Walk this Way

Wow! I have some catching up to do.  I am starting with what is really going well...the streaking!  I am so grateful that fall is here and I don't have to get up way before daylight to catch some cool weather. There is so much to see as the seasons change. I have been taking advantage of the cooler weather by walking during my lunch break at work. Today I am sharing two of my walks from the past walk.

Thursday

About a mile from my work is a little water shed oasis. What is a watershed?  I will let www.watershedatlas.org explain:

A watershed is a basin-like landform defined by highpoints and ridgelines that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys. A watershed carries water "shed" from the land after rain falls and snow melts. Drop by drop, water is channeled into soils, groundwaters, creeks, and streams, making its way to larger rivers and eventually the sea. Water is a universal solvent, affected by all that it comes in contact with: the land it traverses, and the soils through which it travels. The important thing about watersheds is: what we do on the land affects water quality for all communities living downstream.
 
About 25 years ago, they began converting an abandoned sewage lagoon into a nature preserve. Yes, I said sewage lagoon. I have visited here many times and have never noticed its former use. Until this day. At the very beginning of the trail there was "that smell."  Thankfully, with a little quick walking I moved past the smell and didn't smell it again the rest of the walk.

I love going out to the watershed with other people, but have been hesitant to walk alone at lunchtime. There is a mile trail encircling the watershed and parts of it are pretty remote. However, this particular day the weather was perfect and I was in serious need of the soothing of nature's beauty. It turns out that every stay-at-home mom in town was there with her pre-schoolers. Their trail walk must have been over and they headed out to the little playground outside the preserve. So I had the trails pretty much to myself.

This part of the trail is called the Marsh Walk...for obvious reasons :)

The path is plenty wide, but I am always nervous I am going to trip and land in the slime.

If I were a Canada Goose I wouldn't mine swimming in the slime :)

The walk and the scenery turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Monday

This walk had a rough start. My legs were quite stiff and sore and I really didn't want to walk very much. I convinced myself to just walk down the road that passes my work building. There is a little housing development that is being built about a mile down the road. I was especially intrigued because most developments happen outside towns and this was in town on the edge of the historic district. I told myself I could walk there at whatever pace and just let my "snooper instinct" (according to my husband) take over. I really wanted to see the houses.

This first picture would be much more interesting if I'd captured the little deer that ran in front of me. It crossed the road between the red car and the white van.

I made it to the development. I like the look of the houses. Not so sure I want an outdoor bathroom though ;)

You know how I love my pavement markings. This one got a bit more permanency with the W being carved into the concrete then painted. I am guessing the W is inspired by the development name - West End.

I am very intrigued by this house and would love a tour when it is finished. However, there is a sold sign, so that won't be happening unless it involves a home invasion and perhaps some jail time :(

I walked back to the office on the historic district street. Love those big old houses. The fall and Halloween decorations were out in full force.

I like my Halloween decorations cute rather than spooky.

I loved this twist on jack-o-lanterns.

My favorite.

If this weren't such a busy street (and I had a bunch more money than I do) I would love to live here.

Although it has been a rough couple weeks for me emotionally, I have been out some doing fun things. However, I have not felt like blogging because writing seems to intensify my emotions. It would seem a bit disingenuous for me to say "hey, look at this cool thing we did" because I know I went home and cried afterwards. There were many days I just couldn't go there with the writing.

In the coming days, I will share some of those adventures as I get back into the swing of blogging. Hopefully, you all don't mind some "old news".

This morning I realized this is Day 42 of streaking and that is 6 weeks!!!  That means only 58 days until Star Wars. We don't have our tickets yet, but will probably buy them soon. We want to be among the first to hopefully avoid the spoilers. That and my husband is super excited and doesn't wanted to wait an extra minute :)

Linking to Weigh-In Wednesday.