Thursday, February 7, 2013

The bounty of nature

© 2013 Debora J. McNeer
Most of the nature my friend and I noted yesterday on our afternoon walk (which turned out to be a 10K, woo hoo for us!) was of the dearly departed kind. We saw a raccoon hand before we saw the remainder of the remains, quite a bit less of the same deer my husband and I saw a couple weeks ago and – for good measure – a dead skunk.

The rest of the walk was lovely, I promise. At one point we climbed down the riverbank to get closer to the water, and we took lots of photos along the way. My best shots ended up on Facebook via Instagram (here's one), but I saved one just for you.

I can't remember the last time I walked six miles. I don't think I went that far in a single session all last year, so it must have been the year before. I'm just happy I can still do it, although I was pretty wiped out the rest of the day. Glad I don't have an evening job.

© 2013 Debora J. McNeer
Not all the wild animals around here are dead ones. Hershey got our attention by going a little nuts at the front door recently, and we saw this this little fox ambling across the hayfield. He even hung around long enough for me to grab the DSLR and wish I had a longer lens!

My friend showed me a couple shots she took of a doe investigating the bird feeder on their patio. Not quite as up-close-and-personal as the one my husband hit recently, but close enough for a detailed shot!

I love these walks she and I take together. We talk the whole time; I think I can speak for both of us when I say the miles fly by. My husband likes that I have someone to walk with who likes to talk. He likes to think when he walks, so the time he and I spend together on our road is, um, pretty quiet. Nice, but quiet. I'd love to love walking just for the sake of walking, but honestly? Conversation helps.

I'm going to do the walk/jog thing again this morning. I have a dentist appointment in the afternoon. (I don't think I've mentioned we're starting over from scratch with the upper denture. Not. Fun.) And maybe when I get home I'll sit and knit and watch Monday's Biggest Loser. Every time I've watched it so far this season, I've been working out on the elliptical. Hoping not to feel the urge to do a last-chance workout before tomorrow morning's date with the scale.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

So neat! I wish we had a good place for a 10k around here!!

AlisonH said...

Very cool.

In my city neighborhood, someone's pet rabbit escaped, and someone else's two blocks away did too, and by the colorings later, they clearly found each other. We had almost-tame rabbits popping up all over the neighborhood, and the great part about it is that people started taking walks in hopes of seeing one. There's a spotted one on Nelson! Okay, cool, thanks, and two on Scripps! Neighbors were meeting neighbors and helping each other experience the bunnies. Cuddlier than mountain lions and a lot safer.

And then someone complained about their garden and the city trapped them, found them undernourished due to overpopulation at that point and that was pretty much the end of that.

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