Pain and Pleasure

We slept in a bit this morning. It was already misting rain. After a French toast, fruit and sausage breakfast, I headed over to take my shower. Was stopped in my tracks at the door by the wolf spider you can see in the first pic of row two. Hubby came immediately to my rescue. We decided to hike the beach trail before the heavier rain arrived. I wasn’t listening and thought he said it was an easy quarter mile walk so I did not take pain meds, grease up the old knees or grab my trekking pole. Big mistake. The descending steps in the middle of the collage were the second set we’d used to get to the beach. Going down was not so bad but I dreaded going back up them. According to hubby’s exercise app, from the parking lot on the cliff down to the river, our elevation dropped approximately 122 feet. There is so much to see on any hike. I used the Seek app to identify many different plants and some fungi. Some of the trees are almost too tall to see the tops. There are so many trees here with nice holes big enough for hibernating. There was even a cave in the side of one hill. So far, only one deer has visited along with a few squirrels and birds. But with so many tall trees, unless I can identify their call, I’m not sure what birds there are. This feather belonged to a hawk. It is illegal to possess their feathers so I left it. We only met three other folks along our path. Hubby and I enjoyed a quiet stroll along the beach until it started raining in earnest. We decided to return via the paved road thinking it would be more level. Another big mistake. Luckily, I had my inhaler. And I loved the old brick retaining wall along the roadway. Tiny plants are growing on it. We traveled through the cabins area. They look very nice. But the most welcome sight was our truck at the top of the cliff. The hike totaled a bit more than two miles. We enjoyed the homemade soup our DIL sent with us. Then we napped almost two hours. Kindle time. Wishing you a pleasant day as well. No news. Thanks for visiting. “There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.” - Lord Byron