Indigo Lake and the trailhead by the same name is located down in what I consider to be the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley–at least in the way that I orient myself there. Nestled between several reservations and across a few acres from Szalay’s Sweet Corn Farm and the Beaver Marshes, Indigo Lake has always been a little calming treasure, train depot and tree-lined path to Hale Farm and Village.

We went for an hour or so on Sunday during my parent’s open house. I had been last winter and the previous winter when I was in the States. But it was such a pleasure to be back during the warmer weather.

Some days the water does look Indigo–no doubt from sentiments and bacteria built up over millennia and the microscopic organisms that chew on them. Fishing and swimming are not permitted in the lake–even though there are two lifesaving rings buoying in the cat tails. That’s America for you!

Perhaps its my melancholy mood as of late, but I couldn’t stop staring. Melancholy is the wrong word. I guess after all of the immigration battles and lawyer-speak I’m almost entering a state of what could be considered calm.

Hale Farm and Village is at the end of the trail. For a lot of folks who grew up around here, Hale Farm was the signature field trip destination. I find as an adult, though, identifying more with the pastoral.

There were so many people in the Valley that day, but the only figures we came across at Hale Farm were two huge bulls taking a nap.

On the way home, we drove by the Great Blue Heron habitat (herony) on Bath Road. It was so nice to be back and  see the males carrying their nesting sticks to the females.

Last year, 293 chicks were born. I’m not sure what it is about those birds’ particular grace, but it is certainly the single most fortifying memory of my childhood and young adult life. And I think that being back there makes me open up my heart again to Ohio.