A HIDDEN TREASURE

The descriptive palette used to paint this story allows the reader to not only see, but feel the magic in your hidden treasure. The photographs are perfect, yet they simply enhance an already beautiful canvas. BJ

Thankyou so much for your praise. Those photos were taken back in the sixties while I was home on leave. It would not be possible to take a couple of them now because the state won't allow anyone near that side at all, claiming that it is to dangerous. In the stream a hundred feet before the falls the Geodetic Survey now has an electronic apperatus there in a bed of concrete to measure the volume of water flow. After it goes over the falls the stream travels a short distance before emptying in a dam'd up section of the Schoharie Creek for a power project. The federal license for the dam requires an equal amount of water going out as is coming in - thus the measurement.

Fred

My hidden place was up on a hill with enormous rocks in the Flint Hills. I walked with you all the way. Just great, Gail

Having your own special hidden place makes living just that much better doesn't it?

Fred

Excellent descriptions and beautiful photos. Progress, yeah, right! What a shame to destroy what Mother Nature carved out.

Kathy

Oh, wow, Fred, I practically had to towel off after reading this, I so felt the presence of the falling water! Just fantastic, and the photos are wonderful. Your descriptive talents are superb, the reader is right there beside you, seeing, feeling, and hearing the wilderness you discovered. So sad that the wildness is gone. Carol

To me it is sad, but on the other hand, even though they will not see it with the same beauty that I saw it, many other people can now see it from another perspective, and I suppose that outweighs the other. By the way, when I discovered it in my youth the falls were part of a large farm property owned by a man named Sam Bliss. Ironic that the owners name was Bliss and the emotions I had when down in the falls canyon were feelings of "Bliss."

Beautiful pictures Fred, and so nice to have that secret place to go to. I think everyone should have that. It is very sad that they made it into a park tho and closed off the cave. I will have to sit and think of a secret place to visit and dream.

Barbara

Ahh yes, progress they call it. How fortunate you are to recall this lovely place in such vivid detail. Wonderful piece of work, Fred, and congratulations all over the place.......Kathe

If you recall, it was you - a long time ago, who helped me rewrite it better than it was, and at least some of the credit is yours.
Fred

Absolutely beautiful Frederick....I enjoyed reading, and the photographs truly enhanced this wonderful piece. Thank you for sharing and Congratulations!

Fred

Where are these falls? I think I saw it in the Catskills, not far from the Kaaterskill Falls.
The view from the top looks familiar.
Mike

Reply to Mike,

Using the Ourecho contact link, I just sent you a lengthy reply. My computer security is blocking it. I tried to overide the block but don't know if it went to you or not. If you did not receive it, please advise me.
Fred

Fred,
I admit I just happened to read this because it's the current Winning Post of the Month, but of course now I realize why! I loved feeling and savoring EVERY word of EVERY sentence and did not want the essay to end. It's beautifully written. I wanted/hoped to read about you still spending time there, as free as the first time you discovered it. What some call "progress" others term a blemish on an otherwise beatufiul place...part of nature's face.
Thank you very much for sharing with such delightful details that the reader truly yearns to go there. That's what makes a re-read a must.
Blessings,
Sandi in FL.

P.S. to my prior comment: I forgot to add a hearty, sincere CONGRATULATIONS for a well-deserved honor...author of this month's winning post. You most definitely earned it. And the beautiful "Hidden Treasure" photos are a great addition to your essay.
Blessings,
Sandi in FL.

Thankyou Sandi. Your lavish praise has me blushing.
Fred

You've taken all of the experience outlined in your bio and turned it into wonderful words. It is amazing how much breadth of experience adds to one's writing palette.

Fred, is this the falls near the Waterfall House?

No. Those at the Waterfall House are the Manorkill Falls. MineKill falls are on route 30 between the Stryker Road/Shew Hollow Road intersection and the MineKill Park going towards N. Blenheim.
Fred