One puppy down - short walks and the campus cat

I have been taking very short walks to make sure Padimus gets exercise, but doesn't hurt her paw any more than it already is.

I thought I had it figured out. I would keep her inside until the dew dried in the grass. I let her out at noon and brought her in to sleep tonight. The bandage was not just dirty. It was dirty and wet, nasty, disgusting. Get the picture? [If not, see below.]

So, after forcing down more antibiotics and pain meds I rebandaged the paw. It isn't pretty, but I think we need to keep it clean a little longer.

This pet doctoring is eating my walk time. There will be a longer walk with Scruff in the morning. He has been so patient as he waits for his bud to return.

Today a short walk at work allowed me a long look at the campus cat. Reports are that she has lived here since she was a kitten. She seems to like my building almost as well as the Admin. Building.

Here she is:

Nice bench, but no food!

Why are there rocks on the sidewalk?

Every time I come out here the view changes.

Nothing good in that trash can.

Where did the smokers go?

 And Paddy's dirty paw:

Silly drivers and acorns

The Esperanza almost glows in the bright sunlight of a Sunday morning

Paddy has hurt a paw so we left her home today. Scruffy was great -  so much easier to manage on his own. It was a sunny-bright Sunday morning. I doubt it was above 60 degrees, but the sunshine was warm on our fleeced backs. The breeze made it cold in the shade, but pleasant in the sun.

The park witnessed a soccer game or two this morning and a number of cars were parked in strange spots. We though they might belong to folks looking for first fall of pecans, but the people were just sitting in the cars - eating an early lunch? waiting for friends? lost?

We checked for purple leather flower seeds. There were 20 or more  of the spiny seed-pods still bright green, growing along the edge of the woods. And then we found two tiny blooms. It is amazing to me how plants will hold on to the bitter end of the growing season.

Purple leather flower STILL blooming

As we headed home we saw a couple of teenagers staring at a white sedan in their drive. The closer we got, the clearer the circumstances became. The driver of the sedan had misjudged the driveway and the driver's side of the car was teetering on top of the retaining wall fronting that yard. The rear wheel was elevated about 10 inches above the sidewalk.

We walked on, neither of us good at engineering or physics - our suggestions would be of no use in this situation. It was going to take something to fix. The revving of engines, grating of metal against concrete and grinding of tires on gravel continued behind us. DH talked of the days he would have gotten 7 or 8 friends to "lift" a vehicle out of such a predicament.

After we walked three more blocks I could stand it no longer. I turned around to see the car slightly further back into the street, but still impossible caught on the concrete wall.

Acorns: Burr oak, live oak, red oak

I've mentioned the acorns we have been crunching underfoot the last few weeks. I handed Scruff over to DH and I gathered a few acorns to share here before starting the chores I have been putting off this weekend.

We are out of the regular habit. And this week a lack of sleep (mostly due to work) has not allowed for a decent walk until today.

We four headed down the street in the dark. About half way to the park a car was idling in a driveway, reverse lights on. Do we wait or not? Are they going to back into us in the dark? I wear flashing lights most dark mornings, but even with flashing lights a driver must look.

We brave the 10 feet past the drive and are parallel to the front door just as a boy exits and turns to see us. His surprise - to discover two big dark dogs and two big people at the edge of the glow of his front porch light showed clearly. Even a gentle "Morning!" did not close his mouth or move his hand free of the front door.

The park was almost empty - cool and damp. A heavy dew covered the ground and a low wispy fog hugged the fields. We would see no creatures today save the insects enjoying the last of the good weather. Friends arrive as we leave. Our community of walkers and runners ebbs and flows.

We saw another neighbor lounging on one end of his porch reading the paper. And it was our turn for a surprise as a deep loud barking followed us up the street. Unseen at the edge of that porch light was a big, loud protective pup. Ours walked, heads turned in the direction of the barking.

It was still dark as we arrive home to prepare for our day.

Shoot the day you see the rabbit...er, worm

Went to the park on my own today as I am not up to struggling with leashes and excited pups (allergies). Still, I wanted a photo of the caterpillars. One of them almost posed yesterday - its markings like an alien face. Surely they would be snacking away on leaves and stems today.

The park cat was about 25 feet ahead of me as I walked along the road. She was not interested in company and ran off into the woods. As I neared the far meadow I heard the snorted warning and then saw the doe charge off to my left. I reflexively snapped a photo of the now empty meadow. I heard at least one more deer in the woods on the right, but the brush is still thick enough to provide cover.

