Tuesday Musings.

Posted on June 18, 2019 by Linda Schaub

Well, June marches on, and, in a few more days, Summer will be here … on the calendar anyway. 

Weather woes.

Not to be a weather whiner, BUT, it sure doesn’t feel like Summer is on the horizon, because on recent mornings, the temperature in the house has hovered at about 68 or 69 degrees F (20 C) and there’s a definite chill in the air. 

So, off I go on my walk, wearing a hoodie over a tee-shirt, only to shuck that hoodie off and loop it around my waist before the end of my walk, sometimes before.  Oh sure, I do listen to the weather report before I leave, but I still really don’t know how to dress these days.  And, if you glance up at the sky before hitting the road, it seems to be perpetually gray and gloomy, so do I carry an umbrella or not?  Toting along an umbrella, or a slicker, is only a little more to juggle with the camera and peanuts, unless I pile it into a backpack.  

With all this crummy weather we’re having, I’ve noticed our local meteorologists often begin their forecast for the weekend with this phrase:  “folks, I just want to temper your expectations about the upcoming weekend weather” or perhaps they’ll use buzzwords to describe this gloom and doom like “it’s a down day” or “things are a bit unsettled today” – well I say, just tell it like it is!

I’ll add up my miles at the end of the month and see what damage all this rain has done to my walking regimen.  I’ve walked several times after work because it poured in the morning … mostly four miles, just around the ‘hood as the Park loses its ambiance near the end of the day.  The critters are MIA with the squirrels tucked in their nests and the songbirds off doing their own thing.  

This past Sunday, I just couldn’t do that walk in the rain.  My intentions were good.  All my “rain gear” was handy – but the incessant rain, which finally dwindled to a drizzle in late afternoon,  left me shaking my head and I stayed indoors – what a walking slacker I was, but at least I tackled some chores in the house.  Hopefully, come December 31, 2019, I won’t be missing a mere six miles to attain my goal because I’ll kick myself and mutter “if I had only taken my butt out on that rainy Sunday!”

Due to all the wet weather in recent weeks I’ve not strayed from my favorite nature nook, except for the 5K event at Heritage Park on June 9th.  With the exception of the rising water level at the storm drain, the rest of the Park has no flooding issues.  At my other favorite stomping grounds, lakeshore flooding has changed the landscape, leaving the grounds saturated and the trails soggy or muddy, with a handful of trails even closed down for now.  The water levels are at their highest in 33 years.

Thank goodness for Council Point Park!

“When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin’ Along.”

This subheading isn’t just a vintage song by Bing Crosby.  If you’ve ever watched a Robin, whether singing high up in a tree, tending to its young, yanking worms out of the ground or scowling at humans, their actions are pretty funny sometimes.  There are lots of Robins at this 27-acre Park, but on a rare, sun-filled morning, I happened to hone in on this one, who was getting its exercise at the same time as I was gleaning steps and marking miles on the perimeter path. 

At Council Point Park, there are other amenities besides the two walking loops that encircle the Park.  There are two baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, an inline hockey arena and a children’s playscape.

However, on the first loop, a haven for birds and squirrels due to all the trees that line the walking path, there is a selection of well-used and somewhat dilapidated-looking exercise equipment.  Occasionally, a walker, even a jogger, will veer off the pathway and drop down and do push-ups, bracing themselves with hands placed on the platform in which weeds grow between the rusted grid …

… or they take a spin on the pull-up bars, stall bars or parallel bars. 

Then, they’ll pop back onto the trail and resume their walk or jog.

There had not been a soul on the trail on this morning – not a bird nor a squirrel and no humans either.  But, then I saw it – a Robin who clearly thought it was King of the Hill, as it perched on top of this piece of metal exercise equipment.  Judging from the encrusted bird droppings, it is a popular place for this bird or his brethren.

With the camera in hand, I watched this Robin, flitting from one piece of equipment to another.  But it always gravitated back to this piece. perching at the very top. Most likely it was annoyed with me for trying to capture its photo in my valiant effort not to inundate this blog with too many photos of squirrels or geese. (I do “get it” that there can be too much of a good thing.)

It seemed with every click of the shutter, its head was spinning …

… perhaps hoping to illude me? Here is the Robin wearing a particularly disgruntled look since it left his favorite post and flitted over to another piece of equipment.

Soon, this red-breasted bird had tried out every piece of exercise equipment …

… until it had exhausted them all.

You would think it would simply fly to the other end of the Park to rid itself of this pesky woman with her camera. 

Soon I understood its reluctance to leave, when I spotted a juvenile Robin teetering on a rung of the exercise equipment.    

That little birdie with its spotted breast gave me a glance, then bolted and its parent soon followed.  The two disappeared into a thicket and I thought “well that’s the end of this series of photos” … but soon the adult Robin emerged and alighted on the grass.  I watched and waited as its head twirled about, so I figured it was scoping out worms for its post-exercise snack. 

This Robin prefers a little meat after a workout – watch that look of glee as it discovers its breakfast …

… then wrangles that worm out of the ground, …

… then devours it!

My go-to snack after walking used to be a tall chocolate milk back in the day, but I’ve switched to Greek yogurt with some granola and fruit instead – how boring I am these days!

About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each and every post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things I see on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, and so my blog is peppered with folks I meet, or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post that day. I respect and appreciate nature and my interaction with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. My career has been in the legal field and I have been a legal secretary for four decades, primarily working in downtown Detroit, and now working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in print journalism in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met and shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing once again in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy – hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub
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36 Responses to Tuesday Musings.

  1. susieshy45 says:
    June 18, 2019 at 9:51 pm

    Linda,
    Great stories of the two robins out for a walk or a morning sunning as the case may be. Mama and daughter maybe?
    And glad she got her worm, better late than never, isn’t it ?
    Glad you got some miles in though the weather was bad. I have stopped whining or praying about the weather- I just have to up and bear it, stiff upper lip.
    Susie

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 18, 2019 at 10:13 pm

      Yes, I am bearing it too Susie … Sunday was just abysmal so I took a break. The weather all over the world is bad … Japan had an earthquake earlier today – I heard it early today on the news, then never again. I also have a picture of the male robin with another baby bird, but I’ll save it for another time, since this was all about the Mama and her baby (pretty sure this was a female as she was not as brightly colored on her chest feathers as the male). She got her worm – she was an earlybird who always gets the worm..

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      • susieshy45 says:
        June 19, 2019 at 1:20 am

        Looking forward to seeing the male robin and baby pictures.

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:
        June 19, 2019 at 7:04 am

        That baby still had some fuzzy feathers on his head Susie – very cute. I am sure they are from the same family and wonder if they were the family that I watched about a month ago – I went back one day and they had fledged and were not hanging around the nest like usually happens when I’ve followed a family from eggs to fledging. I have amassed a few more animal and nature pics from this Park, so will make a compilation in the near future.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. AnnMarie R stevens says:
    June 18, 2019 at 10:20 pm

    Miss linda…………………I’m glad I’m reading your blog today at night because it feels like I have a worm caught in my throat looking at that Robin swallowing that slippery, slimy worm……………gulp!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 19, 2019 at 6:49 am

      Hi David – we only have the American Robin here in Michigan, but I follow a photographer in the UK and Andy and I are always commenting on how different his European Robin and our American Robin look. Their Robins are so petite and cute … ours are horsey looking and have a whole lot of attitude to boot. 🙂 Hugs back from SE Michigan … (I’m not as creative as Anne Mehrling with hugging responses).

      Liked by 1 person

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      • davidprosser says:
        June 20, 2019 at 9:06 am

        Ha Ha, petite and cute they may be but they love arguing an they don’t seem to care what with, humans, cats, dogs and every other bird species.They always get out of bed the wrong side. Pretty though.
        xxx Huge Hugs xxx

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:
        June 20, 2019 at 6:02 pm

        Ha ha – now I realize you are from the UK and here I was telling you about Andy’s UK robins! I guess you know Anne and John from when they lived in England? Our American Robins were sopping wet today, so likely they were even a little surlier than usual. We had enough rain today that we should be looking for plans to build an ark. xxx Soggy Hugs xxx

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Trail Walker says:
    June 19, 2019 at 2:50 pm

    Whatever the reason, your robin definitely looks disgruntled! Lots of robins around these days, andnext to no bluebirds and very few other interesting critters. Maybe they are hiding and waiting for a change in the weather.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 19, 2019 at 8:17 pm

      Yes, he really had a mad and almost pouty look on his face didn’t he? I never see bluebirds here but we have lots of robins too. Less ducks this year for us and I hope it is not a result of that very bitter cold weather we had. I was happy to see the turtles at the Creek because a lot of shad fish had washed up at the Creek when it was finally defrosted. The DNR said that if you saw dead shad it meant there was not enough oxygen in the water for fish, turtles, frogs, crayfish or plants to survive the Winter. I’ve not seen any frogs yet, but blame that on this silly weather and they might be hiding. I like hearing the frogs croaking in the morning while walking.

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  6. Kate Crimmins says:
    June 19, 2019 at 5:02 pm

    This has not been a great year for weather. We are having a reunion in a month and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Last year it was in August and it poured. My niece had 30 people in her little house. Hoping that doesn’t happen again (it’s at my house this year). Maybe the tide will turn and warm up and dry up and you will make up those miles.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lindasschaub says:
      June 19, 2019 at 8:22 pm

      I hope you have good weather for it Kate – that is quite a crowd. They are giving a three-month weather prediction for us and said that we’ll have a fairly average July and August … funny, they said a very hot August just a week or so ago. We have a stormy night tonight and all day tomorrow and the same on tap for part of the weekend. We have had 10 inches of rain since April – most of the parks are waterlogged. I am hoping the weather stabilizes for walking, but I also need to get out in the yard which looks scary looking. I need a chunk of time to work out there – an hour or so doesn’t get much done. I’ve not even put the outside tap on yet – that has to be a first for me!

