Irvine Park - the other side

     Last Friday, I shared a few pictures from the Irvine Park Zoo in Chippewa Falls. Today, I’m going on the other side.

I apologize for once again resorting to my Paint app, but there you have it. The main zoo area on the left and the other side on – well – the other side.

The other side of Duncan Creek, that is.

The claim to fame of this side of the park is this small cave.

In the late 1800s, it was enlarged and used by the brewery in town to store kegs of beer. As you may know, most caves maintain a constant and comfortably cool temperature, a temperature which beer likes to be kept at.

The other claim to fame of this spot was that it was the original location of the very first residents of the city’s zoo. It’s hard to picture, with the overgrowth of vegetation, but supposedly, many, many years ago, this was the site of a bear cage.

Doesn’t look like they had much room.

And this little shelter – not sure if anything bigger than a pair of cubs could fit in there.

Can’t knock the location though.

For more information:

            Someone else must think this is worth blogging about. A blog post about this cave and the bear enclosure –

https://detritusofempire.blogspot.com/2012/08/forgotten-brewery-caves-chippewa-falls.html

            Another short article about the cave and its origins –

http://chippewacounty.com/business/eat/irvine-park-cave

Alas for you

   “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.” Matthew 23:27-28, Good News Translation)

Shortly after Easter, I started writing about various songs from the musical “Godspell.” I promise there are only two left which I want to tell you about.

The words to the song “Alas for You” are taken from Matthew 23:13-37, which was too much for me to copy and paste here. Or too much for you to actually read. I chose the two verses above because they are probably the easiest to understand.

Have you ever been driving around and saw a beautiful house, with manicured lawn, pristine landscaping, and fresh paint on the siding? What if the inside was full of trash and looked like an episode of “Hoarders”? Would you wonder what was wrong with the people who lived there, that they cared only about the outside, what total strangers might see as they passed by? While the inside, the place where they actually live, is in complete disarray.

Or what if the man of the house beats his wife and children? Or what if the wife is an alcoholic and can’t keep up the inside of the house, while her husband slaves away to keep the outside presentable so the neighbors don’t suspect there's a problem? 

Putting it that way, I hope you follow what I’m saying, what Jesus said. It’s not outward appearances that matter; it’s what’s inside – inside your heart, soul, and mind – that is essential. Take care of what is inside first and the outside will follow. 

Lord, I pray that You give me a pure heart and that the light You’ve given me on the inside can shine to the outside for others to see. Amen

Links to find out more about these Bible verses and the song from the musical:

            The entire section of Matthew 23:13-37 from BibleGateway’s website –

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+23%3A13-37+&version=NIV

            Lyrics from the song in Godspell –

https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/123560/

            The video of the song from the movie –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXA18tDrUUE

            A rather lengthy explanation of these verses –

http://johnmckinnon.org/index.php/matthew23v13-39

            An article on six times in the bible when Jesus was angry –

https://www.rethinknow.org/what-made-jesus-mad/

(I have been easily angered and when I blow up over something, I tell myself that at least it wasn’t a sin, as Jesus got mad too.)

 

Just a Little Zoo

    Chippewa Falls is home to Irvine Park, a 318-acre park which includes walking trails, woodlands, historic features, and plenty of grassy places to picnic, host a wedding, or just run around. It is also features a small, family-friendly, and free zoo. Not a lot of animals, but it takes very little to entertain me. In fact, less is more for me, especially when I take like six or twelve pictures of everything I see, which meant I took 112 pictures just of the animals there.  

The capuchin monkey

A pile of Cavies, South American rodents of significant size. 

The Black Bear, who seems a bit ashamed of having put on so much weight during the pandemic. 

Of course, the crowd favorite was the newborn American Bison. 

She just wasn't willing to move any more than this, but even through the grass, she looks like a cutey. 

This guy, however, was my favorite. The Hyena. 

I was fascinated watching him eat that deer leg, crunching on those bones with no effort at all. 

                                                     Glad he didn't find me as fascinating. 

 For more information click on this:

http://www.irvineparkzoo.org/about_us.php

Weekend Getaway #2

             My second weekend getaway of the spring was the weekend of May 21. I met a friend of mine at the Lazy K Getaway in Chippewa Falls, which was close to half-way between where each of us lives. 

