Pictures from outdoor exercise.
Options
Replies
-
I'm cheating on the thread topic, but it was nature-esque, outdoors-adjacent (under glass), and IMO quite scenic, but only the mildest of exercise: I went to the orchid show and walked around there for quite a while yesterday.
3 -
@AnnPT77
Those are lovely for sure! I'm pretty sure those orchids can't grow outdoors out there..... Oddly, we have some native orchids out here. The Lady Slipper is one, and they're lovely.
As long as we're cheating, I did something outdoors that wasn't really EXERCISE, but it was planning for future exercise and recreation. I went some scouting for river access.
I walked downtown earlier and dropped something off at the post office, then went to the bagel shop. I got a whole-grain rye bagel with smoked salmon spread and added red onions and cucumber. Yum. I got a cinnamon-raisin bagel to go. I got to walk back through the park by the food/bike bridge over the river just in time to see the fire department extinguishing what used to be someone's camp. I'm surprised there's not more fires. I worry about them more in the summer when they could spread easily. This smelled like plastic. Yuck.
So then I took a drive to look at eight different places to access a local river I want to go and paddle again some time. It's been years. There's really not much access other than where a bridge crosses the river on a public road. There's precious little area for parking near any of these access points, and they all require a scramble down a muddy hill under a bridge and dodging a whole lot of thorny blackberry brambles. Not ideal, but that's how a person has to access the river.
There's one exception in a park in the next town upstream and one in my city. The distance between the two would be a VERY LONG day. I'll do it! There's another place with decent access near a place where firetrucks can pump water. I might also include that access one day.
Anyway, I got to enjoy some time between the rain, hopped in and out of the car, and got pictures of the access points to update a map and a river description for a national organization I've supported for decades.
Here's a few pictures of what I'm talking about:
The only one that you can more easily get to in the park in the next town up; it still requires a carry about 60 yards down a path that was really muddy today.
0 -
@mtaratoot, we actually have quite a few wild native orchid species here in Michigan, I think around 50, the lady slipper types more common (comparatively!), but there are a number of others as well. I've only seen (that I recall) one non-lady-slipper, Rose Pogonia, and that was in Ontario, though it's native here, too. Several are not only rare, but also bog-dwellers, so not on most average hikes. The yellow and pink lady-slippers (Cypripediums) grew wild in the woods/swamp on the property where I grew up.
None of those natives are in the photos above, AFAIK. Many of the tropical or near-tropical orchids can spend summer outdoors here in pots, with careful care . . . some of mine would probably do better if I moved them outdoors, but I'm not sure whether they're tasty to woodchucks, so . . . !0 -
Well, the first meteorological day of spring, right? Well, I've been watching, and I've been looking at one in my back yard. I've seen the initial buds breaking exposing the inner buds. Slowly slowly slowly spring is showing up. Well, today while out for a walk I saw the first open flower. It's an Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) and the first native tree to bloom around here. And it decided that the calendar was right.
The one in my back yard still has a week or more to go. It was a nice day out there after a very cold start. We have more weather coming, but it should not get much below freezing. Snow's coming; it may pile up, but won't last long. I'll go enjoy it if I can. Maybe I'll drive up and take the sticks out for a little tour. I might also get out to enjoy the rain, but tomorrow I am looking forward to getting back to the gym for the first time in a couple months.1 -
Are the plums edible? I had a plum tree in Ottawa but it was plagued by fungus issues.0
-
Are the plums edible? I had a plum tree in Ottawa but it was plagued by fungus issues.
They are edible, but they are astringent and bitter. They get a little less so when ripe. First people ate them. They are also called Osoberry.
Birds love them; I have lots of food plants for wildlife in my landscape, and this is one of 'em.
1 -
We have Texas persimmon trees on our property growing wild but it seems like none of them are female trees... or at least we never see any fruit although I've heard the birds will clean the tree off if you don't protect them. Apparently they're very tart until they ripen.
Generic picture of Texas persimmon fruit... Like I said, we haven't had any luck...
0 -
We have Texas persimmon trees on our property growing wild but it seems like none of them are female trees... or at least we never see any fruit although I've heard the birds will clean the tree off if you don't protect them. Apparently they're very tart until they ripen.
Generic picture of Texas persimmon fruit... Like I said, we haven't had any luck...
The persimmons we had in Georgia would be astringent until after a frost. If you never have any fruit, yeah - you probably have a male. They are dioecious.1 -
We have Texas persimmon trees on our property growing wild but it seems like none of them are female trees... or at least we never see any fruit although I've heard the birds will clean the tree off if you don't protect them. Apparently they're very tart until they ripen.
Generic picture of Texas persimmon fruit... Like I said, we haven't had any luck...
