I was laying on my back on the couch watching clouds drift by out the window and blush pink and just had to take a photo.
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June Photo: Clouds
Mounds State Park
Sharing some green with you today from Indiana last summer, specifically from Mounds State Park in Anderson.
The Mounds
Mounds State Park is named for mounds of earth built around 160 BCE by a culture known as the Adena-Hopewell, famous for pottery and mad mound-building skills.
Actually, they could’ve been two separate cultures, the Adena building the Mounds and the Hopewell leaving their more advanced stuff around later. Or the Adena could’ve just gotten Hopewell-levels of advanced over time.
If there’s a new car outside your friend’s house, is someone visiting or did your friend just get a new car? Way harder to clear that up when your friend is 2000 years in the past. So I guess hyphenating the two names is a way to hedge archaeological bets.
Why were they built? Maybe the Adena built them for ceremonies and then they were used for burials by the Hopewell (who may or may not just be the Adena 200 years later). The truth is we’re not sure what all people back then were into.
What we do know is that someone (ok, a lot of someones) purposefully dug out and built up earth a couple millennia ago into mounds you can still see today.
There are 10 of these earthworks in Mounds State Park, and they tend to be crater-like, with the mounded outsides surrounding a depression with a platform in the center.
The largest one has dents in it that align with the equinox, solstices, and rising of certain stars. Known as “the Great Mound,” it is 9 feet tall and has a quarter-mile circumference. So, yeah, whatever the Adena-Hopewell were up to, they were not messing around.
The Park
The visitors’ center has displays about the park’s ecosystem and a floor map of how the Mounds align with various astronomical phenomena.
Its observation room has chairs facing oversized windows, giving you a front row view of a pond, birdhouse, and a thick stand of trees, so you can watch for birds or frogs or maybe even deer.
Outside is a cute little children’s garden.
Also at the park is the historic brick Bronnenberg House, which dates from 1840. Compared to the Mounds, though, that seems like new construction.
The White River cuts through the park, and you can fish, as well as camp, hike or picnic. There are trails of varying difficulty levels winding around the Mounds.
Our Visit
Since we were in town for a family reunion, Phillip and I got to visit the park with my uncle, who’s been going there since he was a kid, and my cousin Allison, who made sure to photobomb the butterfly video I was shooting in the pollinator garden.
We started down trail #1 towards the Great Mound and met a harrowed-looking hiker coming from that direction, who asked if we had insect repellent – not to borrow it for himself but to make sure we were protected.
As we approached the boardwalk, we found out why. The mosquitoes were out in force that day. Despite our deet, they didn’t seem to be deterred. I could barely stop long enough to snap a photo without those tiny vampires swarming towards my neck and head.
I wrapped my scarf over my head and tucked my arms inside. Allison laughed at me, but I’m pretty sure it was just that she was jealous of my scarf/mosquito net and not that I looked ridiculous.
We cut our hike short after seeing the Great Mound.
We drove to a spot near the river, where the guys wanted to explore some more. Allison and I decided to take in the scenery from the safety of the car.
I wonder how the Adena kept the mosquitoes away.
Where to Celebrate Australia Day in Arizona
Mr. Big is a 90-year-old eucalyptus tree outside of the town of Superior, AZ. Not every tree has a title. But, at 8 feet thick and 140 feet tall, Mr. Big gets your attention.
It (He?) is the largest tree in one of the largest collections of Australian plants in North America – at Boyce Thompson Arboretum.
To celebrate this forest of outback transplants as well as the cultural roots from their native soil, the Arboretum celebrates Australia Day with walk-a-bout tours and didgeridoo jam sessions.
Phillip and I went last year with friends Anne and Jameela. We watched a demonstration on playing the didgeridoo, and then Phillip tried it out. Meanwhile, outside there was a guy swinging a bull-roarer over his head. Because, I guess, that’s the kind of thing that can happen on Australia Day. So Anne and I gave that a try.
Then we caught up with the tour through the Arboretum’s eucalyptus forest with Australian native and horticulturalist Paul Chambers pointing out different types of Australian plants, telling stories of his work importing them to the U.S., and sharing aboriginal traditions.
We left for a bit to get lunch at Jade Grill in Superior (my fave!).
Afterwards, we came back to the Arboretum, and there was a didgeridoo concert under the eucalyptus trees. We could still hear it from across the Queen Creek as we hiked the High Trail.
Australia Day 2016 is coming up this Saturday. You can check out the schedule of events on the listed on the Arboretum’s website.
5 Arizona Things that People Don’t Believe Exist
“Wait…that’s a real thing?!”
People from outside of Arizona have been surprised or skeptical when these 5 things have come up, but they’re all for real.
How many of these have you seen?
1. Tumbleweeds – Not just the stuff of western movie lore, they’re actually Russian thistle plants. When they’re alive, they’re green and grow like weeds. The dead, dry ones break off and roll around in the wind. It’s not like I have to stop my car for tumbleweeds rolling across the road every day. But it has happened.
Also, the city of Chandler builds a big tumbleweed tree for the holidays every year.
2. Gila monsters – They’re more fat lizards than monsters. Yes, they have a poisonous bite. However, that’s not a big concern, since they’re not particularly quick or aggressive or likely to chase you down (or meet you at the airport). In fact, it’s rare to even see one out and about.
We felt lucky when we spotted a Gila monster sauntering through the shadows at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.
3. Desert monsoons – A friend from Taiwan laughed when I mentioned monsoons in Phoenix. While what we call “monsoon season” isn’t what you’d see in South Asia, it comes with bigger storms and more rainfall than we get other times of the year. Sonoran desert storms are dramatic – and beautiful – in their own way with downpours, thunder, lightning, wind, and dust storms (see #4).
4. Dust storms – If you saw Mad Max Fury Road, that’s not what a dust storm is like inside. Think fog made of sand, and you’ve got the picture. When it’s dry and very windy, blowing dust forms a cloud you can see approaching from miles away. sometimes an eerie orange color in the afternoon light.
5. Roadrunners – Although they look nothing like the Wile E. Coyote’s nemesis, they are an actual type of bird. That runs. Sometimes on roads.
So there you have it: the real story behind Arizona’s mythological-seeming creatures and phenomena, which are, in fact, the real deal.
Of course, the jury is still out on the Phoenix Lights.
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Photos:
1. Willcox, AZ
2. Tumbleweed Tree, Chandler, AZ
3. Gila monster. Photo by Blueag9. CCL.
4. Gila monster at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.
5-8. Phoenix area during monsoon season.
9. Roadrunner. Photo by Ralph Arvesen. CCL.
10. Sierra Estrella Park.
Fall in Sedona
Travel writer Sherry Ott posted a list of “Most Unusual Destinations for Viewing Fall Colors” and suggests “While everyone heads east, why not just head North” to Minnesota or Alaska or across the ocean to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain or trek the mountains of Nepal.
For travel a little later in the season, you could look another direction: Southwest. Season-seekers in Phoenix are used to heading to Flagstaff and Sedona to get their fall color fix, but Northern Arizona isn’t on the radar for most people.
In Sedona, the fall color is set against the backdrop of its gorgeous red rocks. The peak color is on the later side. A lot of times we’re in Sedona over Columbus Day weekend, when the leaves are just beginning to turn.
Do the leaves change where you live? Have you ever travelled for fall color?
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