Bones & Ashes

Death Squared

They're Back!

Dam Those Beavers!

Home Again

Thanksgiving with the Ps

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Twisted ticket

My first day home in five days proved to be unexpectedly hectic. My first line of business was to make process in my book editing project that's due shortly. I was hoping to spend most of the day on that duty, but I was informed (late last night, of course) of a two-hour meeting this afternoon that I was required to attend. So much for planning ahead.

I woke up bright and early, just as the sun was making its way above the horizon. From that point on, even before most of the people in the neighborhood had stirred from their cozy nest-like beds, the day just evaporated. The result: I now feel much like these plants, all twisted and wilted.

Mother deer

As we made our way through the prairie, we stumbled upon this deer. At first we startled her, but then it was if she was posing for the camera. Periodically, she would look to the North as if trying to watch to see if we were going to bother her fawns. Never saw any other members of this family, but she certainly acted as if she was trying to protect the whereabouts of loved ones.



But occasionally, eating was the priority.

Here comes the sun...

After battling the rains and flood waters fore several days, we were finally able to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Looks like the flowers at Meadowbrook were liking the blue sky too...

This is the end...

And to think, the Trillium looked so vibrant just a few weeks ago. Even in their declining stages, I still find myself attracted to them.

Tulip poplar blossoms tend to catch my eye as well...

Survin' the storm

It wasn't just the geese that survived Wednesday's storm. Here's a sample of some other elements of nature that were still around today.

I think the snake was taking a nap while the warm, tropical breezes wafted over his scaly exterior.

Even when I tried to get a close shot, this critter didn't stir.


New flowers near the parking lot area.

If a tree falls in the forest...

A tree did actually fall while we were walking the trails today at Griffy, and we were able to see/hear it.

Our purpose for being there was to assess the damage that occurred as a result of Wednesday's flash floods. The rains tore off some of the bark from this tree.


And one path was completely blocked by the trees that fell down in this area. We tried to count how many were down, and it appeared to be maybe four or five???


This was an odd sight. The only thing remaining of this bridge was the planks that had once stabilized it. Several feet away, we found the portion of the bridge that enables you to walk across the water-filled area.


It was still extremely soggy along the trails, but we were able to get back far enough to confirm that the geese families were still alive and kickin'. There had been reports that something might have happened to them, but thankfully, the geese were able to survive the storm.

A fungus among us!

The rains came, and this is a sample of what they left behind...

A deer in the morning

TB came back from his a.m. walk in the "tropics" and announced that a deer had just been born on the Cross Country Course. He always sees the cool stuff when he's out and about. So, I grabbed the camera, and we headed out the course for the second time today.

Here's what we found...

Muddy waters and dead batteries

The weather has just not cooperated this week. Yesterday I was able to take a quick wog - one that was more walk than jog - that is until the black storm clouds rolled in. That was then it became a full "get out of the way I'm headed for the door" run.

Today, TB and I attempted to thwart the storms and head out of state for the day. Okay, we really had to spend a chunk of the day doing what the Ps do - hang out in the doctor's office - but that didn't last long. Stay the course seems to be the favorite sentiment of the doctors, which doesn't take long to say.

To "recover" from the appointments, we took a stroll through Meadowbrook Park. They too have had so much rain that even parts of the sidewalks were battling the overflow from what used to be little creeks. Here are a few shots from the day. The first set are in the muddy waters before my first set of batteries gave out. The second set are ones that I was able to snap just before my back-up set decided they were not fully/properly (probably due to human error).

Chicks and ducks and geese...

Okay, well maybe just ducks and a family of geese this a.m. As the sun was trying to poke its head above the horizon and stream its rays through a cluster of trees by the Bell Trace pond, a lone duck (mallard?) came into view. But, that wasn't the most interesting thing I encountered during my wog. Sitting nearby was a Great Blue Heron that I inadvertently spooked. Luckily, it didn't leave the area completely...just moved down the pond a bit. So, that takes care of the ducks, but what about the chicks and the geese.

A family of geese have decided to move from the Bell Trace pond to the Fountain Park pond. To me, the Bell Trace area is more pleasant - the banks of the pond buffer the menacing traffic that races down 10th Street. In the Fountain Park area, there is nothing between you and the traffic, except the sidewalk. This a.m., the geese family were on the side by the post office munching on some of the grass that litters the area. Out of the blue, one of the parents decides it's time to cross the street. They don't wait for a gap in the traffic, the parents simply point their head forward, stretch out their neck, and proceed. Good thing for them that the only thing getting in their way to the pond was me - and I let them go first.

No deer on the cross country course this a.m. - just a Toyota Camery along side the gravel trail. The other day, when storms were peppering the weather forecasts and the sky was a hazy shade of gray, what appeared to be two parents and three children stood in the center of the open field near the grove of trees. That day, the deer did not enjoy sharing their space with me (even though we were quite a distance apart) so the kids went off toward the fence and the parents headed in the opposite direction toward the thicket of trees.

No pictures on this adventure. Maybe later today...if the heat, humidity, and the latest batch of storms that are skirting the area don't thwart the day's plans.

A tree grows in Brooklyn?

These are some of the tree shots I took while hiking the trails at the lake...


I love how the third picture looks like the tree is trying to cross its legs.

A Walk in the Shade

For the first time in months, the weather was warm and humid - finally. Because it was rather tropical outside, we strategically decided to walk one of the more shady areas around town.

This was one of my favorite pictures from the outing...