A Walk In The Woods

Today Brian and I went walking in the fields where I grew up. It's a nice little piece of this rock we're all spinning around on. There's a little bit of field, a little bit of forest, a little patch of water. My parents still live there and my siblings are taking turns returning to the empty nest. We tend to converge here for holidays and other not-so-significant occasions.

The leaves are turning and we're having an October heat wave. Perfect for enjoying the great outdoors. I particularly love seeing the milkweed blowing it's seed at this time of year.

Brian took this pic. In the background you can see the treeline. That's the sugar bush. My dad has built a cabin back there. We've enjoyed the odd campfire and perhaps a bottle of wine over the years. I really love this field. Not sure why. It's an old hay field that hasn't been cut in years. The tallest grass is as tall as I am.




Did I mention I liked milkweed? When I was little, we used to go to my grandparent's cottage and near the end of summer, all the cousins would pop all the milkweed pods and we'd make 'snow'. That field was covered in white. We did that year after year. The monarchs must have loved us. I feel a little left out when I see a field like this. Noone helped to pop these pods. They worked that out all by themselves.

Brian found some red-headed woodpeckers.

This is the pond. It's very low right now. That's to be expected. The St.Lawrence is at it's lowest point in 80 years. I guess it's been a dry season in these parts.

I used to skate here when I was a kid. Good times.

We were walking along a low patch of ground - a stream bed that feeds the pond - when all of a sudden, the ground started hopping. We had to look carefully to find them: we were surrounded by these tiny frogs. They were all over! First, they hop madly out of the way. Then, if they think you're too close, they freeze and stay put. It was tough getting a picture of the little guys nonetheless.

I hope to get out here with the kids this week. They'd love to see the frogs and run amok in the tall grass. One day at a time, though. We'll see how this week shapes up.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating. Have a great weekend, all!