Just a Stone's Throw Away

Welcome to Maidstone: Just a Stone’s Throw Away from the Middle of Nowhere.  

By, Eric Bouchard, Assistant Ranger, Maidstone State Park

With the conclusion of the season quickly approaching, parks may be noticing that their flowers aren’t as green and vibrantly colored as they once were. It is coming to that time of the year when the nights are getting colder and the spring and summer’s flora and fauna are beginning to brown, indicating autumn’s ultimate arrival. Those flowers that once speckled the entrance to your park, conveying that warm and inviting feeling, will now need to be pulled, and that feeling will now be gone. Or will it?

Here at Maidstone State Park, our park host came up with a great way of revitalizing the entrance, spending absolutely no money and using only naturally collected materials. After plucking dying plants from flower beds, rocks and sticks were collected, of various sizes and shapes, and placed in a way that is pleasing geometrically, artistically and aesthetically.  The pictures that supplement this article show, just a few examples of what can be done to revitalize your park. Although there are only 2 weekends left, we still aim to ensure our park’s entrance conveys a welcoming feeling.

With all of that said, we additionally hosted a nature art program, on Sunday afternoon, portraying what else can be created using only naturally collected materials. The possibilities truly are endless and your imagination is the key and that is exactly what the program’s participants came to realize. Nature is its own artistic piece as are all of the elements within it.