Fantastical Morning

(Balloon passing over the deck yesterday evening.)

What a beautiful morning it has been here in the Bogs!  It’s been such a lovely morning that I have been leaving exclamation points all over the internet as I visit from place to place.

(This morning’s view of the pond.)

The cooler, crisper weather has me energized.  So much so that I put on my Vibrams and went for a 42 minute walk/run.  Outdoors!  Not on the treadmill!  It was a marvelous way to begin the day.  The air was fresh and cool.  The birds were carrying on in that noisy way they do when they have gathered in large flocks.  I’ve often wondered if they do that because they are all getting caught up with each other after a summer of being apart and doing their own thing.

Officially it is still summer but you can tell that fall is coming by the fog in the mornings.  I like to watch it rolling off the pond and into the neighbor’s backyard where it goes from being pond fog to ground fog.

(Pond fog.)

This is hiking season.  Well, I know.  Any season is hiking season.  But the cooler months, especially the autumn months, are my favorite time to hike.

M and I went on a couple of small hikes over the weekend.  We went to Quail Hollow early on Saturday morning.  I did not take the camera along.  It was nice to enjoy the walk and not have to stop (yes, have to stop because I am a photography addict) every few minutes to take pictures.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t think about the camera every now and then, seeing the way the sunlight and dew were playing on the foliage.

(Stairs to Bridal Veil Falls overlook at the Bedford Reservation, Cleveland MetroParks.)

On Sunday morning we went to the Bedford Reservation, part of the Cleveland MetroParks system.  You would hardly know that you were in the city.  We walked down to the Bridal Veil Falls overlook where there wasn’t much in the way of water to be seen because of the lack of rain.

(An enchanted world in the woods of the Cleveland MetroParks system.)

We got off to such a great start that I’m hoping that is an omen of things to come.  More weekend hikes.  Trips to the mountains of Pennsylvania or the hills of southern Ohio.  Crisp, cool air.  Colorful foliage.  And donning our blindingly bright hunter’s orange shirts and hats because this is also the beginning of hunting season and we wouldn’t want the hunters out there mistaking us for deer or squirrels or whatever is in season.

(A small section of Bridal Veil falls.)

This afternoon is almost as fantastical as this morning.  Yoga, sharing a delicious lunch with M, and now I’m off to do a bit of weeding in the garden.

It’s the September yellow season.  The goldenrod is going all out this year, spreading its yellow everywhere.  It must like the current drought conditions.

Well, I should get out to the garden.  I hope your Tuesday is, was, has been as fantastical as mine.

8)

(The path from the woods to the garden.  Or from the garden to the woods.  Which way are you going?)