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  7. Laurie says:
    June 19, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    That playground looks like it would be a fun place to visit with our grandkids. Sorry to read about your non-summer-ish June. The hazy hot and humid weather has hit our area.

    I’m surprised that robin didn’t give his worm to the baby. He deserved a snack after visiting all the exercise equipment!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 19, 2019 at 8:28 pm

      We had a heat spike today – I was hoping that wouldn’t happen as it would fuel up this storm tonight. We have a stormy evening/day on tap. It was actually quite warm this morning and I had shorts on.

      I was surprised the robin didn’t share its fat worm with the baby who she left in the bushes … guess she is a closet eater?

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  8. Eliza says:
    June 20, 2019 at 7:51 am

    It’s good to begin catching up on your posts (yeah just about begin)
    Love, light and glitter

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 20, 2019 at 8:22 am

      I am behind myself as I worked in the house last weekend and was off the computer for many hours … still paying the price for that now. Love, light and glitter back at you!!

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      • Eliza says:
        June 20, 2019 at 12:34 pm

        Hey
        How was your housework??? Hugs..

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:
        June 20, 2019 at 6:32 pm

        Hey back at you and I want you to know that I stayed on task the entire last weekend (the weather was horrid though I did sneak in a small walk on Saturday morning) and I checked out the Windows 10 laptop as well. I spent two hours with it, but I still can’t use it because our computer guy has not configured how to get all the way through to my desktop. I can’t do that – he has to do that. This weekend I have to work outside as it will not be raining (for a change) and then having the weekends free again hopefully (except for the bad weather).

        Liked by 1 person

      • Eliza says:
        June 21, 2019 at 8:06 am

        Yay you!
        It takes time to figure the stuff out. Even if you can’t connect to work, the time spend will help you when it is configured.
        I hope you have an awesome clear day….
        ((((((hugs)))))))

        Liked by 1 person

      • lindasschaub says:
        June 21, 2019 at 8:15 pm

        I was glad I at least connected it Eliza, but I have to tell you … first they asked my pin number. I did not have it so I just clicked to go through (thinking I was smart and didn’t need it at all). Well, I need not have been so smug, because I got to the next step and it asked my e-mail address. So, I put in my work e-mail address. Moving right along … I clicked “next” and it says “we sent your temporary pin number to your e-mail address provided” … so I could not back out of the field I was in so I had to go fire up the old computer as I don’t have e-mail on my phone (I have a flip phone). Got the code and went back to the new computer and it was doing updates … it forgot it asked me for a code. It finished updates, and I had to start from scratch again … the stupid code had expired. Grrr! Luckily I didn’t shut the other computer down – it took me over an hour just to get into the computer! I asked Cortana why it was so difficult and she said “I don’t understand the question” or some such answer. Hope I gave you your laugh for the day!

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      • Eliza says:
        June 23, 2019 at 10:17 am

        Yeah its entertaining when it’s happened though not at the time.

        Liked by 1 person

  9. incahootswithmuddyboots says:
    June 20, 2019 at 11:59 am

    Great robin photos, Linda! We’ve had lots of robins here as well this winter and spring. The weather’s been nice, but it is raining today. The garden will appreciate it and I’ll have a chance to get some inside stuff done.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lindasschaub says:
      June 20, 2019 at 6:18 pm

      Thanks Sabine – I had a little fun with my feathered friend. I could get up pretty close to him, then he’d bolt to the next piece of equipment. We had an all day hard rain today – sigh. Now we have a couple of nice days and rain on Sunday and Monday again. Last weekend was rainy so I worked inside but most of Saturday will be good weather, so I’ll get outside and try to tame the overgrowth of bushes which are out of control. We’ve had rain every weekend for weeks. Hopefully I can salvage some of Sunday for walking and photos.

      Liked by 1 person

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    • lindasschaub says:
      June 21, 2019 at 8:00 pm

      Thank you Cheryl – glad you liked them. I have always thought Robins were interesting – just watching their antics, the perpetual scowl on their faces, but they are so sweet when they are with their babies. There was a family in the Park last year and the nest was on a low branch and I could watch the Mama feed her little ones … their mouths were open, beaks in the air waiting for food. 🙂

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  11. Mackenzie says:
    June 21, 2019 at 5:03 pm

    This post made me nostalgic for my childhood with all these playground shots!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. thesecretblind says:
    June 26, 2019 at 2:37 pm

    Oh how sweet these robins sound ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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