Sandhill Cranes and a long walk...

I arose early enough this morning to beat the heat, so I thought I'd take an early walk! But before I left I noticed these picturesque bales in the morning sun. Can you find the sandhill cranes?

I have gazillions of photos, but there probably won't be a lot of text. So there is hope of getting to the end of this post yet! Just think of it as a flip book and scroll on through. I know I should be capable of editing my photos more severely, but...I didn't. LOL

I went for a 3 mile walk this morning at about 7:00. The trail was still shady and it was fairly cool, but very humid. There were lots of other walkers and bikers out enjoying the nice morning.

 There's the lake. The trail runs parallel to it.

 

 That's the first 1/2 mile done!

 The sumac's are sporting their seed heads. Sumac lemonade, anyone? I made some 30+ years ago, but I think I prefer Country Time!

 I'm trying to identify this plant. See the arching, vine-like plant. I think it's more like a bush or shrub. The next photo shows it closer.

 It did have little green berries in that "cup" made by the leaves at the end of the plant. Any ideas what it is?

 A short cut through the bushes. There are several of these along the trail to make it more convenient for folks across the county road to access the trail.

 See the old rugged cross in the center of the picture? These questions make it seem like we're playing Where's Waldo... This little cemetery marks the 1 mile mark in my walk.

 This man reminded me of my Bob. About the same size, but about my age. Bob liked the occasional bike ride. This fellow had a cheery good morning greeting for me. I always sneak photos of people after they've gone by, ha ha.

 A speedy gal on a racing bike mumbled good morning.

 When I see the Grandpa's Cabin sign to my left I know I'm at the half-way point of my walk. (1-1/2 miles) Time to turn around and head back!

 Well, I'll turn around when I get to the stop sign.

 This is standing at the stop sign, looking right.

 

And this is looking left. Then I did the hokey-pokey and I turned myself around and headed back.

Do you believe I took a picture of this poo? I was hoping to try and identify this "scat" when I got home. It doesn't really look like dog poo, or horse poo. Horses shouldn't be on this trail. I was hoping it might be something more exotic like bear or mountain lion. I'm so weird! Josh will probably enjoy joining me on the research! We're two peas in a pod when it comes to nature study! (I did find some black bear scat that looked a lot like this.)

 A glimpse down the horse trail while standing...

 here by the little cemetery. This means I have one mile to go!

 Another plant (tree?) I'm trying to identify. These huge leaves are growing on a slender twig of a trunk. I see them here and there, but I'm wondering what they will grow up to be. They're much bigger than poplar leaves. About the size of my hand. I've been curious about them for a long time, but never really tried to research them.

 Do you see the raspberries?

 Half a mile to go! This was my old street when I lived on our little farm.

 This little house is across the street from our old place. This house was mustard colored when we moved here 30 years ago. Then it was painted mint green. Someone just painted it this electric blue. Hmmm.

Squirrel's nest?

 I can see the water tower! My car is parked near it.

 See the hitching post on the left? That's my little steed parked next to it.

 Downtown Nevis. My favorite gas station to get coffee at. :)

Good-bye 'til next time, hitchin' post.

 Yeah, you guys probably think I'm crazy (OCD?) for uploading all these photos. I think I'm trying to capture summer in a bottle, so I can look at it when winter comes. I know the green will soon turn to a crisp brown, so this is my little time capsule. To tell you the truth, I probably won't even come back and glance at this. Life keeps moving forward, right? And that's as it should be. (And if you actually looked at these, you're a BOSS!)

A couple of quick things. I just finished these ATCs for a swap called "Back-to-School: With a Twist".  After signing up for the swap, the host PM'd us a list of three "college classes". We're to make a card representing each class we're assigned. This is what I came up with. She told us we could interpret this however we wanted. Just for fun!

This one was for a class called "Limnology", which is the study of lakes and streams. (Simply put.)

My second class was "Snakes and Lizards of the Mojave".

The third class was called "Religion and Sports", but I decided to do it as "Sports as a Religion". More fun that way! (No offense, sports fans!)

I was going through the free magazines at the library the other day and found this old magazine from 1975. That's the year I graduated!

I thought it was really cool that they had a section like the one below. Nowadays we would be afraid to put our address "out there", but I think this sort of thing was more common back in the day.

I just finished reading The Shepherd's Castle by George MacDonald. It was originally titled Donal Grant. I thought it was pretty good. Is anyone aware if GM had controversial religious views? It seems like back in his lifetime he was seen that way. At least I'm assuming that because his leading character was thought of that way, and I think this character reflected MacDonald's religious beliefs.

 I'm reading this next. It was originally titled "What's Mine's Mine"! I may have to look into a GM bio soon. I got these two books at the library book sale and then realized I have the whole George MacDonald collection on my Kindle. I think it was free.

Well, I'm going to set you folks free! Did anyone get this far? Then get off of your computer, go outside, and enjoy the weather!
Love y'all!
Shalom for now!