May 29, 2009

Meeting the challenge of restoration



Nature refreshes my soul.

The 23rd Psalm says as much:

“You make me lie down in lush meadows near quiet pools… You let me catch my breath and then send me in the right direction.”

A heron fishes in a success story

The photo above tells a thousand words of water restored. The heron is finding dinner at the edge of what used to be a dirty barge canal.

Nearly two decades of focused aeration projects along the 16-mile waterway now attract herons, kingfishers, and ducks, as well as pleasure boaters.

People come from miles around to Palos Heights’ Lake Katherine. Recycled from an old gun club situated among rock piles left by the canal builders, Lake Katherine is a tiny jewel. The uninformed would never guess how effectively the waterfalls and lake pump healthy water back into the canal.

A green heron about to stab a tiny fish
in Lake Katherine


It’s an environmental success story that gets little attention.

With planning, care and commitment, slushy lives also can and are being restored to beauty, usefulness, and self-worth.


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