WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY

Mid-day meandering with the munchkins.

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Linda Schaub

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I was determined to get down to Council Point Park today, so I waited until 1:00 p.m. to ensure the bulk of the icy patches on the sidewalks and streets had melted. I looked outside, just prior to suiting up, and there was still some ice, slushy snow and a whole lot of puddles. I was a wee bit nervous about that ice, so I laced up my lug-soled hiking boots …

xyz next

… and just put on my big-girl panties (photo omitted) and decided I could make it to the Park without wiping out. I opened a fresh bag of peanuts and took the entire bag with me to pacify my furry pals.

Unbelievably, the weather has really relaxed and it was a balmy 50 degrees F (10 C). I was ecstatic that the temps warmed up enough to begin our snow and ice meltdown, as it has been one long week, which began with the plumbing debacle and the snow that was falling that night, and kept escalating with the snow, ice and Polar Vortex. All week I was worrying about my furry fellows at the Park and how they would get nourishment because, between the brutal air and wind-chill temps, coupled with almost 6 inches (15 cm) of snow, then ice, it was a sure bet that they were not digging up their long-buried peanuts anytime soon. There is nothing left at this venue to forage – so what’s a squirrel to do? If I could have convinced them to come to my house ‘cuz the eatin’s good, I would have, and they could have joined Grady and his pal on the porch, (even though Grady would claim dibs on the brick ledge).

Slip-slidin’ away.

While this may be an awesome Paul Simon tune, it’s not so awesome when slick patches and big puddles hinder your steps, so I quickly switched to walking in the street, where the ice patches were few and far between, and I only had to deal with potholes and a handful of drivers.

I wasn’t even to the cross street when I realized I was overdressed, since, by force of habit, I donned the same amount of layers before heading out. First the coat zipper came down a smidge, and by the next block, I unzipped it all the way and flung my coat open, like it was Spring or something. Ah – much better. I’d have taken off the hat too, but the SW wind was kicking in at about 14 mph so it stayed put.

Water gushed and gurgled through every sewer grate I passed as the melting snow could have resembled a time-lapse photo had I stayed there long enough to capture those images. Actually, I was not in any great hurry, despite the late hour of my departure, yet I arrived at the Park in my usual twenty minutes. I gave a cursory glance around to find my pal Parker but didn’t see him. I hoped the squirrels had not already returned to their nests for the day. They are usually more active in the morning hours.

There were just a few cars in the lot and the icy patches were easy enough to navigate around. The test would come once I landed on the perimeter path, because it is never shoveled, brushed or salted – in essence, it is usually an icy/dicey mess and you’re better off walking alongside the path on the grass. I quickly saw today would be that way.

Yup, the trail was tricky.

As I eased along, the perimeter path was a conglomeration of ice, slush and huge puddles and the ground was saturated with water and mud. I wondered just how long I’d have to wait for my little buddies to emerge at ground level. Did I need to shake my bag to announce myself, or was my presence good enough?

My passel of peanut pals did not disappoint and soon I was doling out peanuts to eager and hungry takers and counting noses, including Parker’s, as they danced around my feet. They got their peanuts and began munching happily.

I gave them a lot of extra peanuts because they ate them right on the spot, though a few of them scurried up to a tree branch to munch, but quickly descended again and came back for a second helping.

As I meandered along, I noticed the Creek was still frozen over in most places.

It appears the mallards had stayed under the storm drain during the bitter cold, because there was no ice there and a few mallards paddled from underneath that half-moon drain out into the open water.

The rest walked on the icy Creek surface.

I would have walked another loop, which is one mile, but I really had to be wary of the ice, so decided to just head for home instead. I made a couple of pit stops before departing and spread out peanuts on the picnic table …

second to last one

… then dumped out the rest of my bag into the water fountain bowl.

last one

xyx next in line

It was a short walk for a weekend, but I aired my brain out and got some steps in, but, truthfully, this trek was really more about them than me.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ice, Mallards, nature, snow, Spring, Squirrels, walk, walking, Winter | 61 Comments

Fur-get about it!

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Linda Schaub

A long Winter that is.

The word is out and it’s official. This wintry season is simply not going to hang around as long this year. Whew! That sure is a relief, because Winter wore out its welcome in 2018 when the cold, snow and ice were still around in early April.

Now that the Polar Vortex is in the rear view mirror, the sun is getting up earlier and going to bed later, the temps almost feel tropical – what more could we ask for here in Southeast Michigan?

I was overjoyed to hear the world’s most-famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, proclaimed Winter would be short and sweet since he didn’t see his shadow – yay Phil!

More importantly, the ultimate weather authority, a/k/a Woody, is Michigan’s resident woodchuck weather prognosticator, and she made the same prediction this morning at the Howell Nature Center. Everyone in Michigan knows that Woody has a better track record than Phil … girls rule sometimes – sorry Phil!

It’s been a very long week of weather worries and woes and that was the best news I’ve heard in a long time! (By the way, the real meteorologists say Winter won’t linger and Spring will arrive earlier too.)

As for the here and now, well I did not make my trek to the Park this morning. While I am worried about my furry pals down there, and their inability to dig in the frozen ground to find their stash of peanuts, the streets and sidewalks were a little too slick to walk that mile each way and feel comfortable doing so, even in lug-soled hiking boots. I didn’t want to drive either, as our street was still slick from Monday’s snowstorm, then freezing rain – they couldn’t salt due to the extremely low temps. For walking and driving purposes, it really wasn’t the snow that was so bad; it was the freezing rain that put a glaze on everything after the snowfall Monday. I plan to get to the Park tomorrow – the temperature will be warmer mid-day for sure and hopefully the squirrels have not retired to their respective nests for the day.

Meanwhile, Grady is getting as spoiled as Parker. I dropped a pile of peanuts under the front porch door stoop before I went to run the car and most were split open and shells littered about once I got outside. Were there two visitors or one? I know that for the second day in a row, Grady was standing in the snow looking up at the ledge wistfully. He cannot walk across the brick ledge anymore as there are piles of snow capped with ice. I tried to brush them off with a broom, but they are frozen solid. I told my tiny pal that my arms aren’t long enough to stretch to the other side of the house when I lean out the front door to deliver peanuts, so he has to be patient until I get outside.

Thursday morning I took a cup of steaming hot water outside with me to thaw out the pile of peanuts that had frozen solid after the freezing rain glommed them onto the brick ledge. I pried them off and laid the “peanutsicle” on top of a bush. But the next morning I discovered Grady chewed them up – ice and all. I hope he didn’t break his teeth. So, I tossed that hot water into the air and watched it turn into ice crystals, just like thousands of people did at the height of the Polar Vortex, only they posted a video of them doing that to social media.

