At the pond

We got out today for a walk at the Ninety Six National Historic Site which is about an hour from our home.  Ninety Six is the name of the nearby town which got its name supposedly from a Native American woman who counted the streams and creeks that she crossed to warn her love about an attack.  Or she rode her horse  96 miles to warn him.  I am trying to decide if this is really far fetched as I don't think the early Native Americans had a numbering system that used miles or the numbers that would be the same as the counting system the colonials used.   Tall tales.

We walked about 3-4 miles around the park..some on paved trails until we came to the fork in the road that said "Charleston Road"..which we knew would take us to the Star Fort Pond.  The pond was surrounded by meadows of wildflowers!    But this tree..a maple I think..was at the edge of the pond shining in the dappled sunlight..I just loved the colors.    A photo of the green trail and some of the flowers at the pond are in the extras.  

And again..I was mad at myself for taking the wrong camera!       The Canon SX60 is really not a good camera for hiking/walking.  My arms get too floppy or something and I cannot hold the camera steady..it only has live view so I normally fail to get a sharp photo when I hike.   Details are just not good when my arms quiver even with the focus locked.    I could have carried the tripod but it is not what I wanted to do.   Next time I will have the SL1.  

Another thing that happened was a deer ran out in front of us..I swung the camera up and tried my best to track her..which I did get a photo of her with both front and hind legs in the air as she ran through the meadow!   We also saw a fawn but it was too far away and running in the opposite direction.    The deer photo is in the extras. 

The weather was perfect for a walk in the forest.  Stress always leaves me and I feel much better when I walk among the trees.