People were everywhere at Giant City this morning. They know it is the first day of fall. Many of them were hiking and exploring and even a young man in a Park Service uniform was present. The leaves have begun to change color and several are already falling. Many folks were walking their dogs and some of them two at a time. We, humans, enjoy many similar things. When you think about it the most pleasant aspect of living on Earth is the Earth. I love collectibles and art but they are at their best mere representations of the natural beauty and supreme splendor of our home.

Having recently returned from our Maine Holiday I noted that we relished the house that we stayed in that had been built before the Civil War and our search for the best seafood was exciting…nothing compared with the abundant beauty that was all around us. When I immerse myself in the truth of the woods and the ocean I wonder, as the parking attendant told me in Philadelphia when I did not want to leave the keys to our rental car in the driver’s seat and the windows down, ‘What you crying about Mon?’

‘Let us go hiking at Giant City State Park,’ Billy B. exclaimed!

‘After all, it is the first day of Autumn…and the leaves are changing colors,’ Chet replied.

‘Are the snakes in their dens or wherever it is that they stay,’ Jane asked with fright?

‘I will pack some Merlot as I read that they do not like the smell of red wine,’ Neva J. said with a giggle.

‘This trail is the most dense and winding that I have ever been on,’ Billy B. remarked. ‘It is as if it doubles back on itself and we never seem to reach the end of it although it said that it was 1 mile we have been walking for over 2 hours,’ said Billy B.

‘Ahead it a clearing and I think that it high time for a wine and hot dog break…and I have some cheese as well, said Neva J.

‘You know that in the early days, glaciers flattened the land in most of Illinois and that is why Little Egypt is so different than the rest of Illinois. You do realize that glaciers swept across most of the land in Illinois the Illinoan glacier went as far as Carbondale in Southern Illinois,’
Chet said with a wink.

‘Is that why the topography is so different in the southern part of the state as compared to the rest of it,’ Jane asked?

‘Indeed it is…we live in a very unique region and that is why tourists love our area of the country so much, Chet smiled.

A Neva J. poured everyone another glass of Merlot and handed out the Oscar Mayer Weiners Chet said that he would like his fresh from the plastic.

‘I think I see a clearing from the trail just ahead,’ Jane called out.

‘Good day, my friends…I am Louis Jolliet and my partner is Jacques Marquette…we are a bit lost…could you direct us back to our camp,’ asked Louis?