A Walk in the Woods

One of the joys of taking senior pictures is that sometimes you see friends you haven't seen in ages. Like we had to wait until their son or daughter was about to graduate to see each other. Silly us. 

Had fun tonight reuniting with one my former kickboxing buddies. We called ourselves the Wonder Twins and haven't seen each other since well before the pandemic. Gwen's daughter loves the outdoors so we met in a wooded (very wooded) and wet (very wet) park area in Adams County.

All of our shoes were soaked about 3 minutes into the walk. I'm guessing the mushrooms like the dampness, but we weren't so sure.

There also wasn't much of a path anywhere so at one point I figured I better take a selfie so my phone would have a location if we never emerged! Not that I'm a worrier or drama queen!

Anyways, Morgan was what you'd picture for a woodland sprite. Adorable! And super talented like her mom. She knit this scarf and a sweater she wore later. We had a blast catching up and trying not to fall over logs or into holes or get too many pricklies on us.

Failed in that part. You can see in this Wonder Twins reunion photo that we both have green dots on us. Not your usual prickly things, more sticky like press-on fingernail stickers.

See what I mean? I'm making progress in picking them off. But it was totally worth it. My shoes will dry. The stickers will come off. And I'll re-live our fun walk in the woods!

Eco Break

 I can always gauge how busy my workday was by looking at my FitBit. Did I get a chance for walk breaks to build up to my daily goal of 10,000 steps? Or was I chained to my desk with projects and meetings? 

Today at 5 p.m., I'd recorded 852 steps. And no, I'm not a professional sloth. Just seems like that! 

So instead of a "bio break" – how grownups say potty break – I took an "eco break" to enjoy the great outdoors.

For beauty this time of year, I had to look no further than the back yard for this towering inferno. It's it gorgeous? 

That didn't get me many steps so I ventured down the road and through the woods to snoop on some tree clearing work going on. Saw this weird dead thing hanging. Looked cool, though. So you know I had to take a picture. 

It was pretty awesome being in the woods by myself. Except for the part I was hoping to find my way home. I did! It was just a slow 2,000-step process.

Back to the front yard and pretty tree there. There must be some hungry insects or maybe a disease because all of the leaves have at least one hole in them. I suppose they're like humans. We might look pretty on the outside, but we all have at least one thing (or person) missing in our lives. Don't we?

That's when you look up. You'll always find more beauty, blessings and answers there. If you don't believe me, you might just need an eco break yourself.

Your soul – and FitBit – will thank you.

Thinking Outside the Box

In the back of my mind I keep thinking I "just started" my "new" job a few months ago. On Monday, though, I got an email about it being 6 months. Six months? Wow. Time does fly when you're having fun!

I decided since I had given my life to Sentry for half a year, it was time to venture off campus. Literally, it took me 6 months to cross the street!

And why? To get to Schmeeckle Reserve, of course. (Don't ask me to pronounce it. That may take another 6 months!)

The Reserve is a 280-acre natural area considered to be part of the UW-Stevens Point campus. It's got 5 miles of trails and boardwalks, a 24-acre lake, and diverse habitats that support numerous wildlife species -- including frogs (which I heard but did not see) and snakes (which I also, thankfully, did not see). It's worth going to see deer, ducks and whatever else wanders the Reserve during the spring, summer, and fall.

During my inaugural walk, it looked like a bit of a mess in there. Apparently, last summer a major storm swept through Schmeeckle Reserve and flattened hundreds of trees. There was lots of cleanup and clearing last summer and fall before I even "moved" into the neighborhood.

Still some more work to do. Plus, this spring, the cleared areas will be planted with native trees and grasses as part of a multi-year restoration process. It'll be fun to see the progress!

Naturally, I had my phone with me to snap some pictures on Monday and on Tuesday (when I went with friends). Nothing too unusual, but join me for a walk...

And when there's a fork in the road, either way is right when you are outside. Outside the box (aka office).

And just outside.

Wild Life

When my 50-year-old brother throws a wild party, he doesn't skimp on the WILD.

He sent us out (voluntarily, of course) into the wilds to see what we could capture in our in our minds or with our cameras... Interesting textures, brilliant colors, unusual wildlife. I think I saw it all! Here are just few of the highlights:

First, the splash of color...
Never have I seen mushrooms like this. My sister and I were walking on a path and just happened to glance left and saw them aways into the woods. Not hard to miss when they were so big and brilliant!
This one on the side of the fallen log was way bigger than a bread box! Weird, huh?

I like to call this next section "A Bug's Life"...
I was not kidding about the variety of dragonflies. I wish they would have spread their wings, but I still enjoy the contrast.

And their big, buggy eyes are only slightly disturbing compared to other images further down!

This one I was happy to see some of the "veins" in the wings and on the leaves. This was only in about 4 tries, so not bad.

This goes to show they are not all pretty. This brown-eyed bandit is downright ugly and he creeps me out a bit. I actually saw him on this branch in the ditch when we were walking back to the park parking lot. Yes, I've got an eagle eye now!

Or so I thought. I found out as I cropped in a few pictures that I got more than I bargained for.

WARNING: This next section is PG...

As in Pretty Gross! I did not know this guy was eating a Daddy Longleg for lunch when I tried to capture him on this fern. Ewwww!

And as in Pretty Graphic.... I did not know when I was focusing on the dragonfly on this leaf that he had landed smack in the middle of a "bug bedroom." See the husband and wife in the foreground are having some noontime fun!

Sorry... Here's something to get that image out of your head...
Scenic and definitely wild. That's how we party in the Northwoods!

Holy cow!

Some people are afraid of roller coasters. Some people fear enclosed spaces or heights. I'm afraid of getting trampled by a cow.

I had the strangest experience on my walk yesterday. I was walking past this farm like I normally do. Usually there are several cows milling about, chewing their cud and talking about the fluffy female walking by. Yesterday, though, they were inside the barn -- all but one that is.

This black cow was on the other side of the fence in the next pasture. He was standing their bellowing, like he was lost or mad or something. (Trust me, we don't want mad cows around.)

When he saw me he broke into a run toward the fence next to the road. He stopped at the fence and bellowed in my face. Then as I walked, he trotted on the other side of the fence next to me, keeping pace and bellowing all the way (this loses something without the sound effects).

I was a little freaked and found myself talking back with "what?!" and "sorry, cow." I picked up speed, just hoping there was not an opening in the fence further down. There wasn't. When he couldn't go any further he bellowed out a "thank you very little" and I said another "sorry, cow" and did double-time down the road.

When I was a kid, our land was surrounded by pastures and some woods. When the cows were by the pond, Mom, Raylene and I would venture into the woods. When the cows were back in the woods, we'd take walks down by the pond and sometimes go around it.

Once in awhile we'd come across the cows. Then my heart would stop. We'd quietly back track then book it home. I was always so scared those big, snot-nosed cows would run us right over some day. Of course, they didn't.

Yes, it's a silly fear but yesterday's mad-cow incident brought back some weird memories about those lovely walks in the woods, balance-beam walking on broken logs, side-stepping cow pies and occasionally running for our lives.

Even if I think I can run today, I have this sinking suspicion those cows are a heckuva lot quicker than they look. I mean that's where they get the lean ground beef, right?