Indian Cave foliage offers subtle beauty
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BY JOE DUGGAN / Lincoln Journal Star
NEAR BARADA — The calendar said the vistas at Indian Cave State Park should have been stunning.
By the middle of October in most years, the bluffs and hills along the Missouri River in Southeast Nebraska have attained full autumnal resplendence. Think broad splashes of rust and red and gold.
A visit late last week to Indian Cave indicated that fall might be something different this year.
Not only do seasonal color changes seem to be behind schedule, perhaps some trees won’t get the chance to change before blustery days make them naked.
This trip to Indian Cave simply required a shift in expectations.
Instead of big splashes, the park offered subtle strokes and dabs of color.
A red Virginia creeper vine — or is it a vein? — coursing up the trunk of a burr oak.
Massive yellow papaw leaves undulating as a breeze made its way through the understory.
A golden cottonwood chattering in the moist air of a hollow and the cluster of sumac guarding an eroding hillside, ruby knife blades at the ready.
The hills insulate the park from many modern noises — only a passing airliner or occasional train shatters the sounds of wind and wildlife.
A hidden cardinal calling urgently before the sun could warm the morning.
Gray and fox squirrels romping through discarded leaves, collecting an absolute bounty of acorns and hickory nuts.
The whitetail doe slipping across a road before disappearing into the forest’s dark shroud.
A skein of white-fronted geese gliding in an azure sky, laughing like children on a distant playground.
And the Missouri runs through it all.
Disappointing for the lack of splashes?
Not for a second.
Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.
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db wrote on October 13, 2008 3:40 pm:
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