Horseshoe Lake -Shaker Ohio

Horseshoe Lake
I was having a lot of troubles with my computer and what I was downloading and what was showing up on my computer.  Because of that I delayed doing this post for quite awhile since everything was so wacky.  My computer problems got resolved with a new computer and I have been able to go back and post date things and get them into the blog like I wanted to get them.
   So I'm trying it again.

     When I was growing up my favorite place in the whole wide world was Horseshoe Lake.  Once I reached an age where I could roam around unsupervised with my friends, we would love to go there and just hang out since it was such a pretty place.  Also it was with in walking distance of where we lived.
   Here's a picture and I think you can see why we liked to go there.

I used to like to spend as much time there as I could.  When it was time to go to high school I picked Beaumont and one of the main reasons was it was next to Horseshoe lake and I could walk across the street to it after school let out.
   Here's a couple of pictures of my -Beaumont High school.

 Beaumont was famous for the Wall on Lee road.  As a geologist I just have to show some parts of it.

 It was made from glacier erratics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacial_erratic  )that had been cleared out of the fields.  Before it was a school it was a private residence and the wall was built to keep exotic animals inside its yards.  There was always a lot of teasing about keeping exotic girls inside its walls too.

 I always thought it was pretty and enjoyed walking along it. 

But this post isn't about my high school, its about the lake that was across the street from it and was one of my favorite places to go.
Here's the historical sign that greets you on the western side of it.

It is right across the street from the Shaker museum.

 I would have visited the museum but the time I was there was during a time when it wasn't open and I was unable to go in.  I've been in it before and wasn't too concern about not seeing it. 

Shaker Historical Museum

The area has always had some historical significance to the region.  And there were things we saw and didn't always appreciate.  We used to think this was a grave and would avoid it.

 We would also see these markers. And I hate to admit we use to use them for rallying around locations.  You had to know the names of the markers to know where to go.

They were put there when they planted the trees.  Each marker represented a soldier that had been from the area that had been killed during the civil war.  I don't know the year in which they where put there.

Most of the markers were unreadable due to weathering. Like this one.

Or for most of them they were dislodged from the ground as the tree it was represented grew.  In the end it led to a very pretty tree line avenue.

Here's some other things that were added through the years to the park that I enjoyed looking at.
I used to love these cherry trees.  In the summer time when we were too busy to go home we used to make a snack of the cherries.  I know they were for the animals but we were growing kids and felt they wouldn't be missed anyway.  

 But enough of all this other stuff - Here's the images that stay with me.
We would walk to Doan Brook which cut across our street.
Then we would follow the Brook till it got to the lake.  I always thought it was Dunn and was surprised to see this sign for it.

 It wasn't very big and it was usually pretty clear and shallow so it was easy to walk along or walk in if the weather was really hot.

Doan Brook, Horseshoe Lake, Shaker Ohio

Then we would walk along the lake.  As you can imagine the lake was horseshoe in shape.  That was because there were two brooks that joined together.  The shakers had built a dam where they came together and that was what made up the lake.  The other brook ended up being closed over and was made into the street water drainage system. So Doan Brook was kept as a brook or creek.  (here's what wikipedia has to say about brooks and streams - a brook is a small stream.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream   )
   This is the  part where the lake waters and the brook water merge.  One of the things that had fascinated me as a child was usually the waters were flowing north but there was one time when the waters were flowing in the opposite direction and  I wonder what would cause something like that to happen.  As it happened the water drainage was coming into the lake faster than it could flow off over the dam area and that was causing the waters to back up into the brook area. It was seeing things like that, that made me want to study geology. 

 This area is actually on the lake.  As a child I used to climb down the hill and sit on the log to look at the lake.  I always felt so close to God when I would go there to contemplate nature.  It is one of the serene places on earth and it was my private get away place when things were really getting to me.

 There was one section that had a lot of cat tails that I used to love to walk through.  They were as tall as I was.

 This is up on the path area going to the dam drainage area.

 This is the dam drainage area, and where the mill was probably located.

 This used to be where everyone would sit and gather together.  We had many a picnic in this spot because it was so nice.  When I was a kid there used to be cherry trees by it too, and so it was better shaded then.  They had to rebuild parts of it and when it was done the trees didn't survive.

 The dam area from the other side.

This is the field near the dam area where we would play most of our games. 

This is looking south at the lake

 The next couple of images are along the western side of the lake.

 I used to love seeing the wildlife and was pleased to see that there still was some around.

 When I was growing up I don't recall the algae like this but it was probably just that time of year.

 I used to love the wildflowers and still do.  I just wished I knew what they were.

 This is near the area where the other brook used to come in.  This big boulder was a secret meeting place for some of my friends.  I used to like to climb on top of it and was pleased to see it was still basically where I had remembered it being. 

We would always end up in the park area mainly because that was were the restrooms were and we couldn't stay there all day without sooner or later needing them.    I was please to see that they had recently renovated it.

 It was also nice to see that they had left the glacial erratics that we used to always love to play on.









 This was new and I liked it.

 This also was different

 The shelter was taken down but they left the fireplace. 

 When I was a child this was a wading pool and we had more fun cooling off in it.  I'm pleased they still left it even if it doesn't have any water in it.  One of the things about this pool was it was in the round end of the horseshoe and you used to be able to see the lake on either side of it.

 This was an area that used to remind me of an English garden with all of its culturally grown plants.  Its nice to see some things still the same even though they updated some of the paths with the fences and such.

 I loved going to this lake and I still do.  I'm so glad it wasn't plowed over to make a highway. - for awhile they were talking about putting 480 through the area and doing away with it.  People voted to keep it and 480 went to a different part of the city.  That was the first time I ever realized how important it is to vote.  So we can keep these natural places for all to enjoy. 



 - If this post  appears wacky to you please let me know because it started out wacky and I gave up on them and have only come back and tried it again.