Tiger Lilly

Tiger Lilly:  A sure sign of summer in Kentucky.  These grow wild along the roadside and are bold and beautiful.

Image by M Smith

Purple Cone Flower

Echinacea is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family, Asteraceae. The nine species it contains are commonly called purple coneflowers. They are endemic to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming from early to late summer.

source: wiki

Image by Mary

Feeding Time

Life

Life is old there, older than the trees

                                       John Denver

If only we could see

Everything has a season, a reason, I want to believe

A time to dream, to love, and to conceive

Face the world, eyes wide open, don't miss your chance

Be ready to meet it head on and take your stance

If you dare to blink, it could flicker right past

And a lifetime has gone by, its lot has been cast

Don't shuffle your feet, always follow your ❤

Our time here is fleeting and soon we will part

So keep up a good fight until your heart beats its last

Always take time to smell the flowers and walk a righteous path
                                     MSmith

John Denver's - Country Roads

Maybe not Virginia, but it sure is sweet

    

Almost heaven, West Virginia 

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River 
Life is old there, older than the trees 
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze 
 
Country roads, take me home 
To the place I belong 
West Virginia, Mountain Mama 
Take me home, country roads 
All my memories, gathered 'round her 
Miners' Lady, stranger to blue water 
Dark and dusty, painted on the sky 
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye  

I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls me 
The radio reminds me of my home far away 
And drivin' down the road I get the feeling 
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday 


John Denver - We sure do Miss You

The Essential John Denver
Take Me Home, Country Roads (Digitally Remastered)

As the Yawning Night takes the Day

View from the lookout at Fort Duffield,

West Point, Kentucky

USA

Battle Fatique - Kentucky Style

One of the numerous old tanks at the "tank graveyard" of Fort Knox Army Reservation.  Now this tank that once was in the Korean and Vietnam Wars is just a piece of equipment used for target practice during training exercises.

Bridge of the Past

Wooldridge Ferry Bridge
This bridge sits on the Fort Knox Reservation and was once linked to a thriving community.  The area is now only accessible one day each year on Memorial Day when family can return to visit any one of the 121 cemeteries that now exist on government property.


Fortification

Fortifications were constructed near the site in 1861, during the Civil War when Fort Duffield was constructed. Fort Duffield was located on what was known as Muldraugh Hill on a strategic point overlooking the confluence of the Salt and Ohio Rivers and the Louisville and Nashville Turnpike. The area was contested by both Union and Confederate forces. Bands of organized guerrillas frequently raided the area during the war. John Hunt Morgan the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry for the Confederate Army raided the area before staging his famous raid on Indiana and Ohio known as Morgan's Raid.

Post war

After the war, the area now occupied by the Army was home to various small communities. In October 1903, military maneuvers for the Regular Army and the National Guards of several states were held at West Point, Kentucky and the surrounding area. In April 1918, field artillery units from Camp Zachary Taylor arrived at West Point for training. 10,000 acres near the village of Stithton were leased to the government and construction for a permanent training center was started in July 1918.

New Camp

The new camp was named after Henry Knox, the Continental Army's chief of artillery during the Revolutionary War and the country's first Secretary of War. The camp was extended by the purchase of a further 40,000 acres in June 1918 and construction properly began in July 1918. The building program was reduced following the end of the war and reduced further following cuts to the army in 1921 after the National Defense Act of 1920. The camp was greatly reduced and became a semi-permanent training center for the 5th Corps Area for Reserve Officer training, the National Guard, and Citizen's Military Training Camps (CMTC). For a short while, from 1925 to 1928, the area was designated as "Camp Henry Knox National Forest."

Source: Wikipedia
Image by M Smith