It was hot and humid that weekend, but our Airbnb had air conditioning and was just the right size for the two of us.

I loved the yard. It inspires me to put more yard art around my house. (Please, Hubby!)

      

             On Saturday, we went to the zoo, but those pictures will be for another time. These are the birds I saw on the grounds of our host as well as on walks on the nearby trails. 

The listing for the Airbnb where we stayed: 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23837530?federated_search_id=aad030a5-c63f-48e5-a755-54825b892156&source_impression_id=p3_1624411091_5b66UI5%2F8jPV4Qci&guests=1&adults=1

The Gift in the Morning

   Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (Psalm 143:8, New International Version)

Yesterday, we had a post-pandemic picnic for my family at my house. When I let the dog out first thing in the morning, I checked the skies in all directions, trying to guess if the weatherman’s forecast would be correct. I was greeted with the scene above, taken looking to the east, over the roof of my house.

The weatherman was correct for a change. God blessed us with a beautiful day. He also blessed us with a wonderful visit with family who hasn’t gotten together in over eighteen months.

Thank You, Heavenly Father for the gift of yesterday, the gift of family, and the gift of many tomorrows. Amen. 

Our first trip in the books

   This should be the final post from our first camping trip in Carlton the camper.

The weekend of May 14 thru 16, we camped at Buckhorn State Park in Necedah. We’d driven through the campground a year or so ago and had picked out a couple of contenders for sites if we ever camped there. Site #105 hadn’t made the short-list then, but we also didn’t have a 26 plus foot trailer.

At that time, we only had our dear pop-up camper. Who knew that the first time we would camp here, that our son would join us in that pop-up which he inherited from us?

The only thing about our son being there is that he brings bad weather with him where ever he goes. We made the best of the cool, cloudy, damp weekend.

And Dino never cares how wet he gets.

I had wanted to hike more of the trails within the state park, but time and weather were not on my side. Hence the saying, there’s always next time.

Site #105, right across from the bathroom turned out to work just fine for us. Especially since we ran out of water in our tank by the first morning. Had I mentioned that here before? Just bad planning on my part. Also, that’s why we planned our first trip for a single weekend. We’ll be ready for our first full week camping later this summer. I cannot wait!

For more information:

            Website for Buckhorn State Park:

https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/buckhorn

            Trip Advisor’s blurb on Buckhorn:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60123-d8662015-Reviews-Buckhorn_State_Park-Necedah_Wisconsin.html

Big Rock on the Big Hill

   I’ve been sharing pictures from our weekend camping trip from a month ago. You may remember that last Friday I introduced you to the Screaming Rock. Though we didn’t make it to the top of the next rock, it was still as scenic. And challenging.

To get there, we parked at the Parking Lot for the Big Hill Hiking Trail. Not the most original name and not really a parking lot, just a widening of 19^th Avenue, just off of Hwy 21, with enough room for three vehicles. The hike was short and not too strenuous.

This is actually called Petenwell Rock, which is along Petenwell Bluff which is along the Wisconsin River, just south of Petenwell Dam and Petenwell Lake. I did a lot of searching on the internet to find out where that name came from and all I found was it is from the word Pe-ton-won which means “quiver". If anyone has more time on their hands and wants to research that, let me know what you find.  

 When we got to the base of the actual rock, I was in awe. Wow, did I ever wish I had true climbing skills and nerves of steel.

Like those people down there with their rappelling equipment, which you can barely see through the trees. I didn’t want to get any closer and distract anyone, causing them to fall.

Instead, my excitement was photo-bombing on my son, his dog and his friend. (Can you find me in each picture?)

There we all finally are. 

The final thrill of the hike was discovering this Lady Slipper. How beautiful! 

For more information, check out these websites -

            Rock Climbing at Petenwell Bluff:

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105730033/necedah-petenwell-bluff

            A detailed history of the area. I didn’t have the time to read the whole thing.

https://www.adamscountylibrary.info/files/localhistory/past_present/images/00000006.pdf

            From the Historical Society of Wisconsin, which is seven words about the meaning of Petenwell. 

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS11704