Mild Rainy First Day of Summer

On this almost chilly first day of summer, I sat on the banks of Sylvan Lake reading a book I purchased at St. Ann's Tent Sale. My husband wanted to buy some lumber at Frick's in Brimfield. He dropped me off and came back about an hour later. We got an early start (left home at 8:23 a.m.) as we knew rain was predicted for the afternoon and though the lumber was wrapped in a tarp, it was better to take no chances.

The grounds and gardens of Wildflower Woods are open dawn to dusk. I took a few photos, then sat on a bench next to the lakeshore to read On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life by David Petersen. This man and his wife live off the grid in the mountains of Colorado in a cabin he built. It seemed an appropriate book since Gene Stratton-Porter was an avid naturalist and conservationist. She liked her comforts, however, in her house by the lake.

With no sun, the gardens didn't seem especially colorful.

There was a cool breeze off the lake, and when a noisy boat of water skiers chose the spot in front of me as their "launching" place, I moved up to the cabin. I had noticed a bench outside near the potting room. I couldn't see the lake quite as well, but then I was reading anyway. It was more protected; I took my windbreaker off. 

About 10:40 I shut my book to head to the information center/gift shop which had opened at 10. There was my husband heading towards me, almost to the house. We used the restroom facilities, then headed north of Rome City to a restaurant for lunch.

The meal was tasty, but we left with a bad taste anyway. The menu had listed the frog legs basket at $11.50. When the bill arrived it said $14.99. When we pointed it out to the waitress, she returned with two menus. One had the original price blacked out and $14.99 penned in; the other had the $11.50 price. She said we must have gotten one of the menus they hadn't changed yet, but the computer that printed the bill said $14.99 and that was what we owed. No apology, no effort to make things right. We felt cheated.

We headed due west from Wolcottville to meet up with a north-south road as when we came across on Highway 6 towards the lumber yard the road was closed for construction and we had to detour. Lots of Amish in this area. The clotheslines were full of plain blue and purple shirts and dresses. Hopefully, they were brought in before the rain started around 3 p.m. Such pretty gardens and flowers in the well-kept yards of those houses impressed us. We only met a couple of buggies so we weren't slowed down much.

It is still gray and rainy. I think I will curl up in my Lazy Boy chair and let my book transport me to a place of elk, puma, bear, and golden aspens.

Cabin at Wildflower Woods

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. My husband and I drove to the Gene Stratton-Porter State Historic Site in Noble County. As we arrived, one of the state park employees gave us a heads-up about 40 school children on a field trip expected to arrive in about 15 minutes. We were invited to tag along on any of the tours of the smaller groups. We mostly did our own exploring, but we did join one of the school groups to tour the house as the normally-scheduled tours would not start until noon because of this field trip.

There is no charge to wander and enjoy the grounds. A private tour and a tour of the house is $7, $6 for seniors. There is a pleasant picnic pavilion next to the parking lot.

According to Wikipedia, the Hoosier author was born Geneva Grace Stratton on a family farm near Wabash, Indiana. Her family shortened her name to Geneve and she shortened it further to Gene. She was the youngest of 12 children. She married Charles Porter, a druggist, in 1886 in Geneva. To be close to his businesses in Decatur and Fort Wayne, the couple built a house in Geneva near the Limberlost, wetlands that Gene loved. She was an excellent nature photographer. She especially studied birds (owls a favorite) and insects (moths a favorite).

After becoming wealthy from her novels (she wrote 12 total), she decided to build a house of her own design on Sylvan Lake in Rome City. Her beloved Limberlost was being drained for agricultural use. The "cabin" was completed in 1914.

Imagine sitting on the porch enjoying the natural beauty.

Gene dictated her writings to a typist. The typewriter is still in her cabin. In her plant room, she would open wide the windows and put bird food on the wide sills. She didn't mind at all if the birds chose to visit her inside as she potted plants.

The property was used as a Boy Scout camp for several years after Gene's death, but the state purchased it during the Depression. Some of her original furnishings are in the home. The chair above with its rope is an example.

Perhaps because of her exposure to Wabash with its early electricity, she installed electric lights in her cabin. She also had a coal-based central heating system and designed an outside feature to have ice blocks collected and stored in the ice house put in her kitchen icebox without entering the house. She had a darkroom built in this house to accommodate her photo avocation.

At the rear of her home, she planted formal flower beds (35) and erected an arbor.

The 120 acres also had natural woodlands which in the spring were full of wildflowers. We saw lots of trillium both in the garden and along the trails in the woods. A few other small flowers, too.

The formal garden is designed to have blooms spring through fall.

A reconstruction of her carriage house is a nature interpretive center and gift shop. If you are wanting to purchase her books, both novels and nature studies, the shop has a good selection.

My husband who is a woodworker and likes to find new specimens for his "goblet collection", bought a book about Indiana trees.

Gene was advised to move to California for a climate better for her health. In 1919 she and her daughter Jeannette did relocate to California for most of the year, but she returned to the Cabin at Wildflower Woods for some of the summer. She was busy building a workshop on Catalina Island and a house in Bel-Air, a new Los Angeles area development. Because her books were being made into movies, proximity to Hollywood was beneficial. However, she didn't like the productions so started her own film company.

In 1924 her chauffeured convertible car was struck by a streetcar in Hollywood. She was ejected from the car and suffered a mortal head injury. She was buried in a cemetery in Hollywood though her desire had always been to be buried by the chinquapin oak on her Rome City property. Eventually her grandsons moved her body and that of Jeannette to her preferred site.

Many of Gene's books are available on the Gutenberg Project site for download. There are lots of YouTube videos by reputable organizations like Ball State, Indiana History Museum, etc. She was ahead of her time in the preservation and appreciation of natural areas and creatures in the state of Indiana.