Did someone say ice cream?

You aren't just kidding us, are you?

This is good...

...lick the bowl clean...

Paddy was moving so fast that all the photos blurred...

Done!

Sunset in the park

Kids playing...

Dad, can I have some of your snowcone?

Almost a perfect day

The sun greeted us.

We walked late today, but not too late. With the humidity low and temperature almost fall-like we hustled down the street in good time...the dogs enjoyed the scent trail of a big dog whose owner was walking him up the street as we were walking down. We let them pass and then followed the trail.

The park was bright and quiet and empty. Since it was full daylight we headed to the meadows. [First there was some small argument in my head: There is no one in the park. But it is daylight. But no one is here. But I have the dogs. But the park is empty! Courage - or folly - won.]

At the start of the dirt track a squirrel taunted us. He sat watching, climbed part way up the tree, and twitched his tail. The dogs lost interest as the hunt for deer had taken hold.


"You looking at me?"

"Dogs cannot climb...nanny nanny boo boo!"

Fresh tracks ran up and down the road. I felt certain the deer were gone, but it is always calming to be in the park, to hear the birds sing, to wander down the road and see what has changed since our last trip. We passed the near meadow and were headed towards the far when a good sized buck bounded out of the  woods on the right, down the road, and into the woods on the left. He was good sized and had a lovely set of antlers - possible 10 to 12 points.

The buck was followed by a couple of does and two yearlings - one of which stopped mid-road and stared at us for a few heartbeats before disappearing.

I wonder sometimes if they wait for us - if the herd delights in our surprise as they rush by. I think it more likely that they were slower to move today as no noise in the park bothered them either and the weather was crisp. Why move from the fields until danger or the heat of the day encourages shelter in the shaded depths?

Satisfied with our adventure we turned for home past an abandoned backpack and some grackles on a utility line. We had climbed the steep hill when the big black dog of yesterday came out of his house and sniffed the air. The pups noted him, but they responded to me, not to him. I pulled them away and we moved faster towards home.  [Was this dog old, deaf and blind? He did not react to our sounds or sight (we were and are a ragged noisy sight). He only smelled us in the air.]

My now racing heart was starting to calm when a grackle in a neighbor's yard fluttered up to surprise and draw the attention of the dogs. They jumped and were ready to chase when I pulled them back. This second adrenalin rush was more than I needed this lovely Saturday morning. While not ruining the day, it detracted from the calmer sights and sounds of our time in the park.

The rest of the walk was auto and bark and bustle filled...and a  reminder of why early walks in the dark can be preferable even on a cool and lazy weekend stroll.


No count today. It was startled out of us.

Lonely backpack, left behind.

Birds on a wire



Same birds

Fly away

70 cars late (views from a walk in the sunlight)

We count cars on our trip to the park only. A "normal" morning is about 20 cars....Today we walked in "rush hour" - between 7 and 8 a.m. We were 70 cars late.

It was a warm and uneventful walk - not counting the big black dog rolling around in the dirt. as we neared the park.

We waived to and spoke with friends and neighbors along the way - the lady of the beautiful flowers, Dewayne and Sissy, and one of the elders of the community. [He is an identical twin. I never know if it is the Baptist or Methodist brother. But they are everyone's "great uncles."  I have had one tell me, "I think you have mistaken me for my brother" and then he continue the conversation for a few minutes anyway.]

I arrived home as my cell phone rang. Morning walks are NEVER interrupted by the phone, but it is a weekend and we have been expecting word from the children about visits and vacations.

I answered.


The count:

70 cars
1 big black dog
1 bicycle
1 motorcycle
LOTS of people in the park

PS All attempts to get a good photo of Mohawk dog are failures. He is not amused by cameras and his gang helps block attempts as well. Below is the best I could do.




Master weaver in the woods.

The near meadow and its ready harvest of wild grass.
The prairies must have been like this.

Dogs in the meadow...note grass seed on Padimus...

Mohawk dog

Zinnias. I may have to plant some next year.

Bicycle...is there a bike album coming?

Clouds and dogs (Mohawk dog!)

We did not walk long. The clouds had come in overnight. The heat of the day stayed and the morning was warm.

The clouds changed everything.



Morning star as we head east

Sunrise at the park



More of the sunrise.



The count:

30 cars

2 cats

Mohawk Dog and friends



Mohawk dog and the boxer snoozing in their yard



Mohawk dog...they scared us and the walker shook the camera.

 

Yes, it was a bunny - again. (bits and pieces of disjointed walk)

The dogs were excited to walk today and we were all excited to see a creature in the yard of beautiful flowers. It was the black bunny again! He hopped completed across the front of this house and to the yard next door where there just happens to be a rabbit hutch.

