A butterfly glides to a landing
beside Maple Grove Road on Kentucky 192 west of London.
. . .  and  . . .
A blue wildflower looks pretty
beside West Virginia 92 just north of Cove Run Road.

In Pursuit
Of the Wild Image.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Bowling Green, Kentucky

Meeting people and hearing their stories is a balm for the lonely road.  But when you tire of strangers, no matter how gracious and courteous they may be, you can pull off the asphalt onto a country lane and look at the flowers, trees, and meadows.

Capturing photographic images of wildflowers and the creatures who roam their vegetable universe is a task of patience and precision I've haven't mastered yet. You miss more than you catch, and many that you think you've captured appear as a blur when you see them on the computer screen at the end of the day.   

Just yesterday, the delicate white blossom at the top of Long Fork Mountain, far back in the Kentucky hills on a state highway that turns into a county lane, simply refused to be photographed in any form other than the dreaded blur.  Many of the flowers I've met act that way.  They're too shy, I suppose, to allow their picture to be shown to the masses.  

Despite frequent disappointments — caused by flowers likin' to dance in the breeze, shallow depth of field, camera movement caused by awkward stances in the ditches and hillsides where the blossoms grow — the pursuit of the wild image is worth the hunt.  You can stretch your legs, feel the sunshine on your bald head — if you're blessed to have one — breathe fresh air, and smell the sweet aroma of the natural world.  It's wonderful.  It really is.

NOTE:  Like any child educated in the classical liberal arts tradition of western civilization, I want to know the names of things.  I don't care to guess, either, unless I've done my research. Finding the names of the flowers I've met on my travels with Godzilla must await my return to the study and laboratory at Crow's Cottage. 

Wildflower.
Maple Grove Road on Kentucky 192 west of London.

The statue of Chief Logan of the Mingo Tribe
stands beside a Chamber of Commerce building "made entirely of coal," according to the fact sheet distributed by the chamber.
The statue and building made of coal are located
next to the Court House Square in Williamson, West Virginia.
Williamson snuggles up to Kentucky along the Tug Fork River.
 
"Tourists are interested in the history of our Indian Chief
and many different stories are told of him," the fact sheet states.
"Our neighboring county bears his name
and our own county bears the name of his tribe."
The Mingo hunted in the region in the days before the USA
recognized West Virginia as a member of the republic.
A Mingo burial ground in Williamson
is known by the name of Reservation Hill.
  
According to historians,
Chief Logan's wife, children, and all other relatives
were slain by a drunken soldier in 1774.
The words attributed to the grieving chief
in a letter to a British colonial governor of Virginia
express the abiding and primal power of blood and family.
 
I appeal of any white man to say
if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry,
and he gave him not meat;
if ever he came cold and naked,
and he clothed him not.
During the last and bloody war,
Logan remained quiet in his cabin, an advocate of peace.
Such was my love for the whites that my countrymen
pointed as they passed and said,
"Logan is a friend of white men."
I had ever thought to have lived with you,
but for the injuries of one man,
who the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked,
murdered all the relatives of Logan,
not even sparing my women and children.
There runs not a drop of my blood
in the veins of any living creature.
Who is there to mourn for Logan?
Not one.

William Warren's barn
stands to the north of Kentucky Highway 192
near Cold Hill in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Mr. Warren's brother Randy said he's been living
across from the barn for 54 years.
He estimated the barn's age at 85 years.
"Take it easy, old man," Randy said as we bid one another farewell.

An attempt by T Rex to intimidate Godzilla proved futile
during our visit to North Wildwood, New Jersey, on August 19.
The Atomic Road Lizard stood her ground,
commenting later that she'd once defeated the entire Japanese air force
in pitched battle in the salty waters outside Tokyo .

ebenezer@corndancer.com

To read the previous dispatch in the narrative,
kindly click the crow!

Notices of new dispatches from my Travels with Godzilla are sent by e-mail express to my list of family, friends, students, and fellow travelers. If you've come here by some other means than an e-mail invitation, and would like to receive notices, please write me so I can add you to the list. I share the addresses with no one but Godzilla, who can't type and doesn't do e-mail. 

     Ebenezer Bowles
     threadspinner@corndancer.com

The stories
linked below
form the narrative "Travels with Godzilla."

The Journey Ends:
Bye, Buck Bowles.

Dispatch Eighteen
Fayetteville,
Arkansas
Monday, August 31

Tobacco:
By the Hand of Man.

Dispatch Seventeen
Benton,
Kentucky
Thursday, August 27

Shy and Wonderful:
In Pursuit
Of the Wild Image.

Dispatch Sixteen
Bowling Green,
Kentucky
Wednesday, August 26

Mullens
It Wasn't the Flood.

Dispatch Fifteen
Williamson,
West Virginia
Tuesday, August 25

What Coal?
So Many Mountains
They're
Giving Some Up.

Dispatch Fourteen
Beckley,
West Virginia
Monday, August 24

Illustrated Man:
Pay Is Pay
On the
Honorable Path.

Dispatch Twelve
Morgantown,
West Virginia
Saturday, August 22

Which Road?
Counting the Lanes.

Dispatch Eleven
Bel Air,
Maryland
Friday, August 21

An Easy Puzzle:
Shade Drenched,
Flat and Tidy.

Dispatch Ten
Seaford,
Delaware
Thursday, August 20

Sea Cruise:
A Fine Old Motor Vessel Makes a Smooth Crossing from Jersey to Delaware.

Dispatch Nine
Seaford,
Delaware
Wednesday, August 19

Mighty Joe:
From the River Valley To the Sandy Pine Barrens On a Road to Heaven.

Dispatch Eight
Vineland,
New Jersey
Tuesday, August 18

Sugar Hollow Road:
Not too Far
down the Way
from Mehoopany.

Dispatch Seven
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Friday, August 14

Lucky Stars:
Godzilla Wrestles
a Bear.

Dispatch Six
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Thursday, August 13

Erie:
Off Balance, Agitated.

Dispatch Five
Erie, Pennsylvania
Tuesday, August 11

Purpose:
Success and Fear On the Sly Peripheral.

Dispatch Four
Kent, Ohio
Monday, August 10

Indiana:
You Want to Take Forever.

Dispatch Three
Howe, Indiana
Sunday, August 9

Army Truck:
Carry Me Home.

Dispatch Two
Watseka, Illinois
Saturday, August 8

Road Trip:
Go Fast.

Dispatch One
Muscatine, Iowa
Friday, August 7