I headed to the wafer ash saplings to see if the caterpillars were still there. They were not. So I decided to see if I could grab a few photos of the flowers along the road and hiding in the grass-a reminder that wildflowers are blooming almost all year long here - what a gift!

There were retrievers in the park as I left - robot dogs and a huge chocolate lab with its human. I felt a little guilty leaving Paddy and Scruff in the yard while I took even this short walk. Perhaps I will remember a camera in the future - avoiding guilty, lonely, largely futile walks.

Note I: I have struggled to identify some of the wildflowers. You can see the frustration noted below. I think I do best to just enjoy and use a common - close enough name, but I always am afraid a reader who wants more precision will be unhappy. If we need to, we can always ask my brother. He knows these plants down to the last leaf, petal and tiny root.

Note II: I reread this and noted the awkward "neared the far" above. It made me laugh so I am keeping it.

The road

These should be easy to identify due to the distinct petal, but three wildflower books later and still no luck (but that may be a lack of patience concerning the identifications found below).

Don't eat! These are some of the last fruit visible of the silver-leaf nightshade. This entire plant is terribly poisonous.

Small white aster-like flower. I have given up on identification..

Probably the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus)

Wild Verbena, (Of course, there are at least two kinds of these as well - Dakota vervain or Rose vervain, both of the Verbena family so Verbena is right)

Verbena almost hidden by the grass. Wildflower hunting challenging in grass-filled meadows.

Heavens! I just learned there are two remarkable similar flowers like this - probably more. (Dracopis amplexicaulis or Ratibida columnaris - coneflower or Mexican hat? Probably the latter as its blooming season is later. In the upper right hand corner is false ragweed (Parthenium hysterophorus), a very common wildflower we take for granted unless it is the only thing blooming.

I have no idea what this is, but I think it is lovely. I am sure it has wretched pollen.

Just noticed the crack in the trunk of this tree.

Wild seed pods of the purple leatherflower (Ranunculaceae Clematis pitcheri)

The devil (I need go no closer).

Clouds hid the sunrise

In the books - insect field guides

It was the perfect morning. We were a little late so the traffic in and out of the park was a bit of a hazard. But we braved a race across the street discovered the baseball fields empty and the soccer fields anthills of activity.

We met a few people on our way. One couple was heading west as we headed east. Our eyes were blinded by the angle of the sunlight, but we managed to see them and move out of the way. [I prefer people think the dogs are somewhat dangerous. I doubt I convince many as I fake sooth them - "It's OK. Steady now. Let these folks walk by."]

We tried to head down the dirt road without witnesses but the undergrowth has died back and we were often in clear view of the soccer crowds. Ah, well, most people were not interested in us anyways as we could tell from the noise of the crowd that the games were exciting on this crisp fall day.

My goal was to check and see if the liatris is blooming. It is not-not here anyway. A friend has already taken photos of some around the lake where he walks his dogs.

I was surprised to find the yellow, orange and maroon cone flowers are blooming again. Then there were white and yellow aster-like blooms under the grasses, ragweed (we knew we would find it - our allergies have been raging for weeks) and and the ever faithful wild verbena continuing its purple blooms. We looked up to see a sunflower bush - full of flowers facing the brilliant early morning sun.

Most prolific were the grasses. No one has mowed and the grass stands almost chest high in the meadows and along the road. This morning the grass was bent, seed heads weighted down by the dew. It created almost a tunnel over the track as the pups walked through. They came out shiny with the dew and sprinkled with grass seed. I remembered all those science classes when we learned how wild seeds are scattered by wind and birds and animals.

I know I am late to gather wild seeds, but I tried to identify a few I wanted. I just dropped all the seeds and seed heads in my back pocket as I walked along - wild mint, cone flower, wafer ash, and maybe some gaillardia (I may have missed them all, but this dried puff looked like it might have been that brilliant firewheel earlier in the summer). I also found a few of the purple leather flower ready and a dozen or more still green - late bloomers encouraged by our late rains. I will watch these until they are ready to drop. I have already left plenty for next year's blooms.

When we doubled back and passed the wafer ash saplings I have watched all summer I noticed some weird discoloration on the ends of a few slight branches. What? There were a half dozen large caterpillar-like creatures (and me with no camera). I tried to memorize the shape and coloration and size for a search through the guidebooks at home.

As we left the road I spied another caterpillar - we called these "woolly worms" when we were kids. I seem to remember that some of these guys sting so I left them alone.

Pockets filled with seeds, I encouraged the pups to stop stalling - we have much to do today. We greeted one last fellow wanderer today. Our neighbor jogged by and we had 10 feet of conversation before he was out of range for a chat.

