one walk, taken with pauses

In so many ways, it was a simple day. I had thought I'd be working on my mom's papers, but it turned out I can't file anything for a week, so I (happily) put that project aside and looked at this Monday in fresh ways. What's the new plan? Well, to take a walk, but differently. Without hurry.

It was a cold night and therefore a cool morning and I found myself slinking into long pants again. For the morning walk to the barn I even reached for my fleece. All looks good out there!

Breakfast, inside, reheated croissants.

And now for the walk.

It wasn't much of anything: we went to our local county park, just a mile or two up the rural roads. The sun was out, the breeze was just exquisite -- all promising signs for a great ramble!

Ed took off his shoes. I took off mine. The grassy path was recently mowed and so you had the delight of green stuff and dried grasses under your feet. Warm, full of soft clover (no bees!).

We paused to look at the prairie: the wild indigo is peaking, the purple stem Angelica was offering its once in a lifetime bloom, the red-winged blackbird was singing. Beautiful stuff!

Further in, the Silky Dogwood was flowering -- the fragrance is reminiscent of crushed almonds. Intense!

And at the pond, we saw a heron. At least I think it's a Great Blue Heron. I know you can't see him. He's further up the pond. More on my nuttiness on the point of spotting him later.

We walked up to the bridge that crosses the waterway and looked down at Lake Waubesa. Plenty of algae, but not smelly today! And two geese families, and a couple of turtles (and swallows and other birds) seem to find great pleasure in the green bloom covering the western edge of the lake.

We stood for a while and just watched. Taking it all in.

On the walk back I got it into my head that I should plunge (barefooted!) into the prairie to get closer to the heron. This is when I stepped into a hole -- groundhog, rabbit, who can tell -- but it was big and down I went. I kept my knee (mostly) out of trouble, but getting back up among the grasses and tall plants was a challenge! Ed just shook his head as he eyed the grasses crushed by my fall. A few minutes of various maneuvers and I was up again, a little soiled in odd places, but none the worse for wear. 

(the still not so good image of the heron)

It was a totally splendid adventure.

At home, Ed set up more wiring in the back so that I could plant another row of peas for a second harvest of snap sugars. We loved the first batch and could easily double or even triple the amount for our own table. Tomorrow we may get showers again and so I planted the little kernels today. Yes, I know they're going in early. Most would say to put them in 2.5 months before the expected first frost. Okay, so maybe end of August isn't a correct date for a first frost, but we want peas! In they go!

On the walk back from the pea planting I side step toward our more established meadow in the new orchard. It's delicate and we haven't controlled the grasses too well, but still, there are lovely flowers throughout!

And there you have it! A leisurely day if I ever saw one! Oh, sure. There was the weed pulling and the spot tidying of the garden, but this is peanuts! Small change! Baby potatoes! Spring trifles!