Mid-life Wanderings: Garden of Eden Found

Mid-life Wanderings: Garden of Eden Found: I've heard about the Garden of Eden years ago and from stories I gathered, it sounded very interesting.  Finally last Friday I got to vi...



Their website is www.gardenofedenlucas.org

Garden of Eden Found

I've heard about the Garden of Eden years ago and from stories I gathered, it sounded very interesting.  Finally last Friday I got to visit the place.  It was not what I had in mind.  I was thinking of beautiful, colorful sculptures made from different mediums like metals or wood perhaps.  My disappointment, however, was changed to that of curiosity.  The sculptures were a jumble of images that at first doesn't made sense but I know there's got to be a story line in all of them.

The place is closed and no guided tours are offered because of the Covid19 but we were free to enjoy the artwork at our own leisure outside.  Not knowing where to start, I headed to the west side of the house.  I found I was looking at "Labor" crucified in the middle with four characters "Preacher," "Banker," "Lawyer" and "Politician" on all four sides.  I struggled to think what the creator, Mr. Dinsmoor, must have in mind when he fashioned these sculptures.  I moved on to a huge bird sculpture with the American flag behind it and then to my left was something that looked like a ziggurat and I saw up the tower above it, was some sort of a ritualistic scene.  I can't make it out from where I was standing. 

As I moved on from sculpture to sculpture, I noticed lots of serpentine images.  Once I got to the other side of the house where the "Garden of Eden" gate was, I was able to weave out a story, mainly, the fall of man but rounding the corner I was lost as to what all the sculptures before me were about.  Mike and JJ helped me out "interpreting" the images before us.  Mr. Dinsmoor tried to express his ideas and ideology through this folk art medium that he had created.  To me, it is like reading an old, old, newsprint, only these are in concrete sculptures.

Apparently, Mr. Dinsmoor dug up his first wife's bones and moved it to the present Dinsmoor "mausoleum" right on the corner of his property where his body is also.  The mausoleum is part of the tour but I probably won't even want to peek.

Anyway, here is the video I uploaded on You Tube of our jaunt last Friday in Lucas, Kansas.  Feel free to drop a comment on what you think of the place, the artwork and the idea behind this labor of love by Mr. Dinsmoor which is considered the 8th Wonder of Kansas.  Enjoy and blessings!

Combining Blogging and Vlogging --- Is It Possible?

Hey all.  I pray everyone is doing fine these days with all that is going on in the midst of this pandemic.  I'm thankful that up to the present, none of my family and friends have been infected with the virus.  I thank God for that everyday.

So the school year ended with a bang (being sarcastic here) hehehe.  Now what?  We wanted to get away one weekend and when I inquired whether pools are open in the hotels I've contacted the answer was no.  All we wanted was to swim in the hotel's pool or soak in the jacuzzi but not one hotel has their pool open.  Amusement parks are still closed so what do we do?  Good thing parks and bike/hiking trails are open so we visit them almost everyday and enjoy the trails and scenery and sweat and huff along the way.

Another thing I tried during this stay-at-home season is learning to use GoPro to film and learning to edit videos using an editing app.  This 60 year old woman is slowly learning some technology - ahem.  It took a while but hey, the lock down gave me all the time I need to scratch the surface - I'm not there yet but I'm slowly getting there.  Then on May 25 I branched out to "vlogging" by launching my first You Tube video - getting brave here LOL.  Last night June 1, I uploaded my fourth You Tube video, I guess I need to keep going since I started this.

Since this blog is about Mike's and my midlife wanderings, I figured we'll wander around Kansas and the Midwest for now since we've moved back from our wanderings in the Philippines a couple of years ago.  I thought about stopping to blog and instead go vlogging but reading our past blogs made me decide I can not possibly do that.  These blogs are our story that we are sharing with you all and a testament to how God had sustained us through the years.  I cry reading some of my past blogs because my heart just overflows with thanksgiving to our LORD.  He has been and always is so, so good to us.  Besides, I love to write....that's the thing.  Writing gives me freedom to express my deepest emotions whereas vlogging does not (that's just my opinion though).

I plan to highlight some hidden gems around Topeka and surrounding areas this summer so I hope you will continue to follow us still.  I will be filming and writing about them as we go along so this should be interesting.  And as soon as the drone I ordered arrives that would even add another excitement to the site.  Yes, I will still need to learn yet another technology....let's see how fast or slow I'll master this drone business but it will be interesting....something new to learn.

Here is my fourth YouTube video uploaded last night --- ENJOY and blessings!