“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch.  Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

e.e. cummings

Once in the life of the Tin Man there entered such a person, who brought such insight and confidence in exposing one’s vulnerability and inner light. 

This Most Magical Mary was the Undergraduate English Professor of the Tin Man, many decades ago.  Their lives have remained intertwined by the vines of love, respect and joy.  The vines continue to bear such beautiful fruit, even the Fall of their lives.  Once the roots of self  plunged into the sacred earth of conviction there sprouted buds to flourish a lifetime.

Marvelous, Magical Mary

Want to read more about Mary, click on this link:   https://the-tin-man.com/2012/04/08/reflections-a-visit-to-pennsylvania/  This was the Tin Man’s last visit to the Emerald City of the East and little did he know that his life would almost end upon his return home. 

It was time, to once again, pay a visit to Marvelous Mary in Media, Pennsylvania.  During this visit we wandered the paths of Ridley Creek State Park (just outside her front door – yeah, I am just a bit green with envy!) 

Ridley Creek State Park’ is a 2,606 acre Pennsylvania state park in Edgmont Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Upper Providence Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The park, about 5 miles north of the county seat of Media, Pennsylvania, offers many recreational activities, such as hiking, biking, fishing, and picnicking.

Ridley Creek passes through the park. Highlights include a 5 mile paved multi-use trail, a formal garden designed by the Olmsted Brothers, and Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation, which recreates daily life on a pre-Revolutionary farm.

The park is adjacent to the John J. Tyler Arboretum.   Ridley Creek State Park is just over 16 miles from downtown Philadelphia, between Pennsylvania Route 352 and Pennsylvania Route 252 on Gradyville Road.

The bulk of the property was acquired in the late 1960s from the estate of well-known horse breeder Walter M. Jeffords, Sr. and his wife Sarah, a niece of Samuel D. Riddle.   The Jeffords had acquired the land starting about 1912 in small parcels, until they had over 2,000 acres, which was the largest private undeveloped property in the Philadelphia area by the 1960s.    By 1918 they had built a large mansion, now the park office, around a stone colonial farmhouse.  

Twenty-four other historic properties were located on the grounds, many farmsteads that had retained family ownership since the seventeenth century. 

In 1976 these properties were registered on the National Register of Historic Places.

The area was originally settled by English Quakers and remained agrarian into the twentieth century.   The oldest property is the 1683 Worrel House.  In 1718 a water mill,  then known as Providence Mill,  began to grind corn. In the late 18th century a plaster mill was established next to the grist mill.   

A rolling and slitting mill replaced the plaster mill by 1812,  and became known as Bishop’s Mills.   

Workers cottages, a dam, and several outbuildings complete the mill complex, now known as Sycamore Mills.    The mills operated until 1901, when they were damaged by fire.

When one walks through the park, nature reaches out and gathers one’s soul into her embrace; thereby removing all the pins and needles of civilization…

“Trust your heart if the seas catch fire, live by love though the stars walk backward.”
e.e. cummings

…….until next time, dearest Mary: “listen: there’s a hell
of a good universe next door; let’s go”
e.e. again…….