We turned a calendar page yesterday – the first of August felt more like a September day, with a cool and refreshing breeze. I watched the crumpled, yellow poplar leaves skittering along the pathway. Although I’ve whined about oppressive heat, (and the heat will creep back in early next week), I’m not yet ready to concede that Fall is on the way.
I hustled down to the Park, intent on getting at least five miles in. The sun is getting up later every day, so I must push myself to get out to walk timely while the good weather is here – yes I’m still chasing my goal of 1,242 miles/2000 kilometers.
Since it was coolish out, I was not only the Peanut Lady, but the Nutter Butter Lady.
I held off sharing these tasty tidbits when it was hot so they wouldn’t go rancid on the pathway if the squirrels weren’t running about due to the heat. I must admit, after I polished off that entire package of Oreos the evening of my smashed finger fiasco, last week when the garage door slid off the tracks and then when there was no hot water Monday morning, I thought maybe I “deserved” Nutter Butters. I eyed them, but decided I’d leave them squirreled away for my furry pals instead. For a minute, I even eyed the Ferrero Rocher hazelnut squirrel my friend Ann Marie gave me for Easter. I knew that chocolate would help cure my angst, but he looks too cute on the corner cabinet, so he’ll just stay put.
Parker greeted me in the parking lot. His furry butt had been plunked next to some sparrows eating crumbs of cookies or crackers that perhaps a car had run over. “Really Parker?!?!” I said as I proceeded to ply him with treats to get him out of harm’s way. For those of you that have followed my blog for a while, you know that he was named “Parker” because he used to park himself in the parking lot on the days I drove. He’d get peanuts on the perimeter path, but then he’d sit and wait by my car for more peanuts when I was finished with my walk. He followed my lead to get out of the parking lot and it was then that I noticed he was favoring his left hind leg, leaving it up in the air as he scurried after me. I didn’t notice that last Friday. His foot was not broken or mangled in any way, and I saw no blood, so I guess, and hope, it is not serious. But, nonetheless, he got an “oh you poor baby – I share your pain because I did an ‘owie’ on my finger.” He quickly sorted through his treasure trove of peanuts and cookies, and cast aside the Nutter Butters, in favor of peanuts and began munching happily.
The other squirrels were energized from the cooler weather and two gray squirrels were playing tag and came over to see me, so I emptied the remaining contents of the Nutter Butters onto a park bench and nearby for easy access for them. One looked at me skeptically – I said “ya snooze, ya lose” so he scampered over closer to me.
I made the most of my outing, 5 ½ miles walked and I hated to come into the house as I knew I had a long workday ahead of me. As to sweets and me … this weekend will be like a pie: a portion devoted to walking and taking pictures; a portion devoted to work as it is month end and the invoices need to go out; and the largest portion will be spent here catching up with posts by fellow bloggers. As to housework, it may be the crumbs of that pie. I think things will calm down a little after next week.
Meanwhile I’ll just keep my face to the sun and mosey along on these good shadow days.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Your walking regime is inspiring and your dedication to feeding the squirrels in hilarious. Such a good combo for a person to embody, in my opinion. Carry on, Linda.
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Thank you Ally – I aim to please and am smiling over what you wrote. I like to indulge my little pals from time to time – wait until apples and baby pumpkins are in season. 🙂
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That’s too bad that Parker seemed injured. Hope he will be OK.
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Yes, I was worried when I saw how he was running Anne – but resting to eat did not seem to bother him in the least. I was relieved it did not LOOK injured. Hopefully he just landed on it wrong.
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Enjoy the great weather! It’s been so rare this year.
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I know and they say no rain til Monday and, if we can believe them, they said next weekend will be comfortable and rain free too.
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Love the coolness. It’s been cooler upnorth too. Like the days when I was a kid. It cools down overnight and then warms up.
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Yes, it’s been wonderful Cathy, after all the heat we’ve had this Summer, especially that heat dome of two weeks ago. I also long for the weather we had growing up … pleasantly warm and sunny the entire season.
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I saw your email, read the first and last line. I’ll see it soon fully or sunday. Just sad at the moment and it shows me that life has changed in a good way.
My last post I’d love you to read bit its passworded as it is a handwritten picture of what I wrote. If I were commenting on my blog I’d give it to you and edit. But it’ll have to wait.
Love, light and glitter ….
E
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Okay, I’m glad you saw my e-mail as I did want to acknowledge it was your final day of school and I was thinking of you saying goodbye. It’s tough, but you’re a better person for the experience. Love, light and glitter back to you Ellie.
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Thanks!
I saw that sentence, but my day was chaos. I’ll have more time the next few weeks.
I hope you had a bit of a break over the weekend
(yeah, it’s late, it was whatistcalled it, shabbat was just over, so up late and had to come on here – my laptop I mean – to reply to an email)
Love, light and glitter
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I intended to get more or Reader done this weekend Ellie – am bummed about that but the issue with the alarm chewed up a good hour if not longer and then we had a storm this afternoon which lasted a couple of hours … and suddenly the weekend is over, but I did spend a lot of time outdoors and indulged myself by not doing housework (maybe not so smart, but it’s okay once in a while.) Love, light and glitter to start off your first week of vacation.
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Thanks!
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Fair play on the miles you got in today ❤. Hope Parker is ok.
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Hi Zena – I’m walking extra miles for you while your knee heals. 🙂
Are you and Munch taking it easy before the whirlwind book tour? I’ll bet you are enduring grueling physical therapy to put you back in shape quicker.
I hope Parker is okay too, and I feel better not seeing anything cut or broken and hope he just landed on his foot and it is temporary.
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Thanks for taking on the extra miles 😂😂. Yes physio is going good thanks and it has improved loads just trying to walk a little quicker each day as I am slowing Munch down 😁
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It sounds like you will be catching up with Munch and me in no time Zena. At least you got this surgery done in good weather with no snow or ice to contend with.
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I did not know that was how Parker got his name. I thought maybe he was the Park mascot? It’s shaping up to be a nice sunny weekend – hope you can get some walking in.
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Yes, I had a whole post about him a few years ago – I should have linked to it … since he “discovered” me (and my peanuts), he would always greet me when I first set out on the path, but since I work from home and don’t drive the car enough, I sometimes, all year around, will drive to the Park and just walk a couple of extra miles (it is a 2-mile round trip when I walk to Council Point Park). So, Parker did not miss a thing … he saw me coming from the car and the first time he did it was in the Winter – I had given out all my peanuts on the perimeter path and there was this poor little squirrel, sitting by my car when I returned to it to drive home. I was scared to run over him as he parked himself there and I had nothing for him. Every since then, if I drive, I always keep some peanuts in case he comes over to the parking curb when I’m ready to leave … he is very sweet and last year tried to jump up and reach the bag – I clip several cotton mesh bags onto my fanny pack – I now carry the garden gloves which I use to open/shut the garage door – I have to reach underneath as there is no grab rope and push/pull the door … I don’t think I’ll forget now as it’s been 5 weeks, but they go in one mesh bag, the peanuts in another, plus I had a bag tied around my waist with the canister of cookies – plus the fanny pack itself … I must weigh 5 pounds with all this stuff (camera, keys, phone, spray, plastic bags in case I get caught in the rain) … anyway, I was not quick enough and he started hopping like a pogo stick, and could not reach the bag of peanuts, so he proceeded to try to climb up my leg – he’s done it before when I had sweat pants on, but I had shorts on – didn’t want him potentially scratching me … had to shoo him down without scaring him. It is going to be nice both weekend days, today a little cooler – I need to get away and a couple of the places I intended to go have Summer festival events (one a jazz festival) so that’s not going to be a place I’ll go – too many cars, people.
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I would avoid the Jazz festival certainly…..jazz is like chalk on a blackboard in my opinion! Went to the beach today for a few hours with a good book, but even it was too crowded, so I didn’t get good pictures, – it’s better during the week when it’s quieter.
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No, I stayed clear from it and was disappointed as I was right there and it is a little cooler for walking due to all the trees at that venue. I ended up getting sunburned this weekend and try not to that either but I was out walking later. Not going to do that again. I don’t like crowds either and as I said in my other comment to you, I think any venue with lots of people is a good idea anymnore – I would sure think twice about going to a mall on Black Friday to be honest. We had unexpected rain around 5:00 – that second day of the jazz event was going on tonight, so it likely messed things up there as it is all outdoors. Hope you did not get that rainstorm too …
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At least you didn’t have to listen to music at your house. The past 2 nights we have had a local music festival for the holiday weekend, where they played the music so loud I could hear it from my bedroom window and I am blocks and blocks away, well past 1am when the noise bylaw is supposed to go into effect!
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We had that a few weeks ago for Art in the Park at Memorial Park. On Friday they had a band playing really loud and it started at 4:00 p.m.; on the Saturday, it was all day and into the night. Every Thursday night all Summer they have a band at the same park – it is close enough to hear the music depending on the type of music it is. But it only lasts from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Our noise bylaw is 11:00 p.m. but people are making noise after that, including people with fireworks or dogs barking.
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Awww poor Parker! He must not be too badly injured if he’s coming out to eat, that’s a good sign. How beautiful the weather has been! Would you mind sharing how many of the 1242 miles you have done? I can’t believe you haven’t eaten that chocolate squirrel yet. Such will power!
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That’s what I’m hoping Diane – I have to figure out my miles – I wanted to do it for month end which is what I usually do – because of not only my work schedule this week, as I stayed late most every night, but I did a Windows 7 critical update about 2 1/2 weeks ago – the update completed and then I could not remote into my work desktop – the computer was otherwise fine but this is a problem. I tried reverting the computer back before the update but it said it had disk failure – I need to take a flash drive and transfer all my documents/pictures onto this computer, but I’ve not had time to do so. I will likely have to take the computer in for repair and take everything off it at the same time I move the data over, and might have them just load Windows 10 on it at the same time since Windows 7 is expiring in January 2020. So I have my walking log current to 2 1/2 weeks ago as to my miles and then I have a second list started. I don’t have the laptops linked in case I ever got a virus … since I work from home, I don’t want to have it be a “network virus”, just one laptop virus. I will figure it out, likely after next weekend. I did not tally it end of June either … I think I can make it to 1,242 if the weather cooperates and there are no more house issues that force me to be here for contractors … not only has the weather been horrid since January (ice, rain, heat) – the ice prevented me from walking in the Winter … snow never bothered me and with the exception of the Polar Vortex with its -45 degree temps, I would walk in the cold – like it better than the heat to be honest. But the ice – remember you had a day cancel because of an ice storm – stuff like that. I’m really pushing to make up for lost time/miles. I will figure it out for next weekend and let you know … at the end of May, I know I had 800 miles left – I said “OMG – 800 miles in 7 months – I don’t know if that’s doable or not.” Hopefully I was wrong.
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I hate updates they screw up everything! I hope you get it figured out without too much work. Your miles are really adding up. I bet you do it!
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I think I’ll make it too if we don’t have an early Winter like last year – the weather is so crazy – right now it is 73 degrees and really sticky with 90 percent humidity. No treat to walk but it is not raining so I’ll just go … there are hungry squirrels to feed. 🙂
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Thanks – I hope so too. Today my computer at work locked up as I finishing off some work – my boss had left and the computer tech could not reboot my computer remotely – no words. Everything I touch these days … 🙂
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[[[[HUGS]]]]
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You have your fine squirrels.😊 I haven’t even seen a squirrel this year. Admittedly, I was sick last spring and started working in April. Have missed all spring and most of the summer.
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Thanks John – they do make me smile – I am glad you are feeling better and out and about again because photography is a real joy to you – I’m not going to post anything this weekend to give me a chance to get out and walk and take some pictures, and catch up here in Reader where I am very behind.
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What is the matter with Parker? Passing up cookies for nuts? Maybe he was saving the Nutter Butters for dessert. I hope his leg heals quickly! You are getting some good miles in, Linda. Are you on track to meet your goal? I think that you and I will travel about the same amount of miles this year. I usually run about 100 miles/month or a little bit more. Yes, save the housework for just the crumbs of the pie. There are more important things to do!
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Laurie – I wanted to feel his forehead or reach over and eat them myself. I opened the canister and it smelled wonderful. I hope it is something minor with his leg – I was relieved not to see any evidence of blood or that he had broken it somehow and he had an appetite, just holding that back leg in the air.
I usually add my miles the end of each month … I did not at the end of June as we had that stormy weather and I was not on the computer much, then, at the end of July, I had the issue with the disk failure and my info and other lists and some notes on pictures and walks to use later are in the other computer. I need to take a flash drive and move it to this computer, but with all the things breaking around here and busy at work, I’ve not done it. I will do it by next weekend hopefully. I walked 7 miles today – it was 6 3/4s miles when I took off the pedometer, but I easily did 1/4 of a mile, just getting ready to go and after I came home walking in the house. If I can keep that pace, I’ll meet my target, but I’ve had so many issues with contractors coming by and having to be here at home waiting on them or their calls, rather than on a walk.
I went back to Lake Erie Metropark today and found a whole new trail I never knew existed. It is a huge park and I’ve been to two areas, but not this one. A huge wildflower garden and a wooded area where a fellow walker pointed out a fawn.
I was in my glory of course … got some pretty good pics of it, considering it was dark inside where it was with another fawn who stayed in the background. It may be a few weeks til I can sort thru my pics and do a post. I have to catch up here in Reader a bit tonight and tomorrow. Pffft for housework, but I’ve said that too many times lately … it will have to wait til next week as I seized the day instead.
I have an interesting site to share. A fellow blogger sent me a YouTube link about a race in Mexico, the smallest leg of the race if 37k and the largest part (I guess in total) is 100k. He said some runners run in native dress … the video is in Spanish, but they had a Facebook site and there is info online about it. Not for the feint of heart – some run in bare feet, or sandals … you would not need those new trail shoes … hmmm.
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I love it when I find a new trail or network of trails to run on. I can imagine you feel the same way about finding new walking paths. That Mexican race sounds familiar. The man who began the barefoot running craze lives near me. He came out to run with our running club a few times. His book takes place in Mexico.
He advocated running barefoot and he convinced several runners in our club to do the same. Unfortunately, most of the proponents of barefoot running wound up getting injured. I guess there is something to be said for a good pair of running shoes.
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Yes, I loved this pathway and only went there due to the sogginess in the shoreline trail I usually take. I never knew it existed and I will go back again – those wildflowers were just gorgeous. That’s interesting about the barefoot running craze – I had never heard of it and I can’t imagine an avid runner taking a chance on not using shoes and risking injury that would sideline their running regimen. And the duration of those runs were very long. I like my walking shoes as I’ve never gotten blisters from them, because bad blisters could sideline walking –
it is all about the running and walking with us, isn’t it?
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Well, I suppose you and I, or at least our states, have switched weather patterns for a bit. Our unusually cooler days have been quite hot the past week and a half and promise to be a bit of the same this next week. However, it is still a quite cooler than most years in the last of July/early August. We’ve been hovering in the high 80s/ low 90s but haven’t hit above about 92; so, if it will stay there until the end of August and then start hitting us with the cooler temps of September, I might just say, “This summer has been quite tolerable.” 😂 Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m always ready for any of the cooler temps! 😉 … I’m so sorry about your thumb! Ouch! I’ll have to go back a post or two to read all that happened. I’ve got to catch up on some reading this week. Hope you have a blessed week, and I do hope “Parker” fares well! 😊
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We were pretty high temps this weekend and I got sunburned which I usually never do and then we had a storm and some torrential rain late in the afternoon – those heat spikes, but no crossing finger to be okay as it was not severe as most of them have been lately – whew. I am ready for Fall as well.
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Miss Linda……………………………..I saw the gold squirrel on your shelf still………………….it reminds me of Mr. Parker …………………………
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That gold squirrel will not beg or pretend he is a pogo stick to reach the nuts on my fanny pack Ann Marie. It reminds me of you and doesn’t it look nice sitting there with all the ducks? My mom had a “thing” for ducks – they are everywhere around the house, decoy wood and some of them look very lifelike.
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Aw, seeing Parker enjoy the sweet treats is so fun. I’m so glad you portioned out your weekend and treated yourself to some much-deserved miles!
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Yes, he is a cutie and I missed him shamelessly begging for treats on the perimeter path. I really did overindulge myself this weekend Shelley, unlike you who worked her tail off last weekend, I did not touch anything, but I’m not proud of that fact either – I really need to get on it next weekend … during the week it does not happen, even if I say a day at a time. I did not get as much of Reader done as I messed with that alarm issue for over an hour last night and I was not online later today as we had a storm that lasted over two hours. I went to the botanical gardens this morning/early afternoon – I am worn out from all that fresh air and sunshine, but got 13 miles walked this weekend. I did not work at all – my boss said to wait until Monday so I did.
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I bet you did miss him. I overindulged this weekend – I played all weekend. I better catch up on stuff during the week. I’m happy you got 13 miles in and that you took a break from the homefront. I think that is really important for us who work from home. We need to get out and see different scenery. I bet the gardens were beautiful! Happy Monday to you!
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Yes, he’s got some personality going there. You are right about getting out and about – working at home is great, especially when you look outside and it’s a blizzard or a torrential rain or 105 degrees in the shade – and I’ve been in all that and waiting on the bus. But you can and do feel confined sometimes. The gardens were beautiful – they had had a wedding reception the night before so they still had some tables and a tent in the back portion of the gardens and hundreds of tea light all around the area. They have volunteers that help take care of the flowers – good thing as it is a massive amount of work to water and tend to – 120 potted plants and 7 acres.
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I agree on all you said, your wise, Linda, very wise!
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I’m happy to see that Parker has survived your crazy summer, Linda! It’s been fairly mild here with a few hot days here and there. Your steps are really starting to add up!
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Yes, we had some cool days, then we’re back in the sauna a few more days then cooling off again. A fellow blogger is in the Mount Hood area today visiting their kids in Oregon and I told her about all your wonderful hikes you go on with Mount Hood in the background.
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Mount Hood is beautiful! I hope your fellow blogger is having a great time up there. The weather’s been decent here, but I wonder if we’re going to get an early fall. I’ve already seen some leaves turning! 😬
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I have seen red and orange leaves already Sabine. I will tell you if Laurie does a post. I told her about your photos Laurie does not usually post the same day – either do I anymore and this is the first year to be lagging in writing posts, and I am horribly behind in Reader due to a big project at work. Laurie and her husband are visiting their two sons, they just left Colorado Monday after visiting them. They are enjoying retirement.
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Sounds good, Linda! I think there are quite a few of us who fall behind in blogging and reading! I imagine every blogger goes through times like these. We’re on schedule, then something comes up and we’re sidetracked. Sometimes we get right back into it, and sometimes it takes a little longer. After all, we’re all human! 😉
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I think after today things are going to calm down a little Sabine. My boss is gone until Monday afternoon, but it has been quite hectic, and this week alone, we had three computer malfunctions at work – I had one of my own a few weeks ago. I am about 5-6 days behind right now in Reader, but will do a little at a time, and this morning I got out a post. I have always done my posts the same day as I walked/took the photos – not this year, but I guess that’s not so bad.
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I feel like all is right in the world with nut butters featured and Parker prancing around! You definitely are getting your miles in. Thanks for sharing!
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Glad I gave you a smile Mackenzie – those spoiled silly squirrels! I am trying to get 5 miles per day and at least 6 on the weekend, weather permitting.
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