Friday, March 27, 2009

Two Sunday walks

The past two Sundays have been nice here--clear skies, temp.s not too chilly, and schedules pretty open. :) So we decided to enjoy our local parks and take a hike!

Actually, calling what we do "hiking" is probably a bit of an overstatement. We walk, sometimes briskly but sometimes meanderingly. We look at stuff along the way, trying to notice what's around us.

Two Sundays ago, we went to a park near our town--kind of a county park. We LOVE this place because it has both a forest trail and a meadow trail, each just over a mile long. They're expanding the park into another area; it will eventually have a community garden and buildings where they'll demonstrate an endangered species: the small midwestern farm.

Dexter found a friend he tried talking to:

Can you see it? We never did get an answer about why he/she was there without the rest of the flock.

We thought these trees looked interesting--two different kinds growing together:


And here's one of Patrick's favorite trees in the park, a huge old oak (I think):


Isn't it beautiful?

Last Sunday we headed to a park toward Columbus. Instead of heading toward the platform overlooking the river, our usual destination, we went to the duck blind next to a little pond.

Here's one of the windows in the blind:


Luckily, Patrick remembered to bring the binoculars. It was GREAT to be able not only to see the ducks, but to be able to see them well enough to identify different kinds.


We saw lots of mallards, some wood ducks, and even a pair of loons (we think).

On the way back to the parking lot, we found a swing!


We also saw an orange butterfly with dark spots, but my camera just wasn't up to the task of getting a good shot of it. A butterfly!

I hope you are able to enjoy a pavement-free area where you live.

Ciao,
Karen

1 comment:

  1. Hooray for spring. So glad you and Dex could come to yoga on Tuesday. :)

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