A Week in Central Illinois
I had the most amazing visit with my family in Illinois. I haven't been home Since Christmas and really missed everyone. Cooper was excited to see us and my parents did a lot of work on the yard. We arrived on Saturday and hung out with family since it was after two when we got there. We brought one of our rabbits to drop off at his new home- we had been praying for the right people to take him and I couldn't be happier with his new owners.
Sunday
Sunday was busy because I had a hair appointment and a cookout with the family. A friend of mine from high school, Ainsley, is a beautician now so I went to support her business, Mallard Curl Salon. I just wanted a heavy metal detox from my hair because it was so damaged from this Louisiana water (that's also why I cut it short). I wasn't sure if the detox worked at first, so I asked if if did, and Ainsley took me over to the bowl and showed me this gross, metal slime that was all over the bowl...that was IN my hair. So yes, it worked really well and she got me back to my natural color for the time being while I work on keeping it healthy. I was very impressed with her talent. Then I went home to the cookout where my family came over. It was so nice seeing my mom's side of the family (and they brought cheese from Wisconsin!!) and it was fun seeing my dad's side, too. It was pretty hot for a cookout but it did get cooler later in the evening.
Monday
I just threw together a ton of random things to do on Monday. My mom's side of the family was with us until noon when they headed back up North. When they left, Parker and I went to the Creekbottom and walked the creek looking for arrowheads, fossils and tracks. It was so muddy that we couldn't find anything fun except for tracks but the Creekbottom is always a beautiful place. I used to deer hunt here and find morels, or just walk along the trails and look at all the pretty rocks and plants. That evening we went out to eat with my best friend Nicole to catch up on life stuff.
Tuesday
We spent the day doing a kind deed for my grandma. She recently had a ramp put up on her porch which cut off some yard and with little available help the flowerbeds and yard was seriously lacking. Parker and I got her 5 bushes: 2 pink spirea, 2 yellow knock-out roses and 1 blue hydrangea, many bags of cypress mulch, and landscaping fabric and got to work. The work took around 5 hours but it was an incredible improvement. We wanted to do something that wouldn't require too much extra help so people may come help my grandma take care of it easier. We cut back and divided the daylilies I planted a few years back, weeded the areas around it and created a whole new flowerbed for her where once there was yard grass. We trimmed hedges and rose bushes around her house that was growing up the side and raked the leaves out. It was a lot of work and it took up the whole day basically but I am happy we did it. That evening we invited my aunt and uncle over to play a family card game, pitch, and the girls won.
Wednesday
This is where it was crunch time to get everything done. That morning we built a squirrel feeder for my boss as a Christmas gift (don't worry he won't see this). My dad helped me do this project and it really didn't take very long under his guidance. After that we went to Lincolns New Salem and took Cooper for a walk. I wanted to hike more since it was really nice weather so Parker and I went across the road to Shick shack trail, damsel fly trail, and cardinal trail. I have to say, Menard County Trails and Greenways group is doing a PHENOMINAL job cleaning up the forests and river (I encourage you to check out their page I linked for trails and to see what they do if you want to get involved. If you are an aspiring wildlife biologist in Menard County and are looking for volunteer opportunities while in high school or college this is a perfect organization to get in contact with.). While we were on the trail we saw my favorite teacher ever- Mr. Trueblood, he was my archery and fishing coach as well as my biology teacher who helped guide me on my career path of today. We talked with him a while then went on a trail that led us down buy the Sangamon River. I do really love that river, I have so many memories there. I told Parker, "It is amazing how this river doesn't really change even though the whole county and the people of the county are changing. Sure it ebbs and flows and drains and floods but it really, for the most part, is the same as before settlers were here." That's probably why I like it so much. Me and Dad used to walk the bottomlands and identify trees and he would teach me fire building skills on the sandbars. We would collect shells to show mom. We would look at animal tracks. No wonder why I want to be a wildlife biologist. No wonder why I am a wildlife artist.
The history of Menard County and the names of these trails are incredibly interesting. I want to include some links here to give more background on the Shick Shack trail.