Hopefully no one is watching me chatting with Grady who is actually concealed behind the bush, and not seen from the street, as he waits patiently for me to deliver his peanuts to the ledge. Then he will scramble up the bricks to retrieve and eat them. Hmm – do the neighbors think I’m talking to myself? I do that sometimes, but then again … don’t we all? Perhaps I need to go back to tying the bandana across my mouth and I can chatter away all I want without my credibility being questioned, not that I care. Ah well … sometimes it’s nice to march to the beat of a different drum as it keeps life from being too staid and boring.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Groundhog, Groundhog Day, nature, Winter, Woodchuck | 53 Comments

We were colder than Mars today!

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Linda Schaub

doll-figures-3015495_960_720 couleur

The weather forecasters and social media have been inundating us with factoids …

dates

… and funny memes about this spate of ugly Winter weather here in the Midwest.

driving advice

Since Monday’s snowstorm is in the rear view mirror now, everyone is focused on “The Big Chill” and, of all the facts and figures I’ve heard about our weather, the biggest giggle was discovering we were colder than Mars today. Our temps have even dipped lower than the Arctic Circle. Yikes! Michigan made the national news today because Hell froze over – oh yes it did. The temps fell to -12 F (-24 C) in Hell, Michigan, which is a town about 50 miles from where I live. So, you can no longer use the expression about “when Hell freezes over” …. because it has now happened.

Many Michiganders stayed home today. No, it wasn’t the blue flu. Or the regular flu. It was because schools and organizations by the score elected to close down Monday afternoon for the snowstorm. Those closures snowballed, (if you’ll pardon the pun), into a massive shutdown due to freezing rain after the storm, black ice Tuesday and then the Polar Vortex that has swept across the U.S. bringing a brutally cold Canadian air mass. Thanks a lot Canada.

closed due to inclement weather

It’s a sure bet those folks aren’t spending their day enjoying “Pure Michigan” … most people are hunkered down inside and looking out. I for one am glad to work from home and not have to deal with the bus commute. I had way too many of those trips in and out of the City of Detroit in extreme cold or blizzard conditions. I’ve paid my dues, so I’m glad to be home working in my PJs and bunny slippers.

And just who are some of those folks sipping hot chocolate and taking naps on the couch? They include students from elementary school all the way to university level and their teachers/professors and the schools’ administrative staff members. Some of the universities were reluctant to close Monday, knowing full well this Polar Vortex coming down the pipeline might necessitate even more days off. But the students had a rebellion – no, they didn’t protest in front of Old Main on Wayne State University’s campus … they took to Twitter and other social media and shamed WSU into closing down due to the snow and the Polar Vortex, which was already on the way.

wsu

Back when your roving reporter was at Wayne State University, we closed one day for the Blizzard of ’78 … one little old day, and we waited for the school to announce it on the AM all-news radio station. It was quite the event … a university closing down for the weather. After all, we weren’t little kids – we knew how to bundle up and walk, heads bent down against the wind, as we trudged from class to class.

Fast forward 41 years.

Our new governor defined our cold spell as “generational” and called for all State agencies to be shut down during the snow storm and brutally cold weather days. All non-essential workers were sent home … you are familiar with the term “non-essential workers” of course from the recent federal government shutdown. With a snowstorm and impending “Big Chill” are you happy or sad to know your job and yourself are “non-essential” … talk about wounding the ego and bursting your bubble of importance!

state is closed

The list of cancelled activities and closures rambles on and on – the polar bears may be lovin’ this weather, but if you wanted to watch them cavort in their habitat, better make it another day as the Detroit Zoo was closed today.

The U.S. Postal Service, which features the motto “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” got an asterisk to that motto when Michigan, as well as ten other states, kept their mail carriers at home, saving them traipsing in sub-zero temps today and tomorrow as well.

As the list grew, I wondered why the traffic reporters were still listing the accidents because who could have been left driving on the roads for goodness sake?

The Trudge Report.

The bright blue sky belied what the real deal was … at a glance, it looked beautiful outside, but the reality was horrid: it was -6 F (-21 C) and a real feel of -34 F (-36 C) when I suited up to go run the car. Because the news suggested covering your mouth to avoid damaging your lungs from the extreme cold air, I went outside sporting a bandana that had me looking a little like a cowboy fresh from a long, dusty ride on his horse through the sagebrush in the wild, wild West.

Plumes were drifting out of almost every chimney on the block, occasionally casting curling shadows on the bright-white snow.

I checked for icicles – none – yeah!

I checked if the snow was still on the roof – yes – yeah! I just discovered yesterday that means your attic insulation is good if the snow hasn’t melted.

I heard a blue jay calling in the distance, perhaps hopeful I’d share some peanuts with him. I had taken some extra peanuts out with me, so I yanked them from my pocket and wiggled the bag. But that action did not have the same Pavlovian effect that it does with the squirrels who come bounding over … that blue jay remained elusive. Momentarily I thought of Parker and his friends and how they would love if I suddenly appeared and jiggled the bag of peanuts, but I reminded myself they were likely huddled in their nests and not down at ground level due to the snow and the cold. I also wondered what happened to my blue jay from last year. The endless snow shoveling the Winter of 2017-2018 found me outside nearly every morning. I would share a few peanuts, which I propped up in the snow on top of a flat Boxwood bush, with a blue jay who was willing to fly down from his high perch and grab them … just as soon as I turned my back. I’d check back before I came into the house and the peanuts were gone. Eventually he tired of our ritual – I continued putting out peanuts, but maybe someone was offering better treats and he didn’t return.

The sparrows were huddled close together on the window ledge, not even taking flight when they saw me. Tomorrow I’ll take some stale bread which I intended to take to the Park birds on Sunday – I’ll place it on top of the bush for them to see like I did with the blue jay.

Happily the car engine turned over thanks to the trickle charger – it has been plugged in continuously when the car is not in use since October of 2015. I still run it every day in the cold weather, even if I don’t take it out of the garage.

Feasting, but not foraging for frozen goodies …

I inspected the porch and found that the peanuts I tossed out before I took 12 minutes to finish getting my outerwear and boots on, were gone, yet, I looked up in the trees, scanning for squirrels (and hawks), but saw none of my furry friends jumping from branch to branch, or running on the utility wires. That small pile of shells and some redskin chaff from the peanuts told me my furry pals were indeed there – might as well eat them as there’s no use hiding those peanuts as the ground is frozen solid. Good going guys.

