the giraffe life

We've returned from our trip to St. Michaels!  The weather was a warm, comfortable temperature for the whole visit, but there were some wild thunderstorms and a little flooding. To be expected this close to the water, I suppose? Many of the roads had ditches cut beside them to hold excess water and runoff so the sidewalks and roads were in good shape again pretty quick.  Most of our time in St. Michaels was spent walking around town. There are a ton of cute shops (we saw one with handmade three-dimensional wooden maps of various coastlines around the world) and lots of places to eat. I was impressed that one of the restaurants, Ava's Pizzeria , even offered a vegan cheese and veggie pizza! We spent a lot of time in the water too, since our B & B had a great pool. They also upgraded our room to a suite with a soaker tub next to the bed. It was awesome! I've never used one, but my pregnant self loved all the space and how light I felt. Super relaxing! ...

I've been making an effort to take more walks (regardless of weather!) since Sarah's Walking Challenge last December. In January, I shared photos from a winter walk  and I continued with a summer version in June . Here's the autumn set to round out the year. Fall is a great time for walking because the temperatures are usually comfortable and there's no snow or ice (well - til December, but I consider that winter). Despite being mid-afternoon, everything was still damp from a rain shower earlier in the day because the sun never really came out.  Leaves have been changing colors and falling for a few weeks now, making pretty scenery on the trees and the ground.  But there's still a good amount of green left to go. I love these purple-pink leaves. Beautiful!  I have a soft spot for the yellow ones  too. This is also the time of year when we watch lots of birds migrate to warmer locales. Goodbye orioles, robins, hummingbirds! I espe...