All along we have thought this animal was an escapee of the rabbit hutch and this was further evidence. But he had, much like my Houdini dogs, returned home.

There he goes...

We continued our walk to the park and back. [We even tried the meadows, but saw nothing more exciting than that little black bunny.]

Scruff managed to find two grass burrs and Paddy found one as well. It is time to stop cutting through the grass. Both dogs were patient with my attempts to locate and remove these devils.

Hate them, hate them, hate them (photo credit www.tellingdad.com)

Back at the house of bunnies, Mr. Rabbit was still in the yard near the hutch as we passed. I attempted photos, but it was still too dark for a good one. Squint. Blow the photo up larger. You may be able to make out the outline of a dark bunny at the foot of the tree. (Click on the photos and you will get a slide show and bigger photos to examine).



If you look closely you can see the bunny at the foot of the tree.

Mohawk dog and the gang were out and loud and he was sporting a "refreshed" haircut. He made me laugh as he attempted a serious barking defense of his yard with that silly hairdo.

Upon arriving home I stepped into a soggy yard. Thus I had discovered the cause of our low water pressure - someone had left the hose "on."

That grass will be beautiful for a while...and the water bill?...not so much.



Up and down the hill

It was dark when we started this walk.  The moon was high and stars were out and the pups and I were a little spooked. We had been walking closer to daylight. Or we had walked with DH. We were on our own this day and more aware, or thought we were.

A block from the park we flushed a big yellow alley cat out of the grass alongside the woods. [Some might call it a mountain lion, but it was a cat.] The startled dogs lunged after him and pulled me along behind for more than a few steps. The cat ran into the woods and we could see him in a small clearing, watching us watching him.

We continued our walk when another creature came lumbering up out of the creek. This was our second sighting of a skunk this summer (actually the second in a week) I could have skipped seeing any skunks. And seeing them in the almost daylight worries me. They are nocturnal animals. I thought of recent stories of rabid skunks... There was no reason for this animal to be out, but then it was not quite light/not quite dark.

We stopped and waited. The skunk walked almost to the street before he saw or smelled us. He stopped too. Then he turned, lifted his tail (but did not spray), and headed back into the ditch.

We hustled further down the park's entrance road, but quickly realized we were all alone. We don't enter the park in the dark alone.

We turned around and, making sure Mr. Skunk had not returned, headed home.

The last of the sights of the morning was a new runner. He jogged slowly down the steep hill, then turned and powered up the hill. He repeated this exercise over, and over, and over, and over.

We walked on the other side of the street to avoid interfering with his training. Upon reaching the top of the hill, we continued on our way. We walk for exercise and to achieve our destination...and once reaching the summit of the hill, we see no need to "do it again."

But we will, ultimately "do it again" - in the morning.



And our count?

14 cars
1 yellow cat
1 skunk
1 empty park
1 runner - running up and down the steep hill

nada más

It was a quick walk today - the wild ones were in fine form.

The wild ones

My brother sent me a photo of the cotton harvest at home. Their harvest is a few weeks ahead of ours here.

It made me homesick.

And then the cotton-like clouds (we have scarcely seen any for weeks) posed for me.

Cottony clouds

more clouds

y mas

Weird evening and no ice cream...

Because the walkers ran errands instead of exercising we had to face the evening - hot as it was (temps pushed 100 even as the sun set).

We had decided on a wade in the creek and arrived in the park to find a group of teenagers filming something - class project? music video? Whatever they were doing, we wanted none of it.

Avoiding the cameras we hustled to the creek side as fast as two distracted and misbehaving pups would allow.

A sketchy character was riding a bike back and forth on the sidewalk. I cannot put my finger on only one thing that made it feel wrong....he was not riding for a distance or with any focus. He stayed on a small segment (maybe an eighth of a mile) of the path - back and forth. We agreed to keep an eye on him as we waded with the dogs.

Rocky creek side

There were children playing in the culverts under the bridge. Their laughter and shouts were amplified by the walls of concrete. While we enjoy the happy sounds of children, this was too much noise for us and so we cut short our "swim." [It also frightens me to see kids in culverts, even when the water level is low. Our parents impressed upon us the hazards of running water. Those warnings were often reinforced by the drowning of those playing in drainage ditches or wading too close to culverts or underwater structures.]

Junk has floated in with some of our earlier big rains...

