Off the Leash at Mingo Park

Mingo Park located in the tiny town of New Eagle, just around the corner from the town (and river) of Monagahela, is a favorite with our kids and dogs. They have a huge open no-leash where we take our three dogs every weekend.

Sunday usually starts with the pups helping to wake up everyone who is participating in Park Day. Half the fun is anticipation, as pups are terrible at hiding their happiness and eager willingness to get going!

Lucifur and Rogue load up and sit politely in the backseat, ready to go. Mortisha on the other hand is so eager, she's decided she needs to help drive!

This huge old maple is one of the trees that guards the trail leading to the no-leash area. This huge knot always makes me think of a watchful eye.

 Rogue knows the trail up to the dog park well, but she is kind enough to wait for me as she also knows I just can't move as fast as her and her four-legged children.

The first or lower hill is still lush and recently clipped. Usually we play hide and seek when we first get to this area. Rogue has found me, but she's waiting for the pups to catch up.

This gap is what we call the Gate. It leads to the larger and even more open "Upper Hill" of the dog park.

The view from up here is amazing in every season.

I can usually hide from the pups pretty well. They pass me up a few times trying to track my scent, but always find me in the end!

This is the view of the Lower Hill as seen from the Gate.

Running up and down these hills makes for great exercise, and I even get time to sit and listen to many of my tree friends who live at the park. The late summer afternoon light is a brilliant gold cloak that lays gently over everything in sight...

It was a busy day at the park, and we made lots of doggy friends who enjoyed running with us too.

The Sky is that perfect shade of blue that you only see during Autumn. This Black Walnut tree has given most of it's leaves to the Winds that whip through here...

Black Walnuts still in their casings and the last of the Summer Violets gather together to whisper secrets to those who stop to listen...

After our extended hide and seek session, we usually return to the foot of the lower hill. The field there has a half-circle track mown into it which makes it perfect for doggy laps. This is actually the field which inspired my poem, Who Sings Now? Xxii "The Field" http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977077536

I find a lot of inspiration at Mingo Park, and that particular day I sat hidden in the tall grasses of the field waiting for the dogs to find me. I looked around and saw all these useful plants growing around me... wild roses, milkweed, plantain, dandelions, etc and thought, "How many people would walk by and think 'Look at all those weeds!'"?

 After all that running, we walk down to Mingo Creek and let the pups get a long splashy drink of cold water before heading for the car.

 I sit in the sun while they drink and wonder which of the many inspirations I've carried home from the day will become words to inspire someone else who may never see Mingo...

I never know what I will see or hear that will inspire me. The way the light falls across the hills, a single leaf tucked into a stray corner, the song of the trees or the shadow of a bird as it flies over us. I only know that I Will be inspired. 

I hope the walk through this beautiful and inspiring place sparks your imagination as it always does mine!

Wishing you laughter...