Travertine Nature Center

I promised in yesterday’s blog post to give you some more haiku and photos from the Travertine Nature Center in Sulpur, Oklahoma.

We didn’t go into the Nature Center itself this trip, but visited it in the past.  It’s small, but has quite a bit of information about the natural habitat in the area and the animals, fish, etc., that reside there.  The main attraction, though, is the hiking trails and the creek itself.  In the upper end of the creek, where the two springs, Antelope Springs and Buffalo Springs, come bubbling out of the ground, there are wide open easily navigated walking paths and also several side loops that take you over more rugged ground. 

Below the Nature Center, where the creek begins to fall in several areas, creating pools, there are trails on both sides of the creek, along with parking lots and picnic area.  This area was very busy on Sunday – a nice warm sunny day – with families and couples picnicking and frolicking in the water.  I’m sure the water was extremely cold, though – I certainly didn’t test it!

Our previous visit was in November 2015, so it was a nice treat to visit in the spring when everything was newly green.

Travertine Nature Trail

winds blow

trees creak

leaves rustle.

birds trill

wildflowers sway

Travertine Creek flows.

Antelope Springs

sparkling springwater gushes

green rushes flow

blue dragonflies dance

If you are curious about writing haiku, I suggest reading Becoming a Haiku Poet.  As you can see by my above attempts, I’m fairly decent with the “moment of keen perception and perhaps insight into nature or human nature” but have a long ways to go with in creating “a spark of energy” with juxtaposition.  There’s no juxtaposition in my above efforts.   I was too overwhelmed with intense joy in communing with nature at a glorious place and season to contemplate juxtapositions.