Giving up on this park, we decided to race to the other and its ice cream stand...as the clock ticked closer and closer to closing time. The "OPEN" sign still blinked as we arrived, but there were lines of people at the stand and lines of cars in the parking lot. Our patience spent, we turned as if to give up and head home.

Instead we detoured for a drive through this park.

All ball games were done. These parking lots were empty. No runners or walkers remained in the park.

We talked about some of our history with this park as we cruised the empty roads - kite flying, river trips, scout meetings, kids learning to ride bicycles...and then we caught sight of the park cat prowling near her culvert.

We headed home with our memories - leaving the park to a wild calico on the hunt.

What? No ice cream?

Moon and sun - why we walk (captions only)

The moon at the start of the walk.

Over a neighbor's home through the oak branches

Hovering over the park woods

Sky getting bright in the park

On our way home

Sun warms the sky

Late, late, late...and another difference of opinion

Moon over the woods near the park

 
 We woke early, but could not seem to motivate ourselves out the door...
 
 Late as we were to the park (the "quack, quack, quack" of the duck-call for robot dog training greeted us as we crossed the street to the mouth of the park), we decided to walk the dirt road for photos of the tiny tomato-like fruit of the silver-leaf nightshade. [Actually, I decided to do that. DH was not sure why I wanted to walk the road as it was too late for deer. With so many people making noise in the park and the sun almost over the tree-line we were only going to see tracks, insects, and a few birds.]

Dirt road - partially overgrown

 I quickly found examples of fruit.

"tomatoes"

Silver-leaf nightshade: plant, flowers, fruit. [circle of weed - ???]

We talked and dogs fussed and we all made noise...only to find the herd in the far meadow. One was standing at the edge watching us get closer and closer. Then she snorted that now familiar warning and they moved away from us and towards the woods. Three stopped and watched again as we arrived full into the meadow. Then with the shake of her head the same doe issued another warning snort and the far meadow was empty save two walkers and two ratty old dogs.

Road at the far meadow. See the deer?

Let me help you...

We turned towards home and talked about the wild batch of tracks in the dust of the road, the webs of the master weavers all along the road...then DH held his arm out to stop me. The maker of the tracks was some 20 or 30 feet away. There is no longer a mystery...not raccoon, not possum...skunk.

Tracks - not possum, not squirrel, not raccoon

The skunk wandered across the road and into the woods.

And we waited.

It was late for a skunk to be out. We thought it wise to give him a good long head-start. Neither of the walkers wanted to confront a rabid skunk.

The dogs, however, were crazed over the scents and I finally had to pull them away.

We walked with the moon on our right, sun on our left  - back down the dirt road. Suddenly more deer - five at least - crossed the road from the near meadow to the woods beyond.

Again the dogs went crazy, first after the fleeing herd and again as we arrived at the fresh and heavily scented crossing point.

After the excitement of the meadows we headed home for well deserved breakfasts...

We met two grey cats at the top of the steep hill and another creature...and met with another difference of opinion --

DH: There's a loose dog (indicating an animal some distance away).
Me: I think that is just a big yellow cat.
DH: It is a dog.
Me: Really, it is just a big cat. It has a cat's tail and walks like a cat.
DH: If it is a cat and that big, it is a mountain lion.
Me: OK, then let's get out of here as I do not want to mess with a mountain lion.

Tissue paper moon as we reach the top of the hill

COUNT:

Many "quacks" - no ducks
10 deer
1 skunk
2 robot dogs
5 people in the park
26 cars (or more)
1 moon just past full
1 sun ready to heat up this day
2 grey cats, one tuxedo cat
and 1 cat or dog or mountain lion, but definitely not a bunny...
 [79 photos, mostly bad]

Morning stars, full moon

Jupiter and Venus are the morning stars shining in the east (...according to my daughter. We were discussing the walks at supper last night.).

Both planets were bright this morning as we started early-early under the watch of the full moon.

We headed eastward and realized that Orion, the hunter, had cleared the horizon - a portent of fall. In these days of hundred degree temperatures it is enough. Fall will come.

It was an uneventful, but purposeful walk. We had skipped a day and knew we needed to make sure we were thorough, but quick on this last work day of the week.

A strange car drove into the park.

We stopped for water and then turned to face the moon, still watching us, hovering over our woods.

The sun shines hot while the moon shines cool and we felt the coolness of the park, a relief from the daytime furnace.

Orion      © Ian Ridpath

LINKS:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-dates-and-times/

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/have-you-seen-venus-and-jupiter-before-dawn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_%28constellation%29

Count:

2 dogs barking in the distance
16 cars
No papers on the way to the park
One stranger
One full moon
Orion, the hunter