Summer Walk
Back in January, I took a winter walk and promised another when things had greened up.
Getting ready to go out still takes about 15 minutes, but instead of bundling up, I apply sunblock and wait (and wait and wait) for it soak in. My hat helps protect my face and keeps me cool. I pair it with sunglasses because my eyes not do appreciate bright light.
This is one of the trails I frequent (mostly because it's about 2 minutes from my front door):
I'm grateful for the shade and the cooler air that comes with it.
The stream looks different these days . . no ice!
It's pretty wet everywhere in fact. Lots of rain this past week!
I noticed a good bit of wildlife, but everything was much too fast for a photo - a butterfly, tons of bugs and birds, a frog, and a rabbit. And plants! Take a look at this leaf:
I was following a butterfly (should've learned my lesson from Alice in Wonderland, right?) down a gully that I usually just walk by and came across that tree. The leaves are massive! Google tells me it's a yellow poplar and the leaves grow to be 8 inches long.
What are you seeing on your walks these days?
Getting ready to go out still takes about 15 minutes, but instead of bundling up, I apply sunblock and wait (and wait and wait) for it soak in. My hat helps protect my face and keeps me cool. I pair it with sunglasses because my eyes not do appreciate bright light.
This is one of the trails I frequent (mostly because it's about 2 minutes from my front door):
The stream looks different these days . . no ice!
It's pretty wet everywhere in fact. Lots of rain this past week!
I noticed a good bit of wildlife, but everything was much too fast for a photo - a butterfly, tons of bugs and birds, a frog, and a rabbit. And plants! Take a look at this leaf:
I was following a butterfly (should've learned my lesson from Alice in Wonderland, right?) down a gully that I usually just walk by and came across that tree. The leaves are massive! Google tells me it's a yellow poplar and the leaves grow to be 8 inches long.
What are you seeing on your walks these days?
I went back and visited the winter pictures - such a contrast! We don't live in a land of such differences. I could take a winter vrs summer picture with very few differences. It must be beautiful to have such different seasons. Sadly, I have walked so little lately I can't comment on my walks :-(
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that only 6 months have passed between those pictures - plants grow remarkably fast!
DeleteI'm sure you'll see lots of interesting things when you're walking around during your overseas trip :)
I like the contrast, too! Must say you are brave to walk through the woods in sandals. No mosquitoes or black flies? Sadly, I am seeing litter everywhere. At first I wanted to blame the local high school students and all their snack and fast food wrappers, but it's also from garbage and recycling days when gulls and crows tear the bags apart.
ReplyDeleteThis was early in the morning and thankfully the annoying bugs weren't out yet. :) I haven't noticed much trash on the trail (though I did find 2 golf balls). But after trash pickup we have some trash in our yard too. I'm glad it's usually just 1-2 things.
DeleteAren't plants amazing? That they can recover from being coated in snow, wake up and then grow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful leaf! (And cute polish on the toes peeking in the bottom of one shot.)
Yep, plants are so impressive!
DeleteThank you - I love that pink polish :)
oh, it looks so fresh and cool. my walks are hot and dry, but beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI bet the landscape is very different on your walks! I'm looking forward to traveling out west for the first time later this week :)
DeleteThat looks lovely! I haven't been on too many walks lately, mostly bike rides. But the wildlife has been out in force. There are the usual squirrels, bunnies and groundhogs - or the "squirrely squirrels," "foofers" and "meepers" as I call them. The baby "goose-lings" are growing sooo fast you can hardly tell them from the adults, and we've seen lots of foxes out and about. We even saw a few young deer munching on bushes right up next to the trail. They must have been "citified" deer because they were fearless!
ReplyDeleteAnd I am SOOO with you on the sunscreen. I've been using a zinc based sunscreen lately which works wonderfully, but I seriously look like an escapee from the Kabuki Theater when I first put it on!
OK... I just got home from a long bike ride and had to add to my comment. So we were on a section of trail that goes right through the meeper colony - and they're not groundhogs, they're prairie dogs. Not sure why, but I always get those names mixed up. Anyhow, they were meeping up a storm... WAY more than usual. The "meeping" is their warning call that they send up when they sense danger. So I looked up and saw what I thought were three big gray dogs running through the field - then I realized they weren't dogs but coyotes who were out hunting the prairie dogs! I whipped out my camera and tried to get a photo, but they moved pretty fast so I don't know if it turned out or not. Anyhow, that was one of our more exciting wildlife encounters so far! :-)
DeleteWe had deer in the backyard not too long ago, and saw one eating next to the highway when we were driving home from the beach. No fear I guess!
DeleteI had to google Kabuki Theater, and wow - I can see what you mean!
What a cool story! I like it much better in story form than I would in real life . . I'm afraid of dogs, so I can't even imagine what I'd do if I saw a coyote running around. Eek!
Coyotes are pretty common around here. We had one camped out on our block a few years ago. My next door neighbor was freaking out because she was afraid it would get one of her small dogs. While that's possible, they generally eat smaller game like squirrels, mice, and (of course) prairie dogs! But they usually leave people alone.
DeleteWell that's a relief. That and I doubt I'll run into any coyotes in my near future :)
DeleteOh I never let the sunscreen sink in - naughty me!
ReplyDeleteI ran 12.5 km today - longest yet I think! I even ran over the Sydney Harbour Bridge!! It's quite cool here, but I managed to get away with just a t shirt :)
12.5 km, wow! That's awesome! I could walk 12.5 km, but definitely not run that far. I hope the views on the bridge were lovely. And I checked Sydney's temperatures, it's showing a high of 19° - very comfortable :) Meanwhile it's a high of 33° here!
DeleteI should go for a walk. mostly its along hot sidewalks or in the yard. swelter to sit in the shade days are upon us.
ReplyDeleteIt's starting to be hot most days around here too. The forecasted high for the next few days is around 93° F (33° C) so I'll either have to walk early or not at all!
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