And the clouds roll in...

It was almost too late to walk. The mornings barely cool-off anymore. It is important to get out before the sun is too far up and angled to warm up the day.

DH loaded his pack - continued training for the canoeing adventure to come. I loaded up pockets with plastic bags, keys and a camera.

And we were off.

DH (How heavy can that pack be if he is carrying his first mug of coffee?)

Neighborhood dogs were already out in their yards and sang their barking songs as we walked by.

Wildflowers struggled to grow out of grass cut short in the fields.

The sun peeked out of the clouds moving in from the south. Rain is forecast. But even before that, the sun and conspire to create a sauna, making it hard to accomplish anything outside.*

Our leatherflowers continue to bloom, but are retreating into the woods. Where once we found bright purple, we now find the crazy spiked balls of developing seeds. Some spiders had started building webs between the spikes.

See the webs?

A line of flowers and buds.

 

In almost every gap along the woods' edge spiders have built webs to catch their breakfast.

Spider and a hint of the web (the webs show better with a little flash).

This spider was busy wrapping up breakfast (a moth). The flash washes out the creatures, but highlights the web.

I am calling katydid (of the family Tettigoniidae).

This guy wasn't bothered by the camera. I love how it grasps the edges of the leaves and hangs on.

We no longer step into the woods. We no longer walk the dirt path. All are posted and unfriendly.**

As we turned for home today I handed Scruff's leash to DH. Scruff is an easier walk...less patience needed. And the boys headed off while I continued to investigate the spiders.

When Paddy and I turned we saw the boys stopped - frozen in place - just past a curve in the edge of the woods. DH and Scruffy stared into the clearing. DH nodded as if to indicate they were watching "something." I called to them. DH nodded again. I joined them in time to see a deer standing at the edge of the woods staring back.***

The deer snorted and fled into the woods. We all continued on our return trip, but the boys quickly out paced us.

Paddy and I were moving along at a "what else are we going to see" pace when mid-way up the second incline of the street I noticed a bright red truck slowing down at the curb (across the road). I stopped and faced the driver.****

The driver stopped, turned to me, and called my name - ah, a friend I have not spoken to in some time. He was on his way home from work and saw us walking. "So this is where you walk!" said he. I admitted it was one of the walks - maybe not our favorite, but a good one.

We took a few minutes to catch up. Then Paddy and I hurried home before the boys started to worry.


NOTES:

*Rain is forecast every day for the next week. After the flooding last month, we cast a wary eye at dark clouds.

**Oh, but they beckon!

*** 1) DH is not usually the stealthiest person. He often frightens the wildlife. 2) We had just walked past this clearing. Two people and two dogs should have "spooked" any deer. 3) DH says there had been 3 deer. Two were already in the woods by the time Paddy and I arrived.

****No shy violet, I. We are trained to be aware and prepared.

Spiders!

Up early and out the door for a walk.

How long has it been since I could say that? How long since I needed the flashing runner's light to make sure the cars saw us in the dim light of dawn?

We are still adjusting to too much time. We do have plenty to do, but no real structure unless we have appointments or classes. More early mornings may help us move along.

For now, I am going to enjoy the moment.

Good morning, park!

DH is training for a canoe trip. (He is only holding the leashes while I "clean up" and take a photo or two.)

You knew I would check on the leatherflowers. Look at that "wild-haired" seed pod.

So sweet.

We weren't the only ones up. The birds sang for us. Some neighbors were heading to work. And a few young people were up and moving early. I spoke to a couple of girls who walk past the house often.

And then there were the spiders in the park. I turned on the flash to catch the webs.

The spiders were catching insects along the edge of the woods.

This web was a little more ragged. How nice to see them and now discover them by "walking through."

There goes the garbage truck as DH and the dogs head home.

OK. Two last photos before we go:

The blues, pinks and gold of a Parrish morning.

I will "date" this post and myself), but when I see these seeds I think "Don King hair" or "tiny Muppets in the woods" (and even "Phyllis Diller").

It's time for breakfast.

The Neighborhood Park

Finally a good night's sleep, a relatively early rise, a suspicion of what would await, and a a peaceful walk.

Repeated late stormy nights with fretful dogs threw off my wake-sleep cycle. While I am not back to normal, I did get a full sleep last night.

So we walked down the street to the park and looked around. All was quiet except the birds. They had dried out from the weeks of rain and sang us their tunes.

Morning shadows are long in the almost deserted park.

We found the purple leatherflower vines blooming at the edge of the woods.*

The vines are loaded with leatherflowers in all stages.

Full bloom

Buds

These little flowers seem unreal.

This bloom is starting to fade and the petals are separating.

Within this bloom you can see the crazy seeds developing.

Closeup of bud.

These buds are just starting to show some purple.

The color of these flowers seemed an especially vivid purple.

Perhaps different vines and slightly different colors.

 

Then we walked home again for breakfast and yard work and a reminder that Scruffy isn't going anywhere.**


NOTES:

*The woods are completely posted now. I have to see who owns them and see if we cannot work out an agreement for exploration every now and then.

This sign is hard to see with all the new growth.

There it is. Bummer.

We can still look on the edges of the woods. Here are the "wafer" seeds of the wafer ash.

Honeysuckle still blooming

**DH walked ahead on the way home so that he could set out the dogs' food. Thinking I was right behind him with the pups, he left the street-side gate open. I cut through the yard and used a different gate, taking time to change the water in the dogs' washtub. I released Scruffy from the leash, but moved Paddy to a lead for breakfast (she is food aggressive and won't let anyone else eat so we feed them far apart and keep her on the lead until all are through).

When I started working on the hedges in the front of the house, the mail person passed. She mentioned that the gate was open and Scruffy had met her at the mailbox.  Only then did I realize that Scruff had the run of the neighborhood (but apparently he did not want to run the neighborhood). I walked over to the gate and called him. He came running across the back yard to see me and waited patiently until I released Paddy. Both dogs were treated with a cookie. But Scruffy really earned his. [Had Paddy been off-lead she would have been out of the yard and gone. Scruffy has made it clear - he isn't going anywhere. He is happy at home.]

Some views of the yard:

The hedge we planted to keep the kids from running into the street. It needs to have about 3 feet "trimmed" from the top.

Three varieties of Althea are planted inside the hedge. They need trimming too. I love Altheas as they are "stick a cutting in the ground" propagation plants - easy.

Oxalis blooms in my flowerbed.

Yellow verbena and oxalis

Yarrow from a local mansion still blooming.

Althea bloom.

Texas mallow (tiny cousin of the Altheas).