Friday, October 12, 2012

Take a hike....2012

One fall afternoon...

The air was just right.  The breeze was calling me.

The trees beckoned.


A small bird watched as the thoughts came to me...its time to explore the backyard!


First, start by selecting the appropriate trekking clothing.
Long pants, a must.
Sturdy hiking shoes...that is something that is a personal preference.
I like low riding shoes as I like my ankles to have loads of moving room.
Some folks like the ones that allow the support for those ankles.
If you go for the high top hiking shoes, make sure you were them around a bit to break them in BEFORE you trek.  It will help in the long run, I promise.


I also like to don a long sleeved shirt and a vest of some sort.
Wear shorter sleeves if you dare.
I discovered that we have burrs of several types in our property.
(One type as shown above)

Don't pick your best stuff as they will more than likely get wrecked somehow.


I was enjoying the relatively warm balmy weather of September
when I wrote this post...so don't be asking me why the leaves haven't changed yet...
Most of our leaves have changed colour and allowed the wind to blow them from
their lofty homes up in the tree tops.

Our backyard beyond the firepit is very over-grown and wonderful.

It sparks my imagination in ways that haven't been tickled since childhood.
The days of tree forts and expeditions into the wild.

I'm more cautious now and respectful of nature.

It still gets my imagination going...just in new ways now.


I found plants on my property that need identifying!

There was this one above that stood about 1/2 a foot tall.
It had a tubular stem, grass-like clusters of leaves starting at the base
and a tall collection of orange berries on top.


Some wild plant that looked like cilantro.
The flowers on this one was beautiful!


A tall cluster of dried something!

(By the way, I also wear gloves...just in case something I touch
might cause a reaction...we have scads of poison ivy on our property
as well as some poison sumac here and there)


Not sure if this will be white like poison sumac or if the berries will turn blue like
these other plants on our property.
It also seemed late for either of those things...


The berries were close to the ground stemming from a plant
pictured above.
(You can also see some of the baby oaks on our property
in that pic...wondering what kind of oak we have...)


I also found some of the above pictured
pretty purple wild flowers.

I'm not much one for flowers but I appreciate when nature sprinkles them
everywhere.

I had almost forgotten how the flowers leave us in the fall, only to
have nature give us sheets of purple asters everywhere I look.



Grab a pair of sturdy shoes and get outside for a hike.
Explore your own property.
Inspect the hidden corners you never think about.

Nature has surprises waiting for you...


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