Today Was The Day

Above: Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, learning cabin. We visited the animals that are being rehabilitated or cannot return to the wild due to injuries.The scent of the white magnolia was sublime. 

Whew! What a day! Maria met me at Huntington Reservation where we hiked for 2 hours, 1 hour longer than expected. She is so fun-loving, it’s infectious. We could be dangerous together. In extras you’ll see a splash of Lake Erie with some seagulls, wonderful Maria imitating the tree, a red-headed woodpecker (rare in these parts and endangered). It was my first time seeing it in person. I was excited to blip it.

Then we drove to Bradley Woods Reservation where we hiked another hour and got completely soaked in a downpour at the end. I completed my final TA shift to meet the Explorer’s Club challenge! All done in less than a year. That was one goal when I decided to become a trail ambassador – hiking all the reservations. Now I want to explore areas of them I haven’t seen before. Extra: a very handsome heron who was preening at Bunts Lake and Maria inspecting an apple tree.

Just for the record, I want to be like Maria when I’m 82. I’m lucky to have strong, adventurous women like her in my life.