Walk Location: Minneopa State Park
Walk Time: Morning
Skies: Clear and cool
Temperature: 36 degrees
iPod: This American Life
Steps: 4500
I started this blog for a couple of reasons. The first was to encourage me to walk on a regular basis. The second was to have a record of what I am observing. The third is to remind myself that no two days are ever the same. Today's walk was proof of the final reason. Yesterday was cool and rainy, a gloomy grey day. Today, however, is beginning bright and crisp, a testimony to the glories of its Creator.
A while back I blogged about the sumac beginning their journey into crimson radiance. Now that October is here, they are at their reddest peak. Because it is a cold dew-drenched morning, the leaves seem laden with moisture. There is a depth to this morning's moisture, a silent sort of somnolescence, broken by a herd of whitetail deer gliding through the bushes not far from my walking path. My reverie of nature is interrupted as I discover on the same path, within minutes of one another, the bodies of two dead moles who must have succumbed to the season's cold temperatures.
The vivid colors of autumn enshroud me as I walk this morning, beginning in an area that is more of a prairie (with vegetation) and ending with a walk along the bluffs of the Minnesota River, filled with hardwoods of many kinds. There are oaks, with their burnished bronze leaves, maples with their reds and oranges, the very occasional birch with its yellow, and numerous bushes and shrubs which fill my iPhone's camera with such splendor. I continue to be surprised how well the iPhone does with pictures. It isn't exactly the most sophisticated camera, but generally does a very nice job in capturing what I am seeing.
There are no two days the same. I am coming to realize the ever-changing beauty of the cosmos in ways I have neglected in the first four decades of my life. Even now as I type these words I am glancing out of my window to see the warmth of the sun melting away the cold dew from the leaves of the tree. It is creating visible steam, an impressive sight and reminder of the nuances of nature most of us have not enough time to notice.
1 comment:
I was wondering what kind of camera you were using, Bart. I think the iPhone is doing just fine. I appreciate getting to actually see the beauty you are talking about.
In my youth I spent lots of time wandering the hills all year long, but autumn is still my favorite!
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