The Wonders of Nature

We were awake before 6:00 am. The breeze made the air pretty chilly so I dressed in layers. Hubby enjoyed the last of my DIL’s breakfast casserole and I had an orange pineapple scone and fresh fruit, tasty. We read until things warmed up and then hiked almost four miles, a lot of it was hilly. At first, there were minimum new sights but by the end, I was bubbly with excitement. The mountain laurel was in full bloom in one area. I saw many wonderful wildflowers; Jack in the pulpits, pennywort, maple leaf viburnum, wild comfrey, unusual fungi, and a creepy bunch of black and gold millipedes. But I was amazed when I came upon a large patch of pink lady slippers. The last trail we hiked had recently been cleared by Youth Conservation Corps members. It’s still a work in progress. Had to pull out my inhaler for those steep hills. We saw a maple tree that wasn’t much more than a sliver of bark but it had several leafy branches. Nature is simply incredible. Hubby had to heat my lunch as my knees were done. The pain meds and pain gels had both worn off. We took a short nap. We have rain in the forecast for the rest of the trip so we put up a decorative “tarp” my son’s family gave us for Christmas to protect us in bad weather. One side is personalized with a cute design and the other side has material to deflect the heat from the sun. You will see it in a future blip. It works great as a wind shield. We rode a few laps around the campground and the rain started. More reading until time to heat the smoked ribs for dinner. My mother had a better day. She received only one scam call about winning a lottery. She knew it was a fake because “you have to play to win”. Thanks for dropping by. No news but still praying for Ukraine. Stay safe. "May your life be like a wildflower growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day." - Native American Proverb