A Long Walk...Finally!

 The past few weeks I have not been able to get some nice long walks in mostly due to the weather.  We are in the late summer in Florida which means hot temperatures, high humidity and thunderstorms.  Every day between 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM we get huge thunderstorms and or heavy rain.  The only good thing about this is we get the rain to keep us green and during the storm it cools down into the 80s.  The bad thing is once it is over it gets double humid if that is possible.  You feel like you could cut the air with a knife.  So, between the heat or the storms it has been tough to get my longer walks in.  This morning, I got to finally get a five mile walk in.  The temperature was a cool 78 with 100% humidity but with a breeze of 7mph.  For Florida right now, that is cool.  It felt good!  Along the way I did see some more wildlife but this morning I did not see a vulture.  I have this new theory that I kept seeing vultures on my walks because they were waiting for me to drop dead.  Not going to happen!

Nature Walk Part 2

 On my daily walks I have come across a lot of nature. I told you the story of the ducks and the ducklings are growing fast.  This week I have had many encounters with vultures.  Do you know what vultures smell like?  I didn't but I do now.  They smell like DEATH! I have now encountered vultures on three different occasions and each time, after the first encounter, I now hold my breath when I pass by them and  I pass by them at a distance too because I do not want any interactions with them either.  The first encounter they were picking at a dead turtle in the middle of the sidewalk that I walk on; I moved to the street.  The second time they were picking at a dead rabbit.  The third time, two days ago, it was a dead armadillo.  Vultures are not very afraid of many things, especially humans so I just try to avoid them.  I do live in a very suburban area with lots of housing divisions so to see vultures in this area does surprise me.  I am hoping for less encounters during my daily walks.

Update on my SIL: he is out of the hospital and is home on oxygen and recovering well.  We are so glad to have him home.  He is doing great!  Thanks for the prayers; prayers work! 

Nature and Covid

I know nature and covid does not go together but today it does. First nature: Last week I shared about the Muscovy ducks and now for an update: the reason the ducks were so protective is because they had babies.  Each pond has a new set of ducklings and they are adorable.  I cannot believe how fast they are growing.  Now Covid:  my son in law has been fighting for his life since last Friday when we found out he had covid.  We had to put him in the hospital Sunday morning where he has been, by himself, fighting.  He was in the ER for 5 days before he finally got a room.  The good thing is he is getting better and we are hoping to bring him home soon.  He was not vaccinated and he does now regret that but that is a mute point now.  So people, go get vaccinated!  You do not want to go through what my son in law is going through.  Next week I will tell another story about nature during my walks...I do have a few!

The Nature I See On My Daily Walks

 I have been walking 6 days a week for the past six months as part of my weight loss journey.  It has really helped with not only the exercise but also mentally.  When I am on daily walks I have a chance to really think things out, clear my mind, do some planning or just day dream; I do it all!  Recently, I have had new experiences with nature.  Mostly animals, bugs, critters, etc.  I always see lots of bugs, I live in Florida so it comes with the territory, lizards and turtles.  I see lots of birds and water fowl, wild turkeys, deer, snakes and more.  Since I have encountered so much nature I have a few stories to tell.  In the next few weeks I will share some of the stories with you.  For today, I will share what actually happened today.

I was about a mile and half into my 5 mile walk when I came upon some Muscovy ducks guarding the sidewalk.  The sidewalk is next to a pond and usually the ducks are near the pond.  Not this morning, they were on the sidewalk and did not want to move.  I went left to avoid them...they went left.  I went right and they went right.  At this point I was not wanting to play this game and walked right towards them.  They moved.  These ducks will go after you or even chase you down so I did look over my shoulder after I passed to make sure I left them behind.  I thought my duck encounter was over but I was wrong. I continued walking and when I came across another pond I had another duck encounter.  I decided just to walk straight on and they did move. I continued to walk and at the next pond the same thing and this continued as I passed two more ponds.  I am not sure why all of a sudden the ducks were being sidewalk guardians but they were. On my return, the same way I came, I had all the same encounters but it all worked out and no one was hurt during these encounters. I am hoping tomorrow will be a duck free day.