Oh the many, many things you'll see . . . and hear!

When John started trying to get me to walk here at home, I made excuses, truth is, I just couldn't see walking here after the paradise of walking on the golf course all summer! Finally he wore me down and we went for a walk along the river trail. That was fun, so the next day he talked me into a walk starting at home. We walked down our street to the highway and on across to the old highway and into the country, and there the fun began. And what fun it has been, I've even continued walking each morning while he's sleeping from working nights. As I weave down the road, trying to find the smooth spots in the old, decaying road surface, I'm sure anyone seeing me would think I was just an old drunk walking down the road, and that makes me smile! I've seen deer tracks and each morning as I look to find new ones, I'm amazed that they are so close to our house, I even saw a raccoon print one morning! And the sounds, I never realized that fall was so noisy and loud! Walking along the road, my feet crunch the leaves and I can hear rustling in the dead bushes and I wonder what it is that's moving in there, it's kind of creepy at times! Once in a while it will be a flock of birds and disturbed by my passing, they will take to the air. I hear the ravens calling as they fly overhead, sometimes it sounds like they are laughing at me, a mere human, having to walk when they can soar and fly. I see that there is water in the creek on one side of the bridge, but no sign of it on the other. Where is it coming from? I hear the bell of a far off church ringing, sound travels far out in the country. This morning, I put on my headphones and was listening to music at first, but when I got to the old highway, I realized that I couldn't hear nature talking to me so I turned off the music and took out the earplugs, the sounds of nature are much more pleasing. As I walked this morning, I wondered why I kept making excuses not to walk for so long??

I picked my first red St. Johns chili today and we couldn't resist trying it out. I chopped it up and we put it in an omlette, it wasn't hot, just a mild chili flavor and boy was it good! I discovered later when I touched my eye that it did have some punch, boy did my eye burn!