On a warm day in May of 2013 our travels took us to the Limberlost.  You might be asking yourself right about now what in the world is the Limberlost, well I will tell you. I first learned of the Limberlost when I was young these are wonderful memories, sitting on the porch swing on a warm summer day with a gentle breeze blowing and my Mother reading to me “A Girl of the Limberlost” by Gene Stratton-Porter.  My Mother’s voice and the descriptive writing of Mrs. Stratton-Porter took me to a world far away full of adventure and another life.  I always wanted to go to Gene Stratton-Porter’s home, and to the Limberlost to see where she came from and where she did her research on moths.   You could say this was on my “bucket list”.  So on our adventures we came to rest in Geneva, Indiana where I was lucky enough to experience all this first hand, even at my age I was in awe.  I was in awe of this amazing woman who was way ahead of her time, of being in a place where she wrote and processed her photographs.  This was where she lived and breathed, these were things she touched, my eyes glistened with tears during the tour.  The memories of my Mother rushing back to me and magically  I was 10 years old.  My Mother was once again alive and with me.  After we finished at the house we headed over to the trails and swamp.  What an adventure in many ways.  We travel in a 1977 Mini-Jimmy motorhome, and navigating through all these interesting dirt roads to get there was a little challenging and a lot of fun.  The swamp was spectacular, peaceful in a way I cannot even put into words.  I left there feeling warm and young.  Some of this I am sure was all the memories of my Mother and those warm days on the porch swing, but some of it was just being in a place where such a fantastic woman lived.

I would highly suggest a visit to the area.  I would also highly suggest reading some of Gene Stratton-Porter’s books especially “A Girl of the Limberlost” before you go.  Here is a link to the website to give you a bit more information:

   http://www.indianamuseum.org/limberlost

My love of photography started when I was a little girl, this is the man I have to thank for that, my Father.  For as long as I can remember my Father would have lightmeters (yes pleural) cameras and other gadgets draped around his neck whenever we went anywhere or did anything they were as much a part of him as the way he combed his hair, or dressed.
He was a gentle man, an intelligent man, a kind man, a humble man.  He was also very funny!  He was a science teacher by trade, physics, chemistry, general science and he had a way of communicating that made everything easy to understand.  He had no idea how wonderful his photos were, he had no idea what he was teaching his daughter about vision and life, for him it was just a hobby.
My first memories of going into the dark room and learning the whole developing process were probably when I was 5.  He didn't use the safe lights, it was all in the dark.  I remember learning the magic of taking that very special film out of the can, feeling and fumbling in the darkness, knowing my Dad was close by to help if needed, guiding words from the dark explaining everything I should do, getting it into the little container and sealing it up.   The film developing, the pungent smell of the chemicals, the excitement of waiting to open the container and looking at the film.  The timers dinging,  Oh the thrill!  Then exposing the images, placing the paper in the chemicals and there they were pictures!  These were truly magical memories to me, and instilled in me a life seen in snapshots and images.