Little red berries of temptationI pass this bush/tree near the beginning of the ride and right now, the whole thing is loaded with these bright red berries. I do not find it hard to imagine how people poison themselves out in the woods -- I must resist the very irrational temptation to put a handful of these little berries in my mouth. Must.Resist.
You belong among the wildflowersThe wild sunflowers along the trail are starting to give up the ghost. They were in full bloom the last couple of weeks and now, just the late bloomers are out. The golden rods are still out in force though so the fields are tinged with yellow.
He's going the distance, he's going for speedI nearly wrecked my bike trying to stop when I saw this guy in front of me. He's hanging out at the 4 mile marker. On this trail over the years, I've seen lots of snakes and turtles and every bug you can imagine. I had not seen a snake this big or of this kind though. After I took the pictures, I had to steer a Suburban Mom away from it b/c she was pushing a baby stroller and yakking on the phone headed right for it. In addition to snakes, the trail is filled with Suburban Moms and Active Seniors.
Snakes On A TrailHere I am again using the new-to-me closeup function on my camera. It's handy. ETA: After a little bit of internet research, I've concluded that this is a Speckled Kingsnake..and apparently, it emits a very foul odor if one fucks with it.
Take a picture here, take a souvenirThis is my zen. I love this part of the trail because it slopes slightly down and it feels like you could keep going forever on it. If you look far off into the distance just to the right of the trail, you can see some higher elevation land. We live on top of that hill. When all the leaves are off the trees, I'm going to head up on the roof and see if I can see the trail from there.
This way to the Emerald CityIf you take the trail this way, it curves around and you get a great view of the lake (man-made, yes, but water nonetheless). Alas, I only went to the 5 mile marker before I turned back around to head home. To the left on top of the ridge that is visible, I had one of those Thou Art That moments years ago. I'm glad to be back among this geography.
4 comments:
LN...you live in a beautiful area. It's so open. It reminds me of our trip from Denver to Nashville.
The snake thingy is a tad scary, though I once pulled a king snake out of my flower bed by the tail. It was fun to watch my girl freak and run. I let it snake away in the back field. Hey your bike ride looks farther than 5 miles away.
It's so FLAT!
Open and flat = love! :)
You know, I once theorized that some people don't like the midwest precisely b/c the openness of the land is too much to handle; they prefer to be socked in and surrounded by trees or buildings, mostly b/c it reminds them of the womb. In my book, the Midwest is the bosom of this country and I secretly think people on the coasts are yearning for the teat that is the Midwest. Or something like that...;)
I once theorized that some people don't like the midwest precisely b/c the openness of the land is too much to handle
You're definitely onto something. My mother once told me how "frightened" she was by the flatness of Ohio!
If the midwest is the teat of the country, then it's strictly an A-cup. Give me the C-cups of the Appalachias, and the moist, dewy valleys that they nestle...
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