Since I was out there running the car for about 20 minutes, I put more peanuts out. Grady was no doubt perplexed, because the peanuts placed on the ledge in two places on Monday morning got zapped with the post-snowstorm freezing rain that arrived after dark. He didn’t return and the snow began in earnest, then the wintry precip. So, that my dear Grady is what you call a “peanutsicle” … a mass of peanuts encased in ice. Just as I had to chip the ice off the mailbox which had sealed shut, I likewise had to pry those peanuts from the ledge. I laid them on some bushes and tomorrow I’ll bring a cup of hot water with me and try to de-ice those peanuts. I’ll bet Grady looked at them longingly thinking “Linda – take them apart so I can eat them please!” Frankly I was surprised Grady (and maybe his pal – I didn’t see either of them) showed up. I’d have stayed tucked in the warm nest, but you know how it is when your stomach growls. What Grady really needed was someone to toss a Snickers bar up to the nest so he didn’t need to venture out.

So, I got to wondering if we were hardier kids back in the day.

On Monday, lots of schools were closed – not just elementary and secondary schools, but some colleges and universities as well. My first thought was “really?!” OK, the kids that are bussed to school or have long walks maybe I can see it, but we walked to elementary school with no angst about those snowy morns. However, trending on Twitter was one local school, Wayne State University, my alma mater. They were holding out shutting the school while snow swirled and whipped around WSU’s campus. Soon students converged on Twitter, trying to shame WSU into closing due to the snow and impending cold, disparaging them for staying open. WSU caved and became one of the 800 schools in Michigan that have been closed since Monday afternoon.

I wandered over to Facebook late on Monday and chatted with my friend Cheryl – we were both attending WSU when the Blizzard of 1978 closed school for a day. It was unprecedented back in those days and we were both grateful to be spared the long and snowy commute. So, that raised the question of just how hardy we were back in the day, as teens walking to junior high and the high school.

The junior high and high school were right next to one another, and were a nearly 1 ½ mile trek each way. I walked every day, except the occasional times, when the neighbor across the street would fire up the old station wagon to take her two high school-aged boys to school. She and my mom were best friends, but she never called on ugly Winter mornings and asked “would Linda like a ride?” My mom, feeling that lack of invitation was a little unjust, would park herself behind the living room curtains and I’d stand in the cellarway with my hand on the door knob, ready to bolt out the door, once her station wagon was sufficiently warmed up and the boys came out of the house. As she pulled out of the snowy driveway, it was my turn to leave the house and see her “unexpectedly” pulling into the street. If my timing was impeccable, she’d roll down the window and say “would you like a ride Linda?” And I’d feign surprise and say “oh, that would be great – thank you for asking me.” So, yes, I was spared a snowy trek but those times were few and far between, because kids in those days were considered young and healthy and that 3-mile round trip was good exercise.

Then I decided to tread back in time a little further …

Well we were exemplary teens braving the elements to walk to school where we never had school cancelled due to snow or cold, nor a stifling hot June spent in a classroom with not so much as a fan nor a window cracked open … I began to wonder what happened back when I was a wee nipper and in elementary school?

I went directly to the source, the Facebook site for all kids who attended E.A. Orr Public School, an elementary school in Oakville, Ontario that I had attended from 1961-1966.

ea orr

I wondered if my former peers remembered trudging to school on those cold and snowy Winter days without ever getting a snow day. I posed this question to the alumni of that group that I discovered four years ago:

ea orr group question

Well, then a lively discussion ensued which yielded 14 comments which branched out into multiple comments about how we went to school in snow and cold and only one person recalled a snow day where E.A. Orr closed down, but it was after I departed. Those 14 comments about what brave souls we were venturing forth on our own, eventually dwindled into a lot of side conversations wherein we girls stepped back in time and chatted about jumping rope and playing “elastics” (Chinese jump rope as it is known in the U.S.), our Beatles buttons we proudly pinned to our coat lapels and other girl stuff circa 1964, give or take a year. Didn’t our parents worry about us? No, we trundled along, just a group of neighborhood kids, and our classmates joined us along the way, similarly bundled up in snow pants stuffed into our brown overshoes, mufflers masking our faces, mittens clasping books or homework assignments – no backpacks back in those days. Our heavy parkas featured fur-trimmed hoods pulled snugly over our woolen toques with their fuzzy pompoms. We arrived at school where our principal, Mr. Buckley, greeted us, and we were bright-eyed, pink-cheeked and ready to sing “God Save the Queen” and learn the Three Rs, but first we had to peel off those layers of clothing.

This scenario was repeated over and over all through the cold snowy Canadian Winter – not just for school, but for skating, tobogganing and building snow forts. So, did we have maple syrup running in our veins or perhaps we were just oblivious to the elements back then?

Or maybe the memories fade and tarnish a little through the years, eh?

How low can you go?

No, it’s not a reference to Chubby Checker’s dance “The Limbo” … it is the question asked to Mother Nature. Here in Michigan we will dip to -16 F (-26 C) and -40 F (-40 C) … -40 is a magical temperature … the same in Fahrenheit as Celsius.

Not to worry, we will do a rapid turnabout and enjoy temps in the 50s come Monday – break out the shorts and flip flops!

big swing in temps

Meanwhile the endless trickle of water in the nearby sink keeps making my eyes get heavy while proofreading this very long post. The corner cabinet creaks and groans, reminding me that it needs a good coat of furniture polish. And the frost quakes, those little burst of energy that occur when ice suddenly expands, and creates big booms around the house, have startled me out of this trance to my childhood and teenaged years more than once while compiling this tale.

[Images from Twitter, Click on Detroit and header image by Couleur from Pixabay]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cold, Michigan, Polar Vortex, Polar Vortex 2019, snow, Snowmaggedon 2019, Winter | 104 Comments

Winter woes … well that’s the way it goes.

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Linda Schaub

We’re in the heart of Winter, but Winter does not have my heart … of that you can be sure.

Oh… some of the songs might make you wistful for Winter’s beauty on a snowy night, like Gordon Lightfoot’s pensive “Song For A Winter’s Night” which has always been a personal favorite of mine.

And … the traditional Christmas songs paint a pretty picture of the snow:

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose.” … Nipping at your nose? That’s a polite word for freezing your nose off, especially with our forecast slated for Tuesday and Wednesday when we will dip to below -3F (-19C), and a wind chill of -30F (-34C).

“Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way.” … Laughing is not the description I’d use to describe the commuters, the outside workers and the shovellers, who will deal with the nearly half-foot of snow coming our way tomorrow. And did anyone ever ask the horses if they enjoy traipsing in the snow when they could be munching hay in the warm barn? Just sayin’.

Even the merry little snow globe; it’s pretty to watch the flakes floating down … turn it the other way and the flakes are gone. If only it was that easy for the snow to disappear.

The Currier and Ives prints on our Christmas cards also paint a pretty picture of the snow and Winter … but, I still don’t embrace this season, and am counting the days until Spring’s arrival … 51 more days, and that’s no guarantee that it’ll feel or look like Spring – last year we still had snow and cold temps at April’s arrival.

But I have digressed bigtime from weaving yesterday’s walk into a blog post.

But … here I go again with my tale about last night.

Last night I was getting ready to write my post on yesterday’s long-awaited walk at Council Point Park. I had fired up the computer and was dwelling on the impending cold overnight, as we inched toward zero (-17C) and a -8F (-22C) wind chill. A light dusting of snow was expected as well. I walked over to the kitchen sink to run the water in each of the double sinks. I’d been letting it drip all day, but thought it might need some oomph … it had some oomph all right. I heard a noise and the unmistakable sound of water gushing onto the cupboard floor – the doors were open to direct heat to the pipes so I quickly assessed the situation. Oh joy … the left sink pipe was hanging down. I reached underneath and propped it up with my one hand and shut the tap off with my other hand.

Then I said bad words.

Well, that was a quick fix (my actions, not the words), but eventually I had to pull my hand away, and soon the right pipe was similarly hanging down and water was flowing from it onto the cupboard floor.

Yup, I uttered a few more bad words.

I propped up the whole contraption with a thermos bottle and Googled Quint Plumbing, my new go-to place since my multiple plumbing fiascoes in 2017. I was pretty wound up when I called Mike, the owner, who calmly told me his guy on call had two jobs ahead of me and gave me Bill’s number to see if he could squeeze me into Saturday night’s queue. Bill was friendly and agreeable and said he’d be here in about an hour and a half and asked what I thought he should stop and get at the shop, in case he did not have it on hand – “was anything broken?” he asked. I resisted the urge to say “bubblegum” and instead said “plumber’s putty” – the pipes were all new and installed in June 2017.

Bill knocked at the door at 9:55 p.m. The light dusting of snow that was supposed to start around midnight arrived early and it was snowing like crazy as I opened the door to let him in. A crust of snow had already collected on the visor of his cap just from walking to the door from his vehicle. It turned out the seals/gaskets were bad and he had brought new ones and slipped them in and assured me “no putty was needed” … he applied all the force he had with his channel locks to get everything tightened and let water gush from the tap to assure me it was not leaking. I was happy and soon he was on his way, thankfully with no more emergencies left on his agenda.

The plumber left at 10:45 p.m. I’ll bet the neighbors’ tongues were a waggin’ about that one. Maybe they were asleep. It was about past my bedtime as well, even though it was a Saturday night. I was still incredulous about the whole catastrophe, but couldn’t dwell on it for long – I had to get on my hands and knees and try to dry out the cupboard.

Mom’s pearls of wisdom rang in my ears: “always keep a dishpan under your sink pipes to avoid disaster” – it caught some of the water, but it still leaked out when the pipes just collapsed. The bigger disaster would have been if the pipes fell apart in the middle of the night and the water was trickling into the cupboard and out onto the floor.

By far, the better part of yesterday was my walk to the Park.

A blog post was bubbling around in my head about my trip but it had to wait as I lost my zeal for recreating my five miles walked, the resourceful Grady and making peace with Parker and his pals after my long absence from that venue.

Way to go Grady!

It was 8 degrees F (-13C) when I set out for my walk on Saturday morning. Sure it was bitter cold, but there were no worries … no flurries, no snow or ice … just great walking weather, provided you bundled up.

I donned multiple layers when I headed out, but reluctantly decided to leave behind the camera, as I didn’t want to damage it in the frigid cold. The thought running through my mind was my late friend Marge telling me “always carry your camera with you – you’ll see that perfect shot and then you won’t be able to capture it.” I hesitated once again, but left it behind.

All I had to do was grab my coat and lace up my shoes so I reached out the front door and dropped 10 peanuts onto the porch, then hustled to get ready and out the door.

I got outside, and unbelievably, in the space of 8-10 minutes’ time, all but two peanuts remained on the porch and peanut shells littered the porch. I chuckled to myself thinking “those boys were hungry.” Since the weather was clear, I backed the car out of the garage to drive to the Park and give it a run. While the car was warming up, along came Grady, past the car, slinking up the porch steps, where he grabbed a peanut and then he surprised me. I watched as he scrambled up the bricks and along the brick ledge … he went all the way to the other side of the ledge where he perched as he ate the peanut.

“Well, that a new one on me” I thought. Was he evading the hawk, or me? Of course it was the hawk … (at least I think it was).

Was he doing that for my benefit to take note of an alternate feeding spot just for him? The other squirrel could never get his fat body up there … way to go Grady!

Of course, if I had the camera it would have made a terrific photo for up top of this post …

I made peace with Parker and his pals.

I took a large bag of peanuts with me to make it up to Parker and his pals as I’d been absent from my favorite nature nook for eight days. As I crossed the parking lot, I shook the plastic bag so they knew I was coming. Parker was MIA at the parking lot, but came bounding over near the pavilion area where I lavished peanuts and apologies simultaneously. I got onto the perimeter path and was happy to see there were only the occasional icy patches. That rain and warmer temps we had on Wednesday afternoon did wonders to clear the asphalt path.

One by one, squirrels started heading out of their nests and scrambling down the trees to ground level. I gave them each a pile of peanuts, which they eagerly started munching, not hiding, right away. I figured the ground was first too snowy from the half-foot of snow on Saturday the 19^th, then too frozen thereafter to dig for peanuts, so they were starving. The second time around the “wildlife side” I noted the peanuts were all gone, and only shells remained and a passel of my furry friends were back to greet me. I indulged them and once again wished for the camera to record them happily munching away.

The Creek was frozen solid and a light covering of snow had drifted on top of the ice. Not a duck, goose – or even a seagull was in sight, so likely they flew down to the Detroit River, where the current is swift and they could still have access to vegetation beneath the water.

The Park is wearing its desolate look. Not enough snow to look picturesque, dead leaves rattling on tree branches and the tall, wheat-colored phragmites waving at me in the wind as I strolled by them.