I left the pups panting in the yard and started emptying my pockets in the kitchen. Creatures started moving between my fingers and seeds spilled on the floor. Three large (almost an inch) flying ants were dispatched as soon as I could get Hobbes away from them. Some seeds made it to a dish and I saw at least one spider crawling around in it.

I suspect my harvesting will be more cautious in the future as I continue to feel creepy crawlies even though I suspect "I got them all."

I have also promised myself that I will locate the camera for tomorrow's walk. It is around here somewhere.

Identification of caterpillars:

Giant swallowtail (I think) on the wafer ash
Woolly worm is probably Tiger moth.

Happy puppies

Two happy puppies and I walked to the park and back today.

It was a day like any other, but it was special too as the dogs had been at the vet while we visited, partied and played in Chicago. [They seemed glad to see me when I retrieved my retrievers from the vet. I could almost hear them sigh with relief, "She came back to get us!" ]

It was as if they had never seen the neighborhood before. They explored everything and the walk took a good long time. They found the high weeds along the sidewalk to be especially interesting - a forest of grasses that almost hid the sniffing doggies.

We arrived in an empty park and the pups halted in the middle of the road. Scruffy pretended bravery as Paddy disappeared behind me. She takes advantage of my position as leader of the pack (Alpha dog?) and hangs back when she is afraid, expecting me to protect her. But she and Scruff still jockey for second - marking and over-marking each other, pushing each other as they walk along and generally acting foolishly.

The return home was slower and birds began to sing as we reached our block.We had heard the crunch of acorns under foot. We noted the trees losing their leaves-our catalpa near naked now.

Even in the dark we could see the yellow blooming Esperanzas exploding with color along our route and we wondered what wildflowers might be blooming (besides the ragweed and goldenrod that we know by our allergies) beside the dirt track. A friend sent photos of liatris (a family favorite) and I remembered seeing them once in our park- they may be blooming now, but I will have to wait until a weekend daylight walk.

We have enjoyed the affection of all three pets these last couple of days. Paddy and Scruffy are snoozing now, waiting for tomorrow's walk. Hobbes is resting across my arms as I attempt to type. He is dead weight and refuses to move. Even my coughing cannot scoot him out of my lap.

Views of Chicago on a Saturday morning

Cloud Gate (The Bean)

Inside

More sculpture in Millennium Park [part of Interconnected: The Sculptures of Yvonne Domenge]

Crown Fountain

More of Crown Fountain (it is crazy mad brilliant - photos/videos blink and smile)

Ropes dangling from skyscraper along Michigan Avenue

Window washers (reminds me of a joke from childhood "I am the vendle viper...")

Women watching window washers (say that five times fast)

  

Poetry emanated from these "blooming" lights

Ah, celebration of 100 years of Poetry Magazine

Sock monkey (up to no good on the bedding at the Target store on State)

View of Millennium Park from the museum

What do you find in the bedside table of a hotel in Chicago?

There will be pictures - aka one always remembers the "first time"

Our walk today (just DH and me) was along Michigan Avenue. We toured Millennium Park - saw Cloud Gate (Anish Kapoor's silver sculpture lovingly known as The Bean) and Crown Fountain (Jaume Plensa's spitting images).

We detoured along State Street and hit Target (DH needed a belt) and the art supply store (I always need arts supplies, no?). We stopped for a coffee and watched window washers rappel down a skyscraper. DH had seen the thick ropes flailing at eye-level along the sidewalk and looked up. He knew a rappel in progress from the sight of those wiggling dangling ropes.

We listened to poetry being broadcast in honor of Poetry Magazine's 100th year of publication. Lovely to hear poetry read aloud while walking along a busy street.

We were waiting for the Chicago Art Institute Museum to open.

The sky opened up as we waiting in line outside and, as we passed the standing lions (not lounging like Patience and Fortitude at the NY Public Library) guarding the museum, I thought about my first time.

I believe it was 1975. A good friend was getting married and I was invited to Chicago for the wedding. And it was Christmas time during an extraordinarily cold winter. I made the trip downtown with friends twice. We gazed at the amazingly decorated windows. And we visited the museum.

This country girl finally stood face to face with Van Gogh and Picasso and Monet and Manet. I remember the paintings still. And I visited many of them today.

And, while it was still wonderful to see my old friends of canvas and wood and paint and inspiration, it was not like the first time.

There were tears in my eyes today. Back then I wept.

One always remembers the first time.

