One of the things I always do when visiting in Illinois is to walk in the park I enjoyed regularly when living there. As ti was early November, most plants weren’t at their best yet I managed to find color in a variety of place:
in the dawn sky,
in the sun hitting the trees and the leaves that remained,
in some vivid leaves still hanging on…literally,
in the still-leafy bushes,
and in the fallen leaves along a back trail.
Jo’s Monday Walk…sometime
Walking. It’s what I do. But I’m not the only one walking as you’ll see from my responses to Amy’s challenge to “Keep Walking.” Here are three states of walking…or walking in three states.
Walking on tiptoe in Arizona…
Walking warily with your mouth full in Illinois…
And how we (that would be the royal “we) walk in Wyoming (with the sounds of a running stream for accompaniment)…
Trust me, even though I’m not doing the walking in that video, it’s not easy to keep get my phone out of my waist pack, get it ready to shoot, start the video while holding the phone both tightly enough not to drop it and as straight as possible…all while holding the reins with my left hand!! I feel I did my share. 🙂
My daughter and I took lots of walks during my visit, often accompanied by wind which finally blew away the clouds of the first several days, revealing the sun, although for this walk you may want a small jacket. You can walk for miles along the path that runs between the beach and multi-million dollar homes…second homes, vacation homes, not primary residences. This one (yes, a single house) has a distinct Italian flair.
The walk continues past more homes, most the same size but in a variety of styles. Behind he beach-side row are another five or six rows up the rather steep hill. Every one has some amount of ocean view. For those prices, you’d expect one!
Waling isn’t the only activity. You can surf, swim, play beach volleyball, or just go fly a kite. There was certainly enough wind on this day.
Besides the flowers in front of the homes, many people have a small section between the walk and the top of the beach where we saw some stunning gardens.
for Jo’s Monday Walk
As most of you already know, last week I left my canal walks, heading for The Riparian Preserve in Gilbert, Arizona. The City of Gilbert manages the seven recharge basins (lakes) to replicate wet and dry periods.
A riparian habitat or riparian zone is a type of wildlife habitat found along the banks of a river, stream, or other actively moving source of water such as a spring or waterfall. The term generally refers only to freshwater or mildly brackish habitats surrounded by vegetation and may include marshes, swamps, or bogs adjacent to rivers. The Spruce
Birds are the big draw for a large number of people. The many trails are also perfect for walking, jogging, biking, or even in some places, horseback riding. It’s also used for dog walking and fishing and…photography.
Even at 5 am, just before sunrise, everyone is out and about! There are lots of egrets rushing in all directions for juicy insects and perhaps some fish.
The duck family wasn’t too afraid of me and although Mama kept an eye on me, everyone else was busy eating and cleaning themselves.
If you were taking a walk with me on our new location in Gilbert, Arizona, we’d be out early, but the much-vaunted sun is up early as well.
Today we’re heading to the canal that carries precious water to the desert, with paths on either side for walking or biking. Take a look at this bottlebrush plant. Easy to see how it got its name.
(more…)Friday afternoon we arrived at our new rental house in Gilbert, Arizona after a whirlwind of packing due to a move date that we advanced by almost three weeks due to the coronavirus. We didn’t want to have a problem leaving, so we packed the van and the car, loaded up the cooler with meatloaf sandwiches, apples, and other goodies, added sanitizer to be used at the motels. and hit the road. Three days later, we were here. A day and a half after that, our worldly goods arrived and are now sitting in the house and garage.
Yesterday morning I went out for a walk in my new world. It’s not the woman-in-the-middle-of-nature that I enjoyed at the park. It’s very different. But there are lots of paved walking paths like this and being out early, I didn’t see many people. It felt good to be outside walking after so many days of sitting. The sun had just come up and the day was lovely. Here’s a bit of what I saw. Excursions farther away will have to wait for now and hopefully for not too long. Until then, I’ll enjoy what’s here and keep exploring in the area. You’re welcome to come along for the journey.
(more…)We’ve made it thought the park and back to the parking lot, saddened that the best part of the morning is over. Or is it? As I drive the van toward the main road, I look to the right, to where the water is slow, forming a large pond/small lake. Behold! A fisherman! Pull over, park, and find a rock. Limber up the clicking finger, focus the telephoto, and we’re off. As Yogi Berra (not Bear) once said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” And we have a few more photos to take.
Waiting; the personification of patience. Animalification?
Stealthily on the move. Is that a feather duster in the back? 🙂
Streeeetch. (I’d say “Craning”, but as it’s an egret, that might get confusing.) 🙂
I sat for a long while on a warm rock, taking photos and just watching. When I finally rose to leave, you guessed it. Plop. Another frog missed. But I did get a shot of one recently and that will likely be coming up Tuesday.
Have a marvelous weekend and thanks for walking with me.
I walk for exercise three mornings a week, carrying my iPhone because photo ops happen all the time at the park. I keep track of my walks on Map My Walk and was relieved to discover the “Pause workout” button, enabling me to stop for photos without having my pace impacted. But every so often, I take a photo walk, carrying my Nikon with telephoto lens as well as my iPhone. I don’t map those walks, as a distance that takes about 30 min. on an exercise day may take as long as an hour and a half on a photography day!
Last week, my photo walk day turned out to be cloudy with the threat of rain. I packed a plastic bag in my fanny pack to cover my camera if necessary. I wasn’t sure if I should expect much in the way of animal life, but perhaps because it still seemed like night or because there were hardly any other people, it was an excellent day, as you’ll see from the following photos. This is true soul food.
This, that and the other thing 