Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Today was the perfect day for a morning walk. I was the only one of our four going so I had the entire walk to myself. The walk is along our side road for one mile and then back. Walking along the road lets you see and hear things that a car just buzzes by.

The first thing is to smell the fresh air. With no wind at all today and a nice dew on the ground, everything smelled fresh and clean. The dew keeps the road damp so even an occasional car doesn’t throw dust into the air. I saw five vehicles on my walk this morning.

The noise is the next thing to be noticed. No need for an iPod when you can hear the birds singing everywhere. In the background is the almost constant call of the chickadee. That is the only call I know because the chickadee just says its name over and over again. Sometimes it adds an extra dee or two. Who knows what other birds are talking to me but each one has a distinctive song that comes out as clear as a bell. Sometimes are bird will fly overhead and I can hear the swoosh from its wings. There was one boat that went down the lake and its motor added a little mechanical sound for a few minutes.

Finally we are down to what can be seen on a walk. Most of the trees have leafed out. Strawberries are blooming in the road ditches. Several trees are getting ready to flower. The pin cherry trees should be blooming next week. The lupines are coming up in the ditches. In about 3-4 weeks there will be lupine blossoms all along the road. You will need to see a picture of them. If it is rainy, there are hundreds of earthworms on the road. I wonder how they can live in the packed down surface of a dirt road. We have renamed a section of the road “Rabbit Corner.” That’s where we have seen the rabbit this spring.

Later I walked down by Cabin #26 and looked at the lake. Here is a picture of what I saw. Too bad I don’t have time to just sit on the swing and watch the day unfold. Instead I am in my office writing to you.

Bruce was busy yesterday working on some masonry projects for the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center. One project is to put in some slate as an entry way just inside the front door. If any of you have walked around our property, you will have noticed piles of rocks in many places. These are rocks that Bruce has collected during our many building projects. He has mentally cataloged all of them.

So when he was thinking about the slate entry way, Bruce remembered a large slate rock in one of his piles by the outfitters. If he could just split that, it would be big enough to make a one piece entry rock. Yesterday was the splitting day. He had to lift the rock with the bobcat. With his masonry hammer and some pegs he was able divide the rock into three sheets. Here he is moving one of the sheets. If you visit the museum after it opens next year, be sure to notice the rock when you walk in.

One of our neighbors has a baby squirrel. They think that its mother was accidentally live trapped and moved to a different location. This 3-4 inch squirrel is hungry! He chases all the birds off the feeder when he wants to eat. Of course, he is not quite as good a climber as an adult would be so it is a project to get up the feeder. The other day my neighbor was in her garden when the baby squirrel came running up. She stood up and he ran right up her leg almost to her knee before realizing the mistake. Already this squirrel has visibly grown since they first saw him.

Summer is here now so it is time for some of you to be visiting us. We look forward to seeing you.