I left the remaining peanuts on the picnic table under the pavilion roof in case I didn’t make it down today … I was glad I did so, as I didn’t get there today, though I planned on it. We had two inches of snow and it was slick when I went out to run the car.

Before I walked into the house yesterday I put five peanuts on the ledge for Grady to find if he was still out and about. I looked out later on Saturday and all the peanuts were gone. He’s a pretty smart cookie that little squirrel … he made sure he climbed up there so I could see him and give him a new spot to put his treats. The sucker that I am bought into this idea hook, line and sinker.

I walked five loops, and would have gotten in a six-mile walk, but I wanted to avoid shin splints from walking too many miles as I’d not walked in over a week. Usually when I’m unable to walk in the Winter, I go downstairs on the exercise bike, but it was too cold to be comfortable down there. I shut the door from the cellarway to the kitchen to keep it warm so it feels like you could hang meat in the basement.

I returned home, keen for a coffee to warm up and cupped my cold hands around the cup as my entire body warmed up slowly. So, perhaps I made a boo-boo in that I didn’t tote the camera with me, so I’m using one of Jill Wellington’s photos from her Winter collection instead.

[Image from Jill Wellington and Pixabay]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cold, nature, Squirrels, Winter | 107 Comments

Tuesday Musings.

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Linda Schaub

tuesday-musings

I am not musing too much these days – no witty words are escaping my mouth and travelin’ to my fingers as they peck the keyboard. Nope, if anything is coming out of my mouth, it is a frosty vapor from the frigid temps we have experienced the past three days. Today, during the dinner hour, freezing rain was on the menu, but tomorrow we’ll be 40 degrees warmer and regular rain all day. Thursday and Friday we’re back in the deep freeze, so most likely all that rain will freeze on the sidewalks.

I hope Parker and his pals have a shovel to dig through all that snow and ice to access their nuts – better yet, I hope they used sticky notes to help find those peanuts like this squirrel did in this cute vintage commercial:

The big snowfall on Saturday is old hat now. We ended up with a total of six inches in Saturday’s snow event and that was topped off with the bitter cold. I’ve been letting all the taps drip, running several small loads of laundry daily to keep the pipes warm and trudging out to run the car for fifteen minutes every morning. Alas, Old Man Winter has not only settled in, but has his feet up on the hassock and is reading the paper and prepared to settle in for a long visit. Sigh.

Well, yesterday was a holiday as we know – the commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, but it was also “Squirrel Appreciation Day”. No, I did not make it up and here is a photo to prove it – I saw it on the internet, so it must be so!

squirrel appreciation day (wild birds unlimited)

I felt badly as I let down the crew at the Park, and, though I tried to feed my porch squirrels while I was outside, they did not show up. I am sure that -15 wind chill kept them snuggled together in their nests for most of the day. I was relieved to see those peanuts I left tucked under the front stoop were gone this morning when I went out to run the car. Whew! I worry about my furry friends, because last week I saw two large Cooper’s Hawks sitting in a tall tree on the cross street. I happened to be taking the car for a run to the Park Thursday morning since Friday morning snow was predicted. I saw the pair of hawks while backing out of the driveway. When one flew off, I quickly followed it. I watched that hawk alight on a branch and I had a chance to study it. I had no time to take a picture as my camera was buried under my coat, and I was driving, but I remembered the markings from the encounter with the Cooper’s Hawk and Stubby last Summer – you will recall, I had just fed that squirrel who is missing half his tail, and just as Stubby began to dig into his peanut pile, the hawk swooped down out of nowhere – Stubby ran as fast as those short four legs could carry him and scurried under a picnic table in the pavilion area.

Thursday night I alerted my neighbors, both who have small dogs – one said “I saw a hawk in your yard and ours and the hawk got a squirrel” … well, I had a sick feeling after reading his reply, so Friday morning I abandoned the idea of putting out the peanuts from the front door before I went outside, not wanting to make Grady and his pal “sitting ducks” and I opted instead to feed them when I went outside and wait for them. So, Friday morning I went outside – a light covering of snow had fallen and there were lots of squirrel paw prints on the porch and steps.

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Aww … they knew our routine from all these weeks and were waiting on me and likely thought I forgot them. No fellas … I didn’t forget you, just trying to be careful and spare your lives.

Before laying any peanuts out, I glanced all around at the tall trees …

tall trees

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… luckily I saw no hawks, so I felt comfortable leaving them their treats.

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I am savoring those many mornings I stepped out in December and January … like I said in my recent post, sometimes you just have to seize the day.

P.S. – Today is “National Blonde Brownie Day” just in case you’ve had a treacherous ride home and care to whip up a quick batch?

[Image of “Squirrel Appreciation Day” from National Day Calendar]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hawks, nature, snow, Squirrels, Winter | 73 Comments

Make hay while the sun shines.

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Linda Schaub

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There’s a ton of phrases we use that encourage us not to procrastinate … some you might have heard from your parents when you were a kid, like “do I have to light a firecracker under you – get moving!” No, you didn’t hear that one? Maybe I was just pokey when I was a kid.

Well how about “you’d better get while the gettin’s good”? Or even “seize the day” … just to make something happen.

Well, because I’m a Winter Weenie, I knew that eventually Winter would ravage us with its snow and ice and brutal temps – yup, I have lived in a four-season climate my entire life, and, while the last six weeks of snow-free bliss have been enjoyable, it was bound to end sooner or later.

So, I ensured I went to as many of my favorite park venues as possible, and, I’ve been force-feeding Parker peanuts every time I was at Council Point Park, while anticipating the ice and snow. My favorite nature nook will soon be snow-covered and the paths are not plowed or brushed off. So we walkers will rely on the sun to melt the snow and ice, or we walk alongside the perimeter path. It works for us, but sometimes confuses the squirrels!

As I write this post, Michigan is part of the big Midwestern snow storm that will cross our area in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The forecasts have a wide discrepancy of anywhere from three to eight inches of blowing and drifting snow. Ugh.

So, now I am grateful for all my weekend meanderings to gain steps, glean photos and gather some memories to spin into blog posts. This is it … the remaining photos I have left to pair with a narrative, so hopefully I’m back to my walking regimen fairly soon.

Lake Erie Metropark.

This trek was taken on the first Sunday in January, and I was eager to use my new Metropark pass. I stopped at this locale after the quick trip to the marshlands at Point Mouillee.

The day was crisp and the sun was shining brilliantly, and forget the fact that you’re walking the shore at Lake Erie, with the breeze blowing, and the waves crashing against the rocks along Cove Point, nearly every walker or bicyclist I passed called out “wow, what a beautiful day!”

So, I seized the day and got a few pictures along the way. (I had way more but pared them down considerably.)

I started at Cove Point …

… and worked my way along the Lake Erie shoreline.

log

no swimming

wavy

I like those big boulders, and if you squint with your naked eye, you not only see Canada, but the wind turbines lined alone their shoreline as well.

cove point

I saw a group of ducks rocking back and forth in the choppy water and thought I’d zoom in on them, but they heard my heavy walking shoes as I scuffed through the crinkly leaves near the shoreline, and in a heartbeat they vamoosed.

ducks

The winds were calm, but the waves were pretty wicked and came crashing over and over again on those boulders, repeatedly sending spray everywhere.

waves crashing 1

waves crashing

The grass on either side of the paved walking and biking path was saturated with water, so much so, that, at a glance, you’d think it was a full-size pond, but it was just the low-lying areas.

fake lake

Tell that to the ducks, who believed it was their own personal pond, and they paddled back and forth, diving and bobbing along. I wanted to tell them that their efforts were fruitless as there was only grass beneath that fake lake, though they persisted in looking for breakfast anyway.

duck down

Aren’t these mallards beautiful with the water glistening on their feathers and dripping off their bills?

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mallard pair

I walked the entire coastline at Cove Point and that took me to the lookout area.

Here is a better way to view Canada and the wind turbines, especially if you use their coin-operated viewing machine.

telescope

But I chose to view that shoreline with my naked eye, and, while I was gazing at my homeland, I heard a humming noise and wondered aloud “what in the world was that?” There is a guy at Council Point Park who often brings his drone to the Park. It hovers around overhead and makes a distinct low, humming noise. So, I associated that noise with a drone and was looking in the air to locate it, only to discover a pair of Tundra Swans right overhead. If my head hadn’t been swiveling around, I’d have seen them and gotten a better shot but this will have to do. It was my first sighting of Tundra Swans, with their black bills and sleek bodies. Once they passed out of my range of vision, the noise ceased, so I realized it was indeed the swans making the humming noise, not a drone.

lookout

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Think Summer!

I next walked to the marina area. I’d not been there since I took the “Eagle’s Eye Nature Cruise” on the E/V Clinton back on a sultry day last August.

The harbor, with row after row of sailboats, was deserted and looked like a little like a ghost town.

marina

There was nowhere else to go, so I turned around and retraced my steps along that three-mile Lake Erie shoreline, but once I arrived at my car, that brilliant sky and scenic venue held me hostage. I decided to stay a little longer, so I ventured to a part of this park where I’d not been before.

There is an area for kids and beyond that is their highly touted wave pool. I figured I might as well continue walking and check out what else I’ve been missing. Though I’ve been to this park many times, I keep gravitating to the same lagoons and marshland areas, or trekking along the Cherry Island Trail, knowing full well there are many other areas to explore in this 1,600-acre park.

splashpad

I walked around and checked out the recreational area of Lake Erie Metropark, then headed back to the paved pathway to explore some more.

trail

pinecone

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graffiti

overlook

A flurry of white in the dull marshy area caught my eye, so I put some speed in my feet and hurried that-a-way. There were about a dozen Mute Swans frolicking in the chilly water – these two spent more time upside down while diving for lunch, than right side up, and were good for a giggle and a couple of pictures as well.

swan down

swan up

I finally decided it was time to head back to the car and decided this sign was perfect to end this blog post, and, when I raised the camera to focus on the sign, I noticed the former wasp nest embedded in the metal pole below the sign.

wasp

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The inhabitants of that wasp nest are long gone, and, just like us, waiting on Spring which is now a mere 61 days away!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Lake Erie, Lake Erie Metropark, nature, walk, walking | 76 Comments

Huddling at Heritage Park.

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Linda Schaub

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Sports teams do it.

CEOs and THEIR teams do it.

And the mallards at Heritage Park do it as well.

Huddling.

But, unlike athletes and businessmen and women, the ducks don’t huddle together for strategic purposes, but merely to stay warm.

It was a frigid morning last Saturday when I stopped off at Heritage Park after visiting the Southgate Nature Center.

You might recall that the last time I was at this venue, the ducks were lined up in front of the covered bridge. This over-sized pond, a/k/a Coan Lake, is varying depths, so the deeper parts do not freeze through, and the shallower areas are frozen. The mallards alternate between huddling together on the ice, or paddling around in this man-made lake.

I walked up the path, and wended my way through the historical village, past the old church, the clock that stopped permanently at 7:40 and the wishing well. Soon I was at Coan Lake. It wasn’t as if it was difficult to locate these water fowl – most of them had migrated over by the Little Red Schoolhouse or they had congregated in front of the wooden overlook.

The Little Red Schoolhouse.

My favorite historical building in the village at Heritage Park was so picturesque with the ducks lined along the half ice, half water in the pond. And, despite the gray day, the bright-red reflection on the water was stunning.

It was about 10:30 and after a quick glance around I discovered I was the only one there, but no worries, as it is quite open and airy in this park. I’ll bet there were a hundred ducks scattered around Coan Lake.

At the water pump in front of the schoolhouse, as cold it was, a mallard slumbered on, and as I approached the pump to take a picture, two more ducks scrambled up closer to him, so they could be in a picture too.

How I wished I had something to toss out to them – I am sure with limited areas free from ice, these dabbling ducks weren’t diving into the water for anything to eat anytime soon.

I walked around the perimeter of the schoolhouse. You can look into the windows and see the old-fashioned desks and I did take a picture, intending to include it in this post, but my red coat’s reflection in the window marred that photo, so regrettably I had to leave it out – next time I’ll be smarter and stand off to the side. A child’s boat filled one of the schoolhouse windows.

I also noticed some kind soul had added a suet feeder to the small tree adjacent to that one-room schoolhouse. I stayed there a few minutes, hoping some birds would come along to enjoy a nibble or two, but I think those birds remained hunkered down in their nests with their brethren to stay warm.

The rest of the village.

It seemed there were ducks huddled together at every turn I took, as I made my way around the seawall at Coan Lake, near the gazebo, the old Mill and the covered bridge.

There was a large group of ducks visible beyond the wooden walkway and I hesitated to walk out on that overlook and disturb them, so I stood back and took photos of the ducks through the wooden slats in the railing. But even that close, my presence got the masses a little stirred up and they awoke from their half-frozen slumber and began paddling as far away from me as possible.

I was sorry to see the mass exodus, but they would huddle somewhere else where they would patiently await the sun, or at least some warmer temps – unfortunately Winter’s ravages have returned with a vengeance, so they might want to consider booking a trip to a warmer climate?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ducks, Heritage Park, Mallards, nature, walk, walking, Winter | 30 Comments

Harry the Heron is hungry.

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Linda Schaub

harry

That’s because his favorite fishing hole is frozen over. Here’s Harry’s dilemma: does he search for thin ice and peck a hole into the surface of the ice-covered Creek to dip his long beak in and hopefully catch a fish? Or … does he fly one mile East to the Detroit River where the current is swift and there is no ice? A few weeks ago, he and his seagull buddies were feasting on shad. Too bad those tiny fish could not be buried in hidey holes like the squirrels do with their peanuts and other treats they forage, because pickin’s are slim now.

The weather was even colder this morning … frigid in fact. It was just 16 degrees (-8C). Jack Frost had painted some designs on house and car windows and it was evident when the sun’s rays hit it just right … the second sunny day in a row and it made you kind of forget about the frosty temps. Just like the plumes of smoke erupting from chimneys, I watched the trail of vapor from my own mouth as I walked along.

Grady was up and at ‘em this morning. I put the peanuts on the porch and then went to finish getting dressed. I got outside just on time to see him scurrying away and the little nut pile had gone down substantially. He was apparently by himself this morning, having decided that the early bird does get the worm – you go Grady!! I did, however, interrupt his nut-gathering-and-munching agenda, when I suddenly appeared from around the corner of the house and went to open the garage door to run the car. He took one look at me, then he ran up into the neighbor’s tree. I told him I didn’t realize I looked so scary and furthermore not to be a “fraidy cat” since I was not going to hurt him. After dispensing my wisdom, I disappeared into the garage and from the car’s rear-view mirror, I watched him approach … slowly, deliberately, then he picked up speed to grab a peanut and then he ran away again. I’ll need to ramp up the assertiveness training for this cutie pie in the weeks ahead.

All the photos in this post are from Sunday’s stroll. The scene was the same this morning – the Creek was still frozen over and the ducks congregated under a tree, huddling together on an old log to keep warm. Since I first started walking at Council Point Park, the ducks would go under the sewer drain which is beneath the cement ledge you see when I take pictures of the heron fishing from there. The water did not freeze under the drain and provided some respite from the bitter cold. But, due to all the rain we had this year, the water level is too high to accommodate the mallards – they’d be hitting their heads, so there is no shelter for them now.

The ice on the surface of the Creek looks like a cracked mirror in some places, or smooth as glass in others.

The reflection of the trees on the ice made it quite picturesque.

We keep the cold a few more days and by the end of the week, snow may be arriving just in time for the weekend. Well, maybe that snowstorm will fall apart – fingers crossed!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ice, nature, walk, walking, Winter | 35 Comments

Pink cheeks, peanuts and … imposters!

Posted on January 13, 2019 by Linda Schaub

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Today was just a glorious day and I know the folks who live in perpetually warm climates would find it hard to fathom how 23 degrees, with a real feel of 11 degrees (-11 Celsius), could be glorious, but the sun, coupled with the lack of snow and ice, made for a perfect Winter day. My favorite meteorologist keeps saying that we may be enjoying our spate of snow-free days now, but it will eventually impact the boaters because the lake levels will drop. Well he had to go and be a party pooper, didn’t he?

I came home with pink cheeks, though I am certain the cold stained my cheeks a bright pink maybe five minutes after arriving at Council Point Park. Two different walkers asked why my face wasn’t covered? They were wearing full face masks and I saw another woman with a muffler wrapped around her mouth. I just never thought about it, and I do have a face mask from my bus-riding days, but my main concern was keeping my fingers from freezing and also my legs warm. Because I am tall, I buy sweat pants in men’s sizes so I don’t look like I’m waitin’ for the floods. They don’t fit tight to my legs, so on cold mornings like today, the wind rustles up those pant legs – brrr! When layering up for three hours outdoors in frigid weather, I don tights before venturing out.

P.S. – I was smiling most of the time at the Park today, so … if a smile froze in place, that was okay too!

For a while, I’ve suspected there was an imposter in the crowd …

… and today I caught him red-handed, er … red-pawed!

I have been mentioning that the other squirrels were pretty savvy about learning how Parker gets extra treats just for running up to see me, or following me around the Park and I “get” that. In fact, I often see them trying the same tricks … the “woe is me, I need peanuts” look …

or, standing up on their haunches with the “do I smell peanuts?” pose, which is sure to melt my heart, or that of any of the other walkers who regularly feed them.

We are not dumb bunnies – we see what antics will help glean more peanuts.

Today I decided to drive to the Park since it was so cold. I was thinking that short trip would benefit the car, not me, and I’d just make one entire trip around the park (two miles) to compensate for driving, rather than walking.

I pulled up and hopped out of the car. Immediately Parker came bounding over to see me. He had been nosing around under a pine tree and made a bee line for the car.

I said “wait, I’m coming over there because I don’t want you running back and forth across the Park entrance – there’s too many cars!” So, I walked over there to see him, but that rascal ran up into the tree, as you see in the header photo. That was odd I thought, as I’d never seen him up in this tree before? Hmm.

While he was trying to dig into the frozen turf, I sweetened the pot a little by throwing some Nutter Butter minis into his pile.

He sniffed, but acted a little odd and then he ran away again. I said “suit yourself” and I left.

I walked through the parking lot, with a northeast wind slapping me in the face, and my two sets of gloves were doing nothing to help my frozen fingers, which I had exposed while digging around for treats and the camera to take shots of Parker (or whom I had thought was Parker).

So, will the real Parker please stand up?

As I headed across the parking lot, head bent down, like I was crossing a frozen tundra, I felt a presence and saw a squirrel out of the corner of my eye. He came over to see me, his eyes honing in on the bag of peanuts which he spied propped up in my pocket … this was the Parker I know and love, so who was that imposter I handed all the extra treats to?

I sweet talked him, but kept that little nugget to myself, that I had not immediately recognized my furry friend. In fact, later on, when viewing the photos, I saw that especially dark nose on the first squirrel and realized I should have known right away.

