Trees, This and That.....

We did a drive through Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY last week. Mostly I just shot photos of the trees. A bit of snow on the ground......
.......unless you cross the road :-)

I love the sycamore trees!

Those white "arms" lifting up to the sky are just so pretty.

The bare trunks

The bark

*The official Indiana state song mentions the sycamore trees.

On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
words and music by Paul Dresser

'Round my Indiana homestead wave the cornfields,
In the distance loom the woodlands clear and cool.
Oftentimes my thoughts revert to scenes of childhood,
Where I first received my lessons, nature's school.
But one thing there is missing in the picture,
Without her face it seems so incomplete.
I long to see my mother in the doorway,
As she stood there years ago, her boy to greet.

[CHORUS]
Oh, the moonlight's fair tonight along the Wabash,
From the fields there comes the breath of newmown hay.
Through the sycamores the candle lights are gleaming,
On the banks of the Wabash, far away.

Many years have passed since I strolled by the river,
Arm in arm, with sweetheart Mary by my side,
It was there I tried to tell her that I loved her,
It was there I begged of her to be my bride.
Long years have passed since I strolled thro' the churchyard.
She's sleeping there, my angel, Mary dear,
I loved her, but she thought I didn't mean it,
Still I'd give my future were she only here.

These are not blossoms even though they look like it. Just last year's seed remains of a Tulip Poplar.

We saw several of these huge shelf fungi on some of the trees.

A downed tree frozen in the lake......and a lost bobber from some fisherman :-)

This "castle" houses the Audubon Museum. We didn't stop this day, but I will go back and try to get photos inside if they let me. It's a very nice museum all about John James Audubon.

Crossing the bridge back to Indiana, I was shooting up into the cross girders.

I thought they made interesting patterns :-)

A drive-by shot of one of my favorite old houses along the Evansville river front. We have some great old houses and I should do a walking tour and take more photos....when my knee feels better.

*Footnote: Strangely enough I have always thought that this was the Indiana State Song! It is the most well known one. It also shares very similar lyrics in the part about the sycamores and the new mown hay.

BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA
(Ballard MacDonald / James Hanley, 1917)


I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A WAND'RER, OVER LAND AND SEA.
YET A MOONBEAM ON THE WATER, CASTS A SPELL O'ER ME.
A VISION FAIR I SEE, AGAIN I SEEM TO BE.

FANCY PAINTS ON MEM'RY'S CANVAS,
SCENES THAT WE HOLD DEAR
WE RECALL THEM IN DAYS AFTER,
CLEARLY THEY APPEAR.
AND OFTEN TIMES I SEE, A SCENE THAT'S DEAR TO ME.

BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA
AND IT SEEMS THAT I CAN SEE
THE GLEAMING CANDLELIGHT STILL SHINING BRIGHT
THRO' THE SYCAMORES FOR ME
THE NEW MOWN HAY SENDS ALL ITS FRAGRANCE
FROM THE FIELDS I USED TO ROAM
WHEN I DREAM ABOUT THE MOONLIGHT ON THE WABASH
THEN I LONG FOR MY INDIANA HOME