Clank, bam, boom

No school buses, no police officers, nothing too unusual on this walk.

Pups and I hit the park, made the circuit and started for home. We heard the noise of highway traffic almost drowning out the cricket "wall of sound." Or maybe the crickets are just slowly exiting our just-before-dawn scene with the chill of fall.

Then we hear the thunk and clank and crash and bang as the front-end-loader empties the dumpster behind the neighboring businesses and then roars off to find another.

We headed back up the hill, pups jockeying for position - moving from one side to another - skirting the wall and then moving to the curb - straining the leash forward and then falling behind. No one likes to walk next to the hedge.

It is almost light when we get home and I noticed all the work that needs to be done in the yard...time to trim and plant and prepare for winter.

Support your local sheriff!

DH and I headed out this morning in the breezy cool of a new front. The pups frisked, stars twinkled, wind chimes tinkled, and, yes, that darned rooster crowed.

We threatened the attacking yip-dog let out of its house as we passed. It thought better of combat after seeing the size of its opposition.

We visited with neighbors setting up garage sales in the dark.

We were passed by a police car that turned into the park entrance. He was out of his car with a flashlight and checking the entrance of the dirt track when we made it to the park. Bummer. There would be no walk down the road today.

We just turned around and went home to start the day. We will try again for adventure tomorrow.

Count:

Three, maybe four cars - including the police
1 yip-dog
1 cat who waited just long enough to escape from under a car when the dogs were distracted.
1 sticker burr - Paddy, left rear paw

How about a drive?

Exhausting week and too much to do prevented a walk (beyond the backyard) this morning. The pups are enjoying a last bit of summer today. I hope we have no storms. But we already have clouds.

We have missed clouds. During these long months of drought we rarely saw a cloud. I guess that is part of the reason I could barely take my eyes off the sky today.

I drove to work, into a beautiful sunrise.

I have a favorite stopping place for sunrise photos. [I wonder if I worry the people at the church as I park by the dumpster in the back.]

I could not resist this sky.


And here are some of the views:

Love the way the sunlight brightens the edges of the clouds

Sandwiched between the clouds and the land.

Day two ( stopped again to see a very different sunrise)

Do you know where your school bus is?

It was cold enough to fog our breath today. And even colder when we got to the park.

We were late and there were so many cars zipping by - really too many to count.

And as we reached the dear sweet child's house (the one who used to greet us - "Hi!"- disembodied voice coming out of the darkness) the street glowed red from the school bus, lit up like Christmas. I doubt if another red light would fit on the vehicle. I checked my watch to see that this child was heading off to school at 6:20 a.m. Are you kidding me? I cannot imagine getting my kids up, fed, dressed and on a bus by 6:20.

Escalade man, banana man and someone else (I never got close enough to know who it was, but I have seen the car before) were well into their routines. We decided to walk further than we had planned and turned around after we heard a school bus behind us. A school bus in the park? at 6:30?

I thought it might be the cross-country team and kept looking behind me at the parking lot where the bus stopped. But I never saw any students.

I shrugged off my questions and hurried home as the sky grew light and birds began to sing.

And just as I was leaving the backyard headed towards the house I heard DH getting in the car. I was late, but I wasn't THAT late. I walked over to the driver's side window and shrugged, "What's up?"

"You were gone too long" he said. Ah. He was on his way to check on me. Of course, he almost missed me entirely as I was in the back with the dogs as he left the house.

This has happened before. That other time he was already driving as I cut through the front yard and was hidden by the hedge when he drove by. That other time he drove all the way to the park and back.

What a dear! But I think I must remind my DH/DL (Dear Luddite) that he can always call my cell.

Bright moon and gentle wind

The almost full moon lit up the sky this morning as we headed to the park. Sunlight reflected against the face of the moon and then bouncing off the scattered clouds brightened everything. [Of course my camera is sitting on my desk at the office.]

 Nuts have fallen from the trees, pecans and acorns, and crunch beneath our feet.

Our trek down the hills and back was quick and cool with the west wind just strong enough to cause a rustling in the trees and gentile music from wind chimes. We saw no one and heard one lone dog to the north, barking, barking, barking. We hear him every now and then, his warnings coming from one of the houses on the bluff overlooking our meadows. He must have been confronting something wild - that would not go away as his barks punctuated the entire walk.

We took a little time to pick up newspapers for neighbors who are clearly gone. No need to telegraph to all that the houses are empty.

We passed running man on our way up the hill as he was running down. He was the only living creature to greet us this day...



Almost forgot the count:

12 cars (we were very early)
1 dog barking