Whenever possible, I keep Blaine on a leash (aka hold his hand) when we’re hiking/walking. If not, he runs away. If it’s a narrow trail and we can’t walk side-by-side, and he’s in front, he runs off. Now mind you, he is a wonderful husband and he stops to wait on me, but that means he gets more breaks than I do. : )
Here’s why he gets away:
- His legs are longer. I can easily match him step for step, but he has a longer stride, which means he goes faster.
- His feet are longer. Now you’re probably wondering what that has to do with anything, but here’s why this matters. When we come to roots or rocks, he has more to stand on, whereas my feet may fall between the cracks (so to speak) and therefore, I have to move more slowly and carefully.
- His legs are longer. Yep, I said it again – for a different reason. When we come to a ‘tall step’, he just hops right on up. My legs are short, therefore, sometimes I have to actually climb to get up. Slows me down.
- If he’s in front and we’re climbing, he gets more breaks. That means he has more chances to catch his breath, whereas, I usually choose to keep walking – because I feel bad, and old, and out of shape, if I hold us up. I know. It’s a pride thing.
- He has better vision. Some of you are wondering what that has to do with anything. And no, I’m not going blind. But according to my optometrist, my eyes don’t focus at the same time. They’re off by a few milliseconds, but that means looking up and down makes me just a tad off-balance.
- Blaine hasn’t had any problems with his knees since he quite work. I, on the other hand, have started. I don’t normally say anything because I try really hard to ignore it, but it’s there. Walking? Fine. No discomfort at all. Climbing up or down? Yeah. It’s there. Making me walk a bit more gingerly. AKA, slow.
It’s generally better if I go first. And if I don’t, it’s probably because of spider webs across the trails. 😊
As far as why we hike so much, sometimes it’s for fresh air, sometimes is just for exercise, sometimes it’s to get to a particular destination/view, and sometimes it’s because the sheer beauty of the trail itself draws us. Like this one.
The Frank E. Woodworth Preserve. It’s a 1.7 mile trail with a loop in part of it. The pictures do not even come close to the tranquil beauty of this place! Our phones take really nice pictures, but either we’re too unskilled or it’s just not possible to capture. We did the best we could.
The views, both within and without the woods were beyond description. Glorious!
Nope!
Should we be concerned? Maybe that means we’ll actually encounter something bigger than a squirrel!
The forest floor was covered with a soft, emerald green carpet
The forest floor was covered with a soft, emerald green carpet. It doesn’t show up well in most of the pictures, but it was stunning.
I think we made a wrong turn . . .
Maybe the Darwinians are right after all. Maybe we did come from apes. He’s always balancing and climbing on stuff . . . Hmmm . . . .
I just thought this little stump-seat was cute. Had to try it out.
Blaine must have thought so too. He took a picture. : )
Unfortunately, the fog pictures didn’t fare any better. It was beautiful!
Another bench.
What can I say. Sometimes the oddest things impress me.
Sitting on an Island
I know you’re wondering how I got here if it’s an island, but it’s low tide. : )
We’ve seen these in several places. Sometimes on rocks, sometimes stumps, sometimes in the middle of the trail.
We’ve decided those tiny squirrels are eating something and leaving the ‘petals’.
A light-green fairy house (or toadstool, whichever you prefer) : )
We’ve seen this quite often around here. There’s a root, and these smaller ones lay over top of it. It seems like they’re there to hold the main roots down. It would be cool to see this in action!
Whadayathink?
And now I’m going to give you a glimpse into how my mind works. Scary, huh?
Blue Blaze
They use these to mark the trails. For some reason, on this day, on this trail, this one reminded me of my Grandpa. This blue blaze made me think of people who say, “What in the Blue Blazes . . .” Then I thought, Gpa used to say, “What in the Sam Hill . . .” And then that encouraged the revelation that both these sayings are a nice way of saying “H-e-double toothpicks”. Then I wondered what Blue Blazes had to do with that, and it occurred to me, “Blue fire is really hot . . .” Hence, H-e-double toothpicks!
And there you have it! A few seconds of my crazy, secret mind at work! 😊
On the way back home, we stopped at a place our campground hostess had mentioned when we first arrived. We’d never heard of it.
Wreaths Across America
They provide wreaths for deceased veteran’s graves and all the ones in Arlington National Cemetery once a year. They celebrated their 25th anniversary this year. A very unassuming place on the outside in a tiny little town in Maine, but inside they had the most beautiful murals and displays!
This is the man who started it all.
The caption on the bottom of the painting reads:
Presented to Morrill R. Worcester at the State House in Augusta, Maine July 10, 2008 for his love and dedication to all who served for our freedom
A model and display of the ship The Maine
A tree quilt with buttons attached.
Families with deceased members are encouraged to make a star ‘ornament’ and hang it on the tree.
Below is the plaque that goes with these medals. It didn’t say anything else, so we don’t know what towns, what year or what troops. . . .
Very interesting place. Wonderful day!
UPDATE: The Cleveland Indians have won 14 games in a row!!