The persimmons we had in Georgia would be astringent until after a frost. If you never have any fruit, yeah - you probably have a male. They are dioecious.
These trees are growing wild. My best guess is the local deer ate fruit and "seeded" our property. Odd that none of the trees ended up being female.0 -
We have Texas persimmon trees on our property growing wild but it seems like none of them are female trees... or at least we never see any fruit although I've heard the birds will clean the tree off if you don't protect them. Apparently they're very tart until they ripen.
Generic picture of Texas persimmon fruit... Like I said, we haven't had any luck...
The persimmons we had in Georgia would be astringent until after a frost. If you never have any fruit, yeah - you probably have a male. They are dioecious.
These trees are growing wild. My best guess is the local deer ate fruit and "seeded" our property. Odd that none of the trees ended up being female.
How many trees are there?
Another possibility if there aren't many around (although if naturally seeded by wildlife, there have to be more around) is that none are male, but there's no male trees close enough to pollinate the female flowers. The persimmons we had were not the same as the ones in your yard; the ones that grew in Georgia were orange-fruited. Same genus, different species.0 -
Half a dozen, various locations. The property is mostly natural with mixed trees; mostly oak and evergreens. Interesting, the Texas persimmons are all growing in the shade of oak trees.... none are growing close to the evergreens.We have Texas persimmon trees on our property growing wild but it seems like none of them are female trees... or at least we never see any fruit although I've heard the birds will clean the tree off if you don't protect them. Apparently they're very tart until they ripen.
Generic picture of Texas persimmon fruit... Like I said, we haven't had any luck...
The persimmons we had in Georgia would be astringent until after a frost. If you never have any fruit, yeah - you probably have a male. They are dioecious.
These trees are growing wild. My best guess is the local deer ate fruit and "seeded" our property. Odd that none of the trees ended up being female.
How many trees are there?
Another possibility if there aren't many around (although if naturally seeded by wildlife, there have to be more around) is that none are male, but there's no male trees close enough to pollinate the female flowers. The persimmons we had were not the same as the ones in your yard; the ones that grew in Georgia were orange-fruited. Same genus, different species.0 -
I did a nice hike in great weather, and except for two VERY LOUD people who followed me for a while (I walked really fast to try to get away from them and then went a direction I didn't think they'd go), it was a great day. Sunny. Mild. Good views. Saw birds. Hiked 8.88 miles.
This was back out on the Land Trust that I was on a few weeks ago. Last time I drove a longer way and approached it from the bottom. This time I approached it from closer to my city and up near the top of an abutting land trust property that has really great views. I had not necessarily planned to hike down into the area I did, but those loud people made my decision. It was a good one. The area I planned to hike isn't as pretty, and likely had more people. Once I got away from those first two folks, I saw maybe three or four other groups of one or two people or one person and a dog. Maybe a couple more, but it was just people walking quietly and soaking up the forest vibe. I only snapped a few pictures, and only two are worth sharing.
It was nice to be able to hike the roads and trails I didn't hike last time I was out there. I had hiked almost every trail and all but a couple of the roads. I put boots on all the rest today, and I definitely hiked back on some that I had previously hiked. I had to cross some trails two or three times to pick up the last segments. The lower road that I hadn't planned to hike goes right along the river. In order to pick up one last road segment, I added a longer trail segment that is really pretty and had to hike that lower section, and I'm glad I did. It was actually very nice. I'd do it again. I'm sure I will!
Near the far end of the hike, out on that last trail before hiking up by the river, I saw something I've never seen before. Three or four young folks riding electric "dirt bikes." These weren't mountain bikes; they were more like motor bikes. But not noisy. I am really curious how much range they have. I'm surprised they are allowed out there, but they may not be and they just went anyway because - quiet and hard to tell where they are and faster than anyone else who would be out there. I think they must be neighbors; I've seen the tracks before and was curious. I saw them going in one direction and then back today. I think they'd be fun to ride.
My wrist device told me I am supposed to take a few days to recover. Not likely. It was just a little hike. I didn't even carry food or water. I always carry emergency water; I'm not sure why I didn't, but I didn't. Tomorrow I am planning to get to the gym, but you know how plans are.....1 -
I've done a few outdoor walks lately. I often don't take any new pictures; they look the same as the last time I was there!
On Tuesday I went out to go for an adventure, but I got to a place where the road was still covered with snow. I was in my "new" car, a 2011 RAV4. I haven't had much experience with it on snow yet, so even though I have new tires with the triple-peak snowflake symbol on them, I just turned around. It's that wet spring snow that has zero grip. I hit some snow on a back road a few weeks ago, and the car just wanted to go towards the ditch, so I'm a bit uncertain about snