hummingwolf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hummingwolf) wrote2006-12-12 08:16 pm
hummingwolf) wrote2006-12-12 08:16 pm
Tuesday walk
Being an eminently sensible person, I knew that after several days of tiredness verging on exhaustion and accompanied by dizziness and queasiness, a surge of energy today was no excuse to go gallivanting about the countryside, so of course I took things easy and--
Okay, I hear you snickering out there. So after about a mile & a third of walking, having finished the errands I'd planned to run, I was pondering whether I could walk to yet another destination I had in mind and still get home before dark, when some movement off to the left caught my eye. I was on a busy road approaching an intersection with a busier one, passing by a little wooded area nobody pays much attention to. Down well below street level is a stream, some nameless Anacostia tributary (any trickle of water here is a tributary to the Anacostia). Next to the stream, a little higher than the water and facing toward some old shop (with a medium-sized stuffed Tweetie bird abandoned in the parking lot) was the guy who'd caught my attention. I stopped to look at him. He stopped what he was doing too. "It has antlers!" thought I. "Not very big antlers, but they're definitely antl--" and then out loud (softly) I found myself saying, "Oh, hello there!"
Much closer to me than the young buck, a head was peering at me over some brushy growth, not quite at street level. I'm not good at judging distances, but I'll say she was maybe a dozen feet away from me. She was understandably nervous, yet didn't move as I walked a little along the sidewalk to get better views of the two of them. Cars and trucks passed by me on the other side, people wondering what I could possibly be doing there by the side of the road. Eventually, a third animal (thinner and more awkward-looking than the first two) who I hadn't noticed before, got startled down below and ran a little way to the other side of the stream. Then all three turned round and ran, waving their white flags behind them.
I know they're considered a nuisance species in many parts of their range, but I still think it's cool to go out for a walk and see a trio of white-tailed deer.
So after that I turned onto busier streets and walked far longer than I would have if I'd been a sane person. Grocery stores, fast-food places, liquor stores, apartment buildings, you know the drill. Turned again into somewhat quieter streets, then went into a little shop where I used two dollars of Christmas money to buy a box of Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment™ TeaHouse Chai™ tea, of which I heartily approve. Realized it was a lot closer to sunset than I was comfortable with, considering I don't like walking in unfamiliar neighborhoods when it's dark, so I walked more quickly on the way home, finally getting to a place I felt comfortable before the sun fell below the horizon.
One good thing about walking beside a busy road at sunset? Trees placed farther from the road don't blot out your view of the sky. I got to see the sunset clouds in all their shades of orange and pink and smoke, and they were beautiful. It was also fun to look closer to the ground and see the neighborhood Christmas lights, all the reindeer and Santas and candles and candy canes and Nativity scenes.
Close to home, a man standing in his front yard looked at me in surprise as he said, "You walked all the way here? From back there?" He knew it had been the same woman he'd seen both places because of my hair (anyone who's seen me in person recently will understand this), which he was kind enough to call "lovely" while most everybody else just calls it "very long." Yeah, I really did do an insane amount of walking today.
Even closer to home, a neighbor who'd said to me yesterday, "Isn't it a nice day?" said today, "Two nice days in a row! Isn't it great?" Of course I agreed with him both times.
Okay, I hear you snickering out there. So after about a mile & a third of walking, having finished the errands I'd planned to run, I was pondering whether I could walk to yet another destination I had in mind and still get home before dark, when some movement off to the left caught my eye. I was on a busy road approaching an intersection with a busier one, passing by a little wooded area nobody pays much attention to. Down well below street level is a stream, some nameless Anacostia tributary (any trickle of water here is a tributary to the Anacostia). Next to the stream, a little higher than the water and facing toward some old shop (with a medium-sized stuffed Tweetie bird abandoned in the parking lot) was the guy who'd caught my attention. I stopped to look at him. He stopped what he was doing too. "It has antlers!" thought I. "Not very big antlers, but they're definitely antl--" and then out loud (softly) I found myself saying, "Oh, hello there!"
Much closer to me than the young buck, a head was peering at me over some brushy growth, not quite at street level. I'm not good at judging distances, but I'll say she was maybe a dozen feet away from me. She was understandably nervous, yet didn't move as I walked a little along the sidewalk to get better views of the two of them. Cars and trucks passed by me on the other side, people wondering what I could possibly be doing there by the side of the road. Eventually, a third animal (thinner and more awkward-looking than the first two) who I hadn't noticed before, got startled down below and ran a little way to the other side of the stream. Then all three turned round and ran, waving their white flags behind them.
I know they're considered a nuisance species in many parts of their range, but I still think it's cool to go out for a walk and see a trio of white-tailed deer.
So after that I turned onto busier streets and walked far longer than I would have if I'd been a sane person. Grocery stores, fast-food places, liquor stores, apartment buildings, you know the drill. Turned again into somewhat quieter streets, then went into a little shop where I used two dollars of Christmas money to buy a box of Celestial Seasonings Chocolate Caramel Enchantment™ TeaHouse Chai™ tea, of which I heartily approve. Realized it was a lot closer to sunset than I was comfortable with, considering I don't like walking in unfamiliar neighborhoods when it's dark, so I walked more quickly on the way home, finally getting to a place I felt comfortable before the sun fell below the horizon.
One good thing about walking beside a busy road at sunset? Trees placed farther from the road don't blot out your view of the sky. I got to see the sunset clouds in all their shades of orange and pink and smoke, and they were beautiful. It was also fun to look closer to the ground and see the neighborhood Christmas lights, all the reindeer and Santas and candles and candy canes and Nativity scenes.
Close to home, a man standing in his front yard looked at me in surprise as he said, "You walked all the way here? From back there?" He knew it had been the same woman he'd seen both places because of my hair (anyone who's seen me in person recently will understand this), which he was kind enough to call "lovely" while most everybody else just calls it "very long." Yeah, I really did do an insane amount of walking today.
Even closer to home, a neighbor who'd said to me yesterday, "Isn't it a nice day?" said today, "Two nice days in a row! Isn't it great?" Of course I agreed with him both times.
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When I lived in Tennessee, we'd often drive out to Great Smoky Mountains National Park at either dawn or dusk and take the leisurely drive through Cades Cove. We could could literally hundreds of deer. Some would leap across the road in front of us, others would stand still and stare back. It was heaven! I miss that. Here in Florida, the gift is marsh birds--Great Blue Heron, Egret, the occasional falcon. We've had raccoons visit our yard once in awhile.
Anyway - thanks for sharing that!
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