This info came from a book called The History of Menard and Mason Counties. Here's some of what I found:
"On the highest bluff along the Sangamon River, there are to be seen, remains of the works of that strange people called the "Mound Builders". Many of these mounds have been opened, but no relics of any value have been found. Stone axes, arrow-heads and spear-heads of flint have been found on the surface ..... and down to 12 foot below the ground ..... When the first settlements were made in the limits of the county, the Indians had almost all been removed; a few still remained in the timber on Indian Creek, in the neighborhood of Indian Point; and two old men with 10 or a dozen relatives remained for some time. These were Shick-shack and Shambolee .... they moved to a high hill to within a mile of Chandlerville. Here Shick-shack died and was buried and the hill is still called Shick-shack's Hill. After he died the rest of the little band left the haunts of pale face and were heard of no more."
Note: If you have ever gone to Chandlerville using the blacktop out the back side of Oakford, on the left you will see many Indian mounds. Maybe Shick-shack and Shambolee made these.
Link 2: This is for all you interested in archaeology. This link will show you a map of native American trails that are along the Sangamon River and presence of mounds. Please be respectful of history if you go out exploring these grounds.
Link 3: This link is a small excerpt of a book about Menard and Mason Counties in 1879.
Thursday
On Thursday we went to my old stomping grounds of Creekside in Lincoln, Il. I used to work at this nature center and you can find more about what I did in previous blogs. My family and I walked the trails and foraged for some cool wild edibles. It is pawpaw season in Illinois, these are like mango bananas that are native to Illinois and surrounding states. I didn't care too much for the taste but my family liked them and I think they would make great cookies. Then I found some elderberry which is said to support heart health, improve antioxidant status, and have a variety of anti-cancer, anti-diabetes, and anti-inflammatory effects and a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. They taste wonderful, kind of like a small blueberry/raspberry. We saw chicory which is also a good health tool by helping with loss of appetite, upset stomach, constipation, liver and gallbladder disorders, cancer, and rapid heartbeat. How these are prepared I don't know you will just have to stay tuned because I will likely do some home remedy stuff someday.
We also went to Funks Grove for some maple syrup. They do demonstrations in the tapping season (February to March) that I went to a few years ago.
That evening my best friend, Nicole, came over with her dog and we hung out on the back patio. It was a really fun time because Nicole is like my sister so seeing her again before we left was important for me.
Friday
Parker had brought his new shotgun home to test out on some clay pigeons or skeet we had. We also brought a few handguns to practice shooting in the Creekbottom. That was a super fun time and my dad came along, too. We set up hedge balls to shoot as targets and they explode with sticky sap. After that we stopped by Countryside, a retirement home I used to work at to see my friends still working there. They had a flood last Christmas and renovations were complete in May. It looks so incredible now I was joking that I'd like to move in. I really miss that job sometimes because it always felt like family and the work I was doing helped people. The weather was incredible while we were in Illinois and so we invited my grandpa up to play cornhole on our last evening there. It has become a family tradition when it is nice outside. My Uncle who lives in Kentucky came up in time for us to see him and talk some. He has a camper that he stays in while in Illinois. We went over for a camper tour and I wouldn't mind living in one. Next place we go I told Parker we may just buy land and build a house and we can live out of a camper. It may be a little hard with all our hobbies though.
Now we are back in Louisiana. We made the 10 hour drive yesterday. I am finishing up homework and studying for tests again. Our rabbits are happy to run around the house again and get some treats. Looking back on my time in Illinois I am happy I got to do so much. Family is so important to me and I think my family is a pretty tight knit group- I mean we all do live next door to each other. Sometimes it makes me sad because I strayed off pretty far to different states but I hope soon in the future we can settle down closer.
I chose a verse about family for this blog. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." -Ephesians 6:1-4. When God is the center of the family, then it will be a strong family. God is the one who designed families so when you obey and keep his commandments and lean on his promises it can't go wrong. I told Parker recently that sometimes bad people are rich and some times good people are poor, but that just looks at wealth. What is eternal like love for family and bringing up children the right way is eternal and that makes people rich no matter what their bank account says.
-Nichole 💜
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