Wintertime

Snowfall at Blue Licks

I'm just going to be honest....I enjoy winter. Now that's not saying I don't prefer a nice warm sunny day on the lake, but I guess what I'm saying is I've never been bothered by winter weather. Some of my fondest memories are of heavy snows, sleigh riding and getting out and enjoying a good snowfall. I get it honest though. If anyone's seen my first post, Christmas in the Parks, then you may know what I'm talking about. The first chance my mother would get to venture outside after a good snow, she would take it. I can remember her getting just as excited about a nighttime snowfall as me. For me it meant no school the next day, for her it meant bundling up and going out for an adventure. We'd journey outside and walk up the street out to the main road of the park we lived on. I can remember how the street lamps would cause the snow to glow so brightly on the ground, and let us see all the flakes as they came down. I can also remember how quiet it was. Neither one of us would say much of anything. We'd hear the crunch of the snow beneath our feet, but no traffic, no animals. Nothing. Just complete total silence as the flakes fell down on the landscape. There were several times when we'd venture up to the golf course. You could look out over the course and it would look like a winter wonderland. That golf course provided the perfect sleigh riding for me and my friends on that next snow day, but the night before was just about me and mom.

Winter Wonder WAW!!

Don't be too afraid of the bearded wonder to the left here. That's Coy, program services supervisor and park naturalist at Carter Caves State Resort Park. Back a couple of years ago
Coy ran into a bit of a problem. After playing host to one of the most successful winter events in the Kentucky State Park system, Coy was faced with the daunting task of completely restructuring the event that had been taking place for nearly 30 years. This was not by choice mind you, but an attempt to protect the large colony of bats at Carter Caves from the ever increasing threat of White Nose Syndrome, more commonly known as WNS. This fungal threat was discovered in colonies of bats in the northeastern part of the United States approximately 6 years ago. Since that time, there has been over a 90% mortality rate for the caves it was first discovered in. For anyone out there who has been following this plight, you may be aware that it was just discovered at Mammoth Cave January 16, 2013. For additional information about WNS and what we're doing about it here in North America, follow this LINK.

Eagles Among Us

It’s no secret that Kentucky plays host to a variety of animals. At night time you can hear the howl of coyotes off in the distance here at Blue Licks, and almost each and every morning you can spot dozens of turkey scratching for food in the valleys all around. Believe it or not though, I can remember a time when even seeing deer was rare. The first time I ever saw a turkey was at a Kentucky State Park. I couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5 years old, but it had quite an impact on me. I was riding in the car with my father, I don’t recall as to where we were going at the time, but as we came around a corner my father stopped the car. What I saw in the middle of the road still to this day is very vivid to me. It was the largest bird I had ever seen; I thought it was an ostrich. The turkey was in full strut, with its beautiful tail feathers fanning out proudly. Its head was the brightest shade of red and purple I had ever seen. My father and I looked at it in awe for several moments before it strutted off the road and into the woods. Now I’m certain that if asked, my father would never remember that experience, but for me, I can’t recall ever having seen a more amazing turkey since.

Christmas in the Parks

(Originally posted 12-2012)
Yup, that’s me and my Mom, dressed to kill at Carter Caves State Resort Park circa 1978. What you may not be able to tell is that we’re standing in the middle of Smokey Lake. What you see behind us is the old beach house and boat rentals. As you can imagine it was an extremely cold winter that year and several of the park family’s ventured out for a not-so-typical day on the lake. Looking back, some of my fondest memories are of being at a Kentucky State Park. Granted, one might say I was a captive audience at the time, growing up on a state park, but even now parks still hold a place in my heart. The first time I ever met someone from another country was at a state park. The first time I ever rode a horse was at a state park. Up until just a few years ago, my family’s first Christmas tree was a grand site just across from the current campground