3 months in Kentucky

From May 20 to Aug 20 I was in Eolia Kentucky. I have very little net access so there are no blogs posted from there but there was plenty of "naturing" We were working as cooks for the Mennonite Central Committee's Sharing with Appalachian People program (SWAP) I also served as a materials driver for the work crews who went out to work on people's homes. In my free time I went "naturing" of course.

Living in the Thomas Jefferson National Forest is like a dream come true. Wildlife abounds there. Deer, elk, black bears, birds, trees, wildflowers - so much to see so little time to do it. I won't bore you with every detail but I will list the highlights.

I saw

2 bears

dozens of deer

several wildflowers new to me including the yellow orange orchid

dozens of moths - some yet to be identified

hundreds of butterflies including the Dianna Fitalary (male and female) and the pipevine swallowtail
never seen by my eyes

I picked and ate wild black raspberries and blueberries

collected two birds nests, a paper wasp nest, a long snake skin. likens, moses, fungi, and several twigs with ovapositer marks from 17 year cicada

a highlight was my visit to an old growth forest called Lilly Cornnet woods, a protected old growth forest where you must have an appointment and be accompanied by a staff person while on the property

pictures to follow