The Path

In February, I wrote that I was going to start walking regularly as a form of exercise. I didn’t end up being the most diligent about it, and sometimes I would go several days in a row without going on walks for the purpose of exercising. Over the last couple of weeks, however, I’ve been quite diligent about it again. Maybe just maybe it has something to do with Melanie’s recent discovery of a walking / jogging / running / biking / what-have-you trail located almost right behind where we live. It’s funny that it took us so long to discover it, especially when we drive by the entrance to it quite regularly. But as far as walking goes, it’s not in the direction that I had normally been walking, so I never stumbled upon it myself. Melanie was a bit more explorative in her walking, so she found it. And it’s lovely.

I’ll share some pictures momentarily, but I’ll say that the first thing I love about the trail is just how shady it is. The trail runs through lots of trees, so it’s peaceful and serene, quite unlike the roadside sidewalk I was accustomed to walking on. And of course it’s much cooler, since the trees do a decent job of blocking out the sunlight, especially if you go early in the morning. It’s a whole different experience, and I’m loving it. The only downside is that, despite the trail’s being right behind where we live, you have to go a semi-roundabout way to get to it. So, if you walk for 30 minutes, most of that time is not on the trail itself. And, when you return, you have to go up a somewhat steep hill. This is the case no matter where you walk, but when I use this path, the steep part of my walk comes nearer to the end and is steeper than what I had dealt with before (simply because the steepness isn’t so spread out). That makes for a slightly grueling end to the walk, especially in this humidity. (Also, it’s already been in the mid- and upper-90s here for a couple of weeks. Mornings are better, but not nearly as cool as you’d hope.)

I decided to take our camera with me on my walk one morning, and of course it ended up being a grayer morning than usual. A lot of the photos I took turned out fairly blurry. Oh well. I’ll share what I can, and hopefully you’ll get an idea of the beauty that I enjoy. I’ve said it before, but if you didn’t feel the heat and humidity in the air, you could look around certain parts of Tallahassee and fool yourself into believing you’re in Washington state. That is something I’m grateful for almost every single day.

And now, the photos:

Walking downhill toward the path, which is in the cluster of trees just beyond the white building. You can see that there are lots of trees. I’m happy to live somewhere that looks like this.

In the spring, many trees here sprout what look like pink flowers. From a distance, the “petals” look like normal, broad, flat petals, but …

… up close, you realize that the “petals” are thin and grassy. I don’t know what these things are. When it rains, they get all over your car, all wet and balled up like Mother Nature hacked a hairball. But I think they’re pretty.

The path begins.

The path continues. Notice the pink flowers in the trees on both the left and the right. (You have to squint to see them, or just click on the pic and make it larger.)

This is a long-distance photo of two rabbits further ahead on the trail. I saw another rabbit later on, and I’ve encountered them on this trail before.

Wet and green – my idea of perfection. (I think Miss Piggy once said that about Kermit the Frog.)

The end of the trail, or the beginning of the return.

I saved this picture for last because when I saw these flowers, I was absolutely blown away. They look like something out of a science fiction movie, like little exploding stars. I wonder if they are hallucinogenic if you eat them. All hallucinogenic plants should look like this, don’t you think?

Thanks for walking with me! Now go home!