Category Archives: Nature and Outdoors

A Walk At The Lake

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Once upon a time, I walked at Lake Alma after work almost every day of the week. I wouldn’t go if it was under 20 degrees or if there was ice on the ground. Sometimes I would skip if heat stroke was a risk.

Otherwise, I was there all the time.

I’m not sure exactly when or why I fell off the wagon but I have missed being there.

Yesterday I had to leave Scout and have some blood work done. Afterward, I grabbed a quick breakfast and then went to the lake. I was surprised at how many people were there on a Tuesday morning but it was gratifying to see so many people using the park.

Lake Alma is a unique state park here in Ohio. It’s beautiful but kind of compact. There’s a nice campground, boat rentals, playground areas, and places to picnic. There’s a paved walking path along the one-way road that goes around the lake. There are also rugged hiking trails that I don’t especially enjoy because they tend to be too steep but I know lots of people who love hiking there for that very reason. There is also a trail around the island that I adore.

But the accessibility of this place is really special. If you had a mobility issue but still wanted to camp or spend some time in the woods on a paved path, this is a great spot. If you want a place to ride bikes with your family, the lake bike path does into nearby Wellston. it is not uncommon to see little kids learning how to ride.

It was a refreshing 48 degrees when I arrived and the sky was a beautiful bright blue. In the first mile I saw a deer, countless squirrels and this salamander.

My apologies for the quality of this photo. Capturing a dark black creature in the shade when they’re on the move is essentially impossible. But you get the idea.

Google tells me that it’s a Northern Slimy Salamander. Evidently, the damp wooded hills around the lake are prime real estate for these guys.

They are land loving creatures that breathe through their porous skin. They like leaf litter, rotting logs, and stones. It was crossing the road and headed toward the lake but Google says it likely wasn’t headed for the water.

If you see one, picking it up with your bare hands is a bad idea. Not only is it troubling to the salamander, they secrete a mucous through their skin that is hard to get off your skin.

One of the things I always liked about walking here is that I regularly have close encounters with turtles, walking sticks, and funny little new-to-me creatures like this salamander.

The other thing I like about regularly spending time in the same place is that you get a front row seat to the way nature changes almost every day.

There’s always something new to see even when it’s familiar. you just have to go looking for it.

Long Week

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Friends, it has been a long week. I’m on the tail end of a sinus infection, work has been busy, and I’m just plain happy to see that we have made it to Friday.

I tell you that to say this: I’m out of words for today. Here’s a pretty picture to remind you that that sometimes the picture is worth a thousand words and that it’s ok to shut up and let the photos do the talking.

This is at a small botanical garden near Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Happy Friday y’all!

Hello, September (It’s About Time)

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Everyone talks about how short the summer has been and how they can’t believe August is already over. As a person whose summer has dragged and feels like August was nine weeks long, I am so excited to write these words:

Welcome September!

I tolerate summer. I don’t enjoy it no matter how hard I try. It’s an annoying season and, at times, oppressive. It’s too humid and hot to actually enjoy the outdoors. People I know who say they love summer don’t spend nearly enough time out in it to justify actually liking it.

The humidity makes my straight hair curl and frizz in ways that I don’t approve the minute I walk outside . Summer clothes are ugly. Plus, because the days are longer we are expected to keep pace with the sun and be active longer so as not to waste day light.

What’s worst though is that I do suffer from Summer SAD. It’s the same as the kind of seasonal depression others experience in the winter only mine is because there is too much light. I can feel this loosening its grip a little more every day and I look forward to the more balanced days of September and October.

In southern Ohio, September is still very much summer but it’s usually less intense than August.

So, bring on September with its cooler mornings and somewhat more moderate days. Hello to the month that gives us fresh apples, pumpkin spice and an excuse to indulge in all things maple. Let’s all breathe a little better with humidity levels starting to recede. Let’s stand in the woods and drink in the smells and sights as leaves begin to turn and as the start of Fall approaches.

It comes but once a year and I will rejoice!

The photo above is from last year at this time on Presque Isle in Lake Erie. That place is a little slice of paradise if you ever get to visit.

Come Out And Play?

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I was headed out for work yesterday when I found this cute little toad waiting at the screen door to the porch. He seemed to be asking if I could come out and play.

I was in a rush but did pause a moment to say hello to my little visitor and to snap a photo. After having his photo made, he very politely moved aside so I could leave.

I have a number of toads and frogs in my yard on any given day and I especially enjoy hearing their chorus of trills, croaks, peeps and chirps. Never heard a toad before? You’re in for a treat. Click here to have a listen.

I know people who complain about the sounds of country creatures but I think they make life more special.

Making friends with the neighbors is always a good idea!

Good Morning

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Enjoy this beautiful day, friends!

Living Your Values

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Values.

This is a word I have thought about a lot lately. I’m trying to align how I spend my time with what I value. I’m trying to spend my money with companies whose values are similar to my own or at least whose values are things I can live with. I’m trying to be careful to not allow people whose opinions I do not value drag down my energy. I’m trying to question the true values of those who want something from me. I find that some people will manipulate you at every turn if they want your vote/money/help regardless of whose grandmother they have to sell to get their way.

Values matter.

This week, I took two very small actions to speak up for my values. Last night I went to Wheatberry Bookstore in downtown Chillicothe where I bought a couple of books. I’m calling them birthday gifts for myself because, as my mother would say, I need more books like I need another hole in my head.

This won’t stop me from buying them, mind you, but my birthday is coming and who can argue with presents?

Buying books is hardly an act of revolution but Wheatberry is a charming independent bookstore in a downtown where small businesses are suffering because of construction. Honestly, it isn’t nearly as bad as locals think it is and I had no trouble navigating where I needed to be.

If I want them to survive, I need to make sure I’m supporting them. Granted, my two book purchase won’t make that much of a difference but my two books and your two books and someone else’s two books will add up.

I value having a bookstore nearby and I value the programs, kids stuff, and community mindedness they bring to the table. Supporting authors is important to me as is making sure a variety of books are accessible locally.

I need to act like they matter.

The other thing I did was join in a chorus of voices expressing our dissatisfaction that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) was entertaining the idea gas powered boats should be allowed on Lake Hope.

In a busy, noisy and all together sometimes unpleasant world, Lake Hope is a last bastion of quiet and calm. I hike there. I know people who bird watch and pass the day floating around in their kayaks. I have sat near the shore reading and solving all the world’s problems beneath a peaceful autumn sky. The air is cleaner and the world feels lighter once your boots hit the trail at Lake Hope State Park.

I get irritated when people are hiking with loud music or let their kids scream like banshees on a forest trail. Yes, I sound like an old crank but that kind of noise scares away the wildlife and ruins the experience for everyone around. I certainly don’t want to listen to someone’s boat motor.

So I wrote a letter like many people and became part of a movement that forced ODNR to listen. A single voice might not have mattered but a lot of us together brought meaningful change.

Humans need a place where we can go for free and listen to the frogs, watch a squirrel scurry up a tree, and witness a turtle sunbathing on a half submerged log. We need a place to go where your only job is to enjoy the aroma of pine trees and the crunch of fallen leaves underfoot.

The wonderful thing about living in America is that we can make individual contributions that will matter. A single snowflake is hardly noticeable but put enough of them together and you might have a blizzard on your hands.

Contact your politicians. Stand up for what you know is right. Support the businesses you want to keep in your community. Get your friends to help too.

Exercise your right to free speech and stand up for what matters to you. Living your values is how things get done.