HILLSPEAKING
from The Anglican Digest 

MICHAELMAS A.D. 2003

THREE magnificent wild roses dominate the eastern half of Trinity Park here at Hillspeak.  The largest measures fourteen feet across and is eight feet high.  The other two, although not quite matching the size of the largest, are equally beautiful when in full bloom as they were earlier this year.

Unlike many of our neighbors, we do not follow the rural Ozarks’ practice of burning off our grasslands each spring.  As a result, shrubs, trees, and flowers have a chance to come to full maturity and reward us with their beauty.  A neighbor's fire got away from him early in the spring and we did lose a pine seedling or two, but thanks to the paths that crisscross Grindstone Mountain, we had no other damage.

The crisscrossing paths that make up the Silver Cloud Trail serve two purposes: (1) they provide a choice for walkers who may, or may not, want to walk the full three and a half miles; and (2) they cut the grassland up into segments that allow us to hold the line in case of encroaching wildfire.

Both Trinity and Halloween Parks and the Lower Meadow are cut up in triangles, rectangles, and squares that are pleasing to the eye, to the feet, and to our sense of well-being.

No path is more than a quarter-mile from the Twin Barns and no path is out of sight of them except for a few dips and an occasional tree or two.  Except for those through the Lower Meadow, which is on the downhill side of the Twin Barns, almost all of the paths provide a view from one angle or another of the replica Hillspeak Crosses, the area where the Hillspeak Memorial bricks are being placed.

If your mind's eye cannot quite fathom an eight-by-fourteen rosebush or crisscrossing paths that go nowhere and everywhere, come see for yourself.  You are always welcome.