touch.