Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Walks In The Park With My Sister

A couple of months ago I decided I needed to get my tush out of the house and moving. The thing is, I HATE exercise! I am an undisciplined do-nothing that tries my very hardest never to be uncomfortable. I couldn't afford a gym membership to guilt me into going because I was paying for the thing. I knew I wouldn't go myself, (I get bored very easily). The kids can't keep the pace that I can yet. I knew I had to get someone that could make me accountable.

My sister-in-law Stacey has battled her weight most of her life, but recently lost over 40 pounds (hope it's okay with you that I posted that, Stace), and she has kept it off for quite a while now (well over a year). I decided she was my girl! I asked her if she would start walking with me a couple of times a week. She agreed, and we started going to a local park with a 2 mile walking trail. She's been taking care of herself for a while, but I have been out of shape for much longer than she's been in shape. It was nothing for her to do 2 miles and go on to 4, but it took a while for me to be able to make it as easily as she could.

Anyway, after a couple of weeks, I started looking around and realized, this park is really pretty. Then, one morning, we saw 11 deer! I decided I needed to start bringing my camera along. When I find really nice things to take pictures of, I take them now. I am not a professional photographer. I'm not even a very good amateur photographer. In fact, I have a real knack for moving while I snap a photo or of covering half the lens with my finger. (I understand it's a family trait.) I never see very many deer when I have the camera around, but I've gotten some other interesting photos. I have decided to share them with you today.

An old nest found on the ground.

Pretty yellow fall tree.

Yellow tree behind rock bridge.

Interesting mushroom.

Persimmon! It took me a while to identify this because they are tiny. The blossom cap on some of the others finally gave it away.

Red tree overhanging the trail on a cloudy day.

Geese

More geese. Notice the lone white goose in the background. How do you think he got mixed up with such a rowdy bunch? Leave your stories in the comments section.

Line of red trees in front of some Georgia pines on an overcast day.

Half green, half red tree in front of one of the baseball diamonds.

More trees around the park.

Interesting duck we met for the first time today. He didn't like me taking his picture.

I got him to turn to the side a little anyway so I could take his picture.

Now that it's gotten cold and the leaves have fallen off the trees, this grass seems to have popped inside out like popcorn. This is a picture of a big bunch of this grass. (Sorry it's blurry. I warned you, though.)


This is a close-up of that popped grass. Turns out, that's ICE coming out of it! It must hbe really moist inside, and the moisture starts seeping out, causing the ice to slowly form swoopy ice art on the outside! Cool, eh? I thought it looked like packing peanuts and wanted to see if that's what it felt like, which is how I discovered that it was ice! Crazy!

2 comments:

timpani76 said...

The popped grass is the weirdest thing! I have never heard of that.

Mary said...

It not actually popped. It's ice! It looks puffed or popped though, doesn't it? I'd never seen it before now. Must be a crazy Georgia phenomenon! ;) Also, I called two trees yellow when they are clearly orange. I apologize for the error. My face is red. (Red? Is that right? Shoot, now all my colors are mixed up!)