So Parker has his ways of getting my attention, either standing on his haunches, or looking me straight in the eye, or this little dance that he does when he sees me … he hops around my feet, or steps on the toes of my walking shoes or boots. Sometimes I am talking to someone, or taking a picture, or I just wasn’t fast enough to give him the peanuts he wants. Usually, when I see him scampering over to see me, I pull out the peanuts and the camera and have it ready. So, this time, he was not going to wait around for small talk – he was hungry and not afraid to show me just how hungry he was as you’ll see in the below slideshow.

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As Parker attempted to scale up my sweatpants, I was glad I had the extra layer beneath them. He got his treats and I left him in hog heaven and continued on my walk.

Despite the cold, squirrels were coming out of the woodwork!

Everywhere I looked, squirrels were running along the trail, or I heard claws gripping bark as they left their cozy nests to come to ground level for peanuts. It also just had to be because it was such a sunny day. There were a multitude of squirrels with a myriad of personalities. I know all the squirrels look alike, (most of the time anyway as I have discovered), and, out of this passel of peanut pals, these were my favorite shots of them, like this squirrel coming headfirst down the tree – was he yawning or did he make a misstep and was saying OMG?

The entire Park came alive with the sun’s rays today. The sky was a brilliant blue and the Creek, frozen over, looked like the surface was glass, especially where there were reflections from the trees that line the Creek banks. I took a few pictures of the icy conditions around the Park and will share them in a separate post … I now have quite a stack of photos and a trio of tales to be woven together for future posts.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged nature, Squirrels, walk, walking, Winter | 38 Comments

Saturday morning meanderings.

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Linda Schaub

This morning I decided to expand my horizons a little and try a different venue.

I know the nature lovers out there are saying “well, this doesn’t look like Linda’s usual shtick” … but don’t let the appearance of this wall festooned with graffiti fool you.

A fellow blogger who lives fairly close to me offered a few suggestions for nature locales around our area. So, when my new cyber pal/fellow blogger, Pril, asked me if I’d ever been to the Southgate Nature Center, I was mystified that it even existed – a nature area the next city over? So, my fingers flew over the keyboard to Google where I discovered this little nature nook a mere 5 ½ miles from my house, tucked next to Southgate Anderson High School. Why have I never heard of it and does Ann Marie, my friend and fellow walker who lives in Southgate know about it?

So, I made this my first pit stop on this morning’s meander then topped that trek off with a trip to Heritage Park.

I arrived there around 9:30, and almost missed it, as it is set back from the high school a bit. Luckily the sign for the nature center was big enough, because I have the worst sense of direction, and despite glancing at the map again before I left, I figured I’d just remember the cross streets without a hitch.

I set out on a paved path …

… which soon became a little more rustic as it incorporated a small trail that led directly into a field of bulrushes, burrs and phragmites, the latter which were waving back and forth in the stiff breeze. The walk was reminiscent of my trip to Pointe Mouillee last week. My foray into these tall reeds reminded me of those huge corn mazes you can go through at harvest time, i.e. you can’t see where you are going ahead and just hope for the best.

It was nippy for picture-taking, and my fingers were feeling frosty, even with the flip-top mitts. That’s because the wind-chill made it feel like 23 degrees F (-5 Celsius) and the gray and gloomy sky did not yield any sun rays today, so I felt an occasional shiver as I walked along. But, despite that cold, I was thinking warm thoughts when I saw the many milkweed plants and their pods full of fluff and seeds.

Milkweed is the host plant for monarch butterflies, and there were many of these plants around, so I’ll bet this place is a haven for monarch butterflies once the warmer months arrive.

This old rotting wooden stump looked kind of interesting and I am sure it has been the subject of many photos as people pass it on the pathway.

I continued on my way, sometimes treading on a wooden pathway and other times walking along a paved path.

There was much ice in the sunken areas of grass and gullies, evidence of our recent rains which all looked to be frozen solid.

The monotones of a gray sky and pale-colored reeds made it very desolate in this marshy area. At a glance the phragmites looked a little like wheat.

I was careful not to brush up against the teasel which was growing everywhere; these were several feet taller than me and silhouetted against the gray sky.

I arrived at a long wooden footbridge which spanned across a creek.

I had not seen a sign of any wildlife thus far on my trek, but soon heard the unmistakable call of a blue jay and also a cardinal. I was unable to locate the blue jay, but I watched a male cardinal flitting from tree to tree. I dug in my pocket for peanuts (like the pedometer, they are a staple whenever I leave the house) and I held it between two fingers, trying to entice that beautiful red bird to come down to the wooden bridge. He flew away, so perhaps I had spooked him, so I decided to leave my calling card on the top railing, then I moseyed along.

Halfway across the bridge, I turned around to see if the cardinal had swooped down to land on the railing to retrieve his peanut and noticed the graffiti which I featured at the top of this post. Whoa! Here I was in the middle of a blah-colored marshland and these colorful images took up an entire wall which was as wide as the creek. You can see a wire grate at the bottom of the wall, so I guess this is how the wall was decorated. Amazingly, without a hint of sun, the colorful images made a stunning reflection on the surface of the creek. There were a few ducks paddling around as well.

I crossed to the other side of the footbridge and found this mini-waterfall. The water was gurgling and spilling over and reminded me of a brook as it gushed over the man-made stones.

I kept on the pathway, and along the way, I had to dodge icy areas where the pathway was sunken down and it had filled with ice and leaves.

I stayed on the pathway until the very end where I found busy Pennsylvania Road. Cars were whizzing by and there was a huge church there, so it looked like the end of the road for me and time to retrace my steps and head back.

I finally saw a few people so I didn’t feel so alone, because, I have to admit for a time, once again, I wondered about wandering around amongst the tall reeds, although this was hardly the middle of nowhere like last week, but there were a few places that were off the beaten path.

As I crossed the wooden footbridge, I noticed that my peanut was gone … see, I did have eyes watching my every move, just as I suspected. I should have left a few more for the cardinal for an afternoon snack.

There was a whole lot of honking going on as approximately 25 Canada geese announced their arrival. They flew overhead in almost-perfect V formation, though that perfect form quickly fell apart as you’ll see below.

I passed the marshy area and took one last look before heading to the car.

Just like Council Point Park, which is embedded inside a residential area and in the middle of a city, you step away from a natural area to a residential neighborhood in minutes.

I am glad that I stopped by the Southgate Nature Center. My second destination on my morning agenda was Heritage Park, which was three miles away. The ducks were huddled together in groups on one side of Coan Lake and I felt badly for them. I will write about that visit in a separate post. I walked six miles today and made it a point to walk that amount, as I wanted to mark 50 miles (80 kilometers) walked to date in 2019 as of today … onward and upward!