Fall Walk - In memory of Raymond Almiran Montgomery

At 6:00 we jumped out of bed. The weather has been cold - cold and crisp. It was going to be a perfect Saturday morning for an adventure.

We "geared-up" (I had to borrow a hat), got the dogs ready and headed to the park.

A soft click, click, click of dog toenails on the sidewalk turned to CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, when the dogs cut across a neighbor's dry grass or through the dead leaves that now litter the yards.

Clump, clump, clump sounded the two ungainly walkers in hiking shoes.

The cars growl by - only a few at first.

Thump-ca-bump was the sound heard as I borrowed a garbage can left on the sidewalk to dispose of the hundetoilette bags.

Plop.......plop.....plop.....sounded as the newspaper was delivered up and down the street.

We wandered into a dark park. The streetlights illuminated our way. We saw a car arrive and leave. Then another car entered the park, drove through the parking lots, and drove out again. We suspected any of a variety of nefarious goings-on, but then I remember all the times I drive through the park at dawn or dusk - looking for deer.

Streetlights in the park

Headlights of a car moving towards DH and the puppies.

We arrived at the first turn in the park. Do we 1) go down the dirt road? or 2) walk along the park paths by the soccer fields? If you choose "go down the dirt road" go to #1 below. If you choose to "walk along the park paths" go to #2.

#1 We started down the dirt road and noticed deer hoof prints and all kinds of animal tracks. The grass was shoulder high in the first meadow.

The dirt road

Tall grass in the first meadow - no deer

We saw no deer in the meadow, but thought they might be grazing in the far meadow. So we kept walking. We heard the loud and continuous CAW, CAW, CAW of the crows beyond us in the woods. The dirt road muffled our footsteps, so we made little noise now save the gentle tinkling of the dogs' tags.

No deer were to be found in the far meadow either. It too was full of dry grass. but the grass was much shorter. Then, through an opening in the narrow strip of brush, we spied a deer grazing on the soccer fields beyond.

Deer seen through a break in the trees past the treeline at the far edge of the far meadow

Would you choose to A. Cut across the far meadow (through the tall grass!) to the soccer field to see if there are more deer or B. turn around and go back down the road and walk along the paths to the soccer fields? If you choose A. continue with Section A. If you choose B. skip to Section B.

Section A. We cut through the far meadow. The dried grass was thick and we started to worry about snakes. It would be impossible to see a snake before we were upon it and that would be too late to escape. Would you choose to turn around and go back down the road or continue crossing the meadow? If you choose to turn around and go back down the road go to Section B. If you choose to continue across the meadow go to Section C.

Section B. Heading back down the road it was clear we had missed all of the fall wildflowers. But then we saw a few white asters. It was eerie that we spied them just as we thought "wildflowers."

Tiny white asters blooming at the edge of the dirt road

Another flash of color disclosed a patch of the "tomatoes" of the silver-leaved nightshade plant.
Would you choose to examine the tomatoes and continue walking back down the road or try eating the tomatoes because you are hungry.

Patch of fruit of the silver-leaved nightshade.

Close up of yellow "tomatoes" of the silver-leaved nightshade

If you choose to examine the tomatoes, continue reading with #2. If you choose to eat the tomatoes, go to Section D.

#2 As we reached cleared the dirt road we turned towards the soccer fields. There they were - at least eleven deer were in the far end of the park, grazing on the grass of the soccer fields. They alerted and ran into the woods near the old golf course and we continued back home with the dogs.

The herd - eleven deer grazing on the soccer fields

After giving the dogs their breakfast we decided it was our turn. Would you choose to eat breakfast at home or go out to eat breakfast. If you choose to eat breakfast at home, go to Section E. If you choose to eat breakfast out, go to Section F.


Section C. We continued walking through the grass and the dogs grew restless. Then we heard the noise above the rustle of grass. It was the unmistakable chit-chit-chit-chit-chitttt rattle of the diamondback rattlesnake. They were all around us. They bit us.  The end.

Section D. We picked the yellow "tomatoes" and ate them. Soon we realized our mistake - talk about stomach ache! Only then did we remember that every part of the silver-leaved nightshade is poisonous. We grew sick almost immediately. We released the dogs hoping they would go for help, but they ran into the fields beyond, chasing the deer and having fun (our dogs are too smart to eat deadly nightshade, but that's as far as it goes). We crawled down the dirt track to the paved park road where the park ranger found us and took us to the hospital for treatment. The end.

Section E. This is what we had for breakfast. Yum? The end. 

Heart healthy oatmeal.

Section F. This is what we had for breakfast. YUM!

Bacon and eggs on "heart healthy" corn tortillas

Bad-for-you fried potatoes

bean and cheese breakfast tacos (don't look at me!)

DH snags the last of the potatoes.

THE END

Notes:

First, let me say that it must be darned hard to write a children's book. My idea for this post started with all the sounds of the walk, but then morphed into a "choose your adventure"* style post once I remembered reading that Mr. Montgomery had died this month.

Now, let me add that it is REALLY hard to write a "choose your adventure."

That being said, we had a wonderful walk, an excellent breakfast, and a good time figuring out how to fashion this story.


*Here's a link to an explanation of this amazing type of children's literature:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure