Yesterday my neighbor and I went on a lovely hike back into history. We started at what is now called Heritage Park in Canal Fulton and went south towards Lock IV Park. The towpath is perfectly flat and easy to navigate. The occasional, "Coming on your left," from approaching bicycles was the only thing that broke the quiet.
On one side of the path the canal waters are dark green and there are blooming water lilies all about, their fresh white color contrasting with all of the green around them. About halfway back from Lock IV we saw a wading Great Blue Heron. Almost like a ballet, the large bird would lift one leg and then the other in an elaborate movement. Perhaps he was fishing. In any case, he didn't seem to fear us at all as we approached and finally passed. Another walker who came by said it was the first blue heron he had seen, although he had spotted egrets.
On the other side of the pathway is the Tuscarawas River, flowing a muddy dark brown dotted with bubbles. A forbidding strip of land between the two of maybe 20 feet keeps the two bodies of water separate and is most likely home to many small animals. The towpath is shadowed by the huge trees which make the walk much more comfortable in this humid weather and makes the colors richer and more vivid.
At Lock IV they have done a lot of landscaping and have made the place very attractive. There is one picnic bench that sits on a small patch of land closest to a spillway by the locks. It would be a great place to take a picnic lunch or even drink a bottle of water. There is something so soothing about the sound of cascading water. It made me wonder why we sit at the dining room table most nights, instead of doing something different.
There is much local history at Lock IV, but there is also family history for me. I can imagine Lock IV as it was years ago with animal swings and animals mounted on huge springs. Huge willows sheltered the whole park and brought down the temperature. I can imagine my own children there enjoying the freedom of that moment, with our backpacks sitting on a picnic bench, having eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and refreshed ourselves with some sort of drink. A terrible storm, nearly a tornado, struck the park hard many years ago and brought down almost all of the willows. It seemed at that time that the place would never have the same draw, but it was wonderful to see it has been brought back now.
This lovely world that our God has created is there for us to take in and make memories of. For all of this is just a teaser, a foreshadowing of what is to come in heaven. We should put our toes in the water of it and find peace.
Happy Fourth of July!! God Bless America!!
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