HERSHEY

 How I wish I lived in Pennsylvania! Recently, there was a casting call (of all ages) for extras for the filming of the movie "Hershey" about Milton S. Hershey.  If you are reading this from a country other than the USA, you might know about Hershey chocolate, but do you know the story behind The Hershey Company?  It is fascinating and inspiring...

Milton Snavely Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, in Derry Township, Pennsylvania. His education only extended to 4th grade. Apprenticed to a confectioner at the age of 14, he spent four years learning the trade. He started several businesses that were not successful. Did that stop him? No! He kept at it, and he developed caramels using fresh milk.  This company, The Lancaster Caramel Company was a success! In 1900, he sold this company to found The Hershey Company and went about making chocolate. He purchased land near the place of his birth in Pennsylvania and developed the company town of Hershey.  (A side note here, when I was a little girl, my Daddy loved telling me that when he drove through the town of Hershey, he was thrilled to smell the chocolate. I have had others tell me that this is true and it is still true today!) 

Milton Hershey developed milk chocolate that Americans could afford.  He created the Hershey Kiss in 1907.  (And I have read that he named it himself.  Is that not just the sweetest thing to learn?) He was very happily married to Catherine (Kitty) and what a wonderful love story they have for us to know! You may read more just here.

Sadly, the couple were unable to have children. Since they both had a great love for children, they founded a school in 1909, The Hershey Industrial School.  In 1915, his beloved Kitty died. (I have read that he kept a photo of her in his wallet for his entire life.) In 1918, Milton Hershey transferred the majority of his assets to The Milton Hershey School Trust.  

"One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy and only useful as he contributes his influences for the finer callings in life".  

 Milton Hershey

The film about Milton Hershey and his wife, Kitty should be released in 2026.  You know I am looking forward to it! A movie about an inspiring couple! Of course, we will all learn much more about all that Milton Hershey did from the film. I think the whole world could use that.

And I think I will have some chocolate!  Thank you, Milton Hershey!

"His deeds are his monument. His life is our inspiration".  (On plaque beside his monument at The Hershey School.)

AND he opened the Hershey Gardens in 1937, so I think some nice views of gardens and flowers will be my way to honor him. 

 Home - Hershey Gardens

 

Panola Mountain (With A French Accent)

 

Panola Mountain photos for you, as promised!  Panola Mountain State Park has several trails. The Outcrop Trail is one that obviously goes beside the rock outcrop, but it also goes through a forested area and beside the trail one can enjoy blooming trees and wildflowers.

At one part of it, you can see Stone Mountain! (That is the photo above.). Now, Stone Mountain is close to 15 miles away, so it was a clear day that we were there! 

  There is the rock outcrop with some of the bright red diamorpha!

Can you see the fringe tree with the pretty white blooms? It was very shady under these trees but there were quite a few of them.  This tree is Chionanthus virginicus. It is a native tree.

Now, can you see someone trying to camouflage behind this rock?

Ha ha, I am ONE with nature! There are massive boulders like this scattered all through this park.  Most of them don't have people posing with them, LOL!

 

Years ago, I told you in a post that they built a boardwalk where you can see Panola Mountain...

You can't really see it very well in a photo, but right there in the middle, where the trees are slightly higher, that is Panola Mountain! If there is a group on top of the mountain at the same time you are on this boardwalk, you can actually wave to the folks on top! Okay, I really wanted to see some lilies that bloom in this area in April...

Found them! This made me so happy! It is the atamasco lily, zephyranthes atamasco.  It is also a native.

This resurrection fern is on top of a rock boulder here and it also grows on trees or tree stumps.  It is a most amazing plant, the Pleopeltis polypodioides.

 This remarkable plant can lose about 75 percent of its water content during a typical dry period and possibly up to 97 percent in an extreme drought. During this time, it shrivels up to a grayish brown clump of leaves. When it is exposed to water again, it will “come back to life” and look green and healthy. The plant gets its name from this supposed “resurrection,” but it never actually dies during the process. By contrast, most other plants can lose only 10 percent of their water content before they die. Fronds are typically 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 centimeters) in length.

Saying "goodbye" to our Panola Mountain State Park until next time. 

    Happy Trails!

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Hope you are all doing well, my friends!  When I wrote my last post, there was still light green leaves on all the trees. Now, our trees are fully leafed out and it looks like summer! (On some days, it has felt like it!)  

When I watch TV shows or sporting events, I spend a lot of time pausing and researching the background of the cities that I see on the screen. Bozouls is in the South of France. Have you ever been there? I have, IN MY MIND! I love beauty and beautiful places. 

Hey! We just had a thunderstorm. Might as well give you some "Summer Lightning"!  Richard plays this all the time!

Arabia Mountain- Bright and Beautiful

 

Our local wildflowers in this area have been beautifully blooming during this month of April.  We like to go on hikes at Panola Mountain State Park and also, Arabia Mountain.  And when I am walking, I am constantly on the lookout for blooms!

Look at the photo below, can you see my outline in the pond of water? I am taking a photo on my phone. Clever Richard! (He said he had me clearer than this, but I MOVED! Guess I was ready to go up Arabia Mountain!)

Here I am, marching up the 

mountain!

Hooray! I made it!  It was wonderfully windy and cool and from this point, you can see for miles.  (See the bright red diamorpha? Some have started blooming with the pretty white flowers on top, you will see.)

Arabia Mountain was quarried heavily at one time. How amazing it is to see nature making a comeback! And after the quarry was shut down, this area was used as dumping ground! Thankful for those who were behind this area becoming a park.

After a good rain, there will always be the vernal pools on top of Arabia. How lovely it is to see this water at the very top!

                                 Spiderwort (Tradescantia). 

             The tiny white flowers are called "sandwort". I called them "joyflowers" before I knew what they were called. JOY, it is to see them blooming.

Can you see the tiny fringe tree above? (It has the frilly white blooms.)  This was on top of Arabia Mountain and it was very windy! Richard did very well to get this shot! (I will show you more photos of this tree from Panola Mountain in my next post.)

I love the lichens and mosses too!

We are coming back down the mountain now and just at the base of the mountain, we smelled them before we saw them....

Campsis radicans, the Trumpet vine!  I wish you could smell this flower. Some say it smells like cinnamon, some say it is like coffee. It is SUCH a beautiful fragrance!  (I sent a text to a friend and told them I saw this, Campsis radicans and the phone changed it to "Campsite radical". Tee hee. I am glad I noticed!)

Just had to show you a photo of our columbine! We had some in a pot and it dropped seeds and we were rewarded with these lovely blooms.  Aren't they gorgeous! 

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Today is April 14th and yesterday was the Final in a little golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, you may have heard about.  Rory McElroy won the Masters! (I'm not crying, you're crying!) 

Hope you are all well and enjoying April wherever you are! April is my birthday MONTH, so I celebrate it for weeks! Maybe I am biased because it is the month where I came into the world, but I think it is such a beautiful time of year.   

Wish you all could smell the blossoms on our lemon tree too! We have had some very cool nights, so Richard lugs this in and out of the garage almost every night!  Hope it will reward us with lemons!

Next post: Panola Mountain!