Hey, look! I’m back. Soon, I’ll post about what has consumed my time the past several months, but today I want to show everyone some more little art around my neighborhood. I live in such a creative community, I find new pieces around the area all the time in my perambulations.
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Get outside for a while if you can. It’s a good place to be.
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I was walking home from work this evening when I heard a cacophony, a racket, an avian hullabaloo. I tried not to think Hitchockian thoughts as I wondered what was up with those birds. So what is up with those birds?
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Despite the amount of time since I’ve posted about it, I do still walk regularly. This evening’s walk was especially enjoyable because WE HAVE RAIN! Excuse my excitement. We’re several inches behind where we should be this time of year. Even if I hadn’t been able to find my umbrella, I probably would have gone out anyway.
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I don’t have a photo of my own from today’s walk, only a tale of shame. I live in a fairly tidy neighborhood, but I do sometimes see a little trash here and there in my pedestrian travels, especially in the park and around bus stops. Today, I decided to be a good citizen and clean up as I went along. I packed a small trash bag in one jacket pocket and a disposable glove in the other so I could gather up litter in addition to getting exercise.
The problem is that I forgot my self-assigned good deed almost immediately. I simply made my merry way up and down the familiar streets of my community, enjoying the fresh air. Right up until I arrived home and put my hand in my pocket to retrieve my door key. There was the trash bag, unused. Even worse, I no longer had the disposable glove. It must have fallen out onto the ground somewhere along my two-mile route.
Instead of reducing the litter along our sidewalks, I actually added to it. So that was a big fail. Maybe I can go back out tomorrow and redeem myself.
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An amble about the neighborhood today informed me that my neighbors are ready for the Superb Owl tomorrow.
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Oh, you thought I meant the Chinese spy balloon? Well, that went over my neighborhood yesterday, too. It was visible up high as I entered the grocery store. So now they know where I shop.
On the radio, I heard someone from the Pentagon saying they wouldn’t reveal the exact location of the balloon, only that it was somewhere near the center of the country. Meanwhile, everyone in my county spent the day announcing the specific addresses where it could be viewed at any given moment. It’s hard to keep a secret of any kind these days.
When I bundled up later and took a walk in the cold, clear afternoon, a different white orb was visible in the sky, this one worthy of just as much attention, even if we are more used to it. What is the moon learning about us, looking down, watching us scurry about our lives? Or is it even interested in human activity? Maybe it’s just monitoring the seas and trees? Who knows?
I spent a good deal of yesterday cooking, enough to carry my household through two days in fact. We opened gifts yesterday evening. That means I was free to take a nice long walk today.
For some reason
I had the park to myself today.
I discovered a portal to another world, but it looked equally cold there, so I stuck with this one.
It was a peaceful neighborhood stroll. But I did find the superhighway to Rabbiton:
Merry happy to everyone!
After a morning of cooking followed by an hour of eating, my spouse, my son, and I faced a choice between lapsing into food comas or getting out and moving. Though the hubs much prefers bicycling, he allowed me to cajole him into a walk and even suggested a trail to me. Since it rained most of the morning, we decided to go for a paved option.
I tried to stay in the spirit of the day and exercise gratitude along the way, which was easy enough. The afternoon provided what is for me optimal walking weather — 54 degrees and overcast. I was with two people I love. We had the luxury of being stuffed with a full meal of good food, and we all enjoy the health to be able to stroll away those calories on a beautiful walking path in a community that builds and values such things.
Sights we saw along the way:
A couple of curiosities:
After this hearty three-mile trek and a piece of pumpkin pie, the food coma finally caught me. I’m also grateful to own a comfortable napping couch.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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At the start of the year, I stated my ambition to explore as many local walking paths and trails as possible. That has…not happened much. But I had the day off work today, the temperature was perfect, my to-do list had several things crossed off, and my son-in-residence was willing to join me. No excuses not to go exploring.
These photos are from the Bear Creek Trail in Columbia, MO. We found the creek, but no bears (because there aren’t any in this part of the state so far as I know.) Not pictured are the spots where we discovered an unofficial connector between two trails by navigating rock-to-rock across a narrow part of the creek, in the process startling dozens of tiny toads on the opposite bank. It was a good old-fashioned nature walk after all.
Be still my heart — not just one, but two wooden footbridges! I have an unreasonable attraction to wooden bridges. I must have been a troll in a previous life.
All in all, a very satisfying 2.3 mile micro adventure. The jaunt wasn’t too short or too long, not too hot or too cold, not too scary or too boring, but in every aspect just right.
Here be hornets!
I often take this little path through the woods, but not today!
I hope whoever made the discovery is okay. I certainly appreciate them putting in the time and effort to warn others. I did check, and there’s a sign at the other end of the path, too. I especially like the added touches — the drawing of a hornet and the suggestions for alternate routes.
The person or people could have warned only their friends, or sat at home nursing their stings. The extra effort to make sure strangers are safe, it’s one of the building blocks of a functional, caring civilization. I’m inspired to be extra mindful these next few days to make sure I’m watching out for others and not just myself. Thank you, kind sign maker(s)!
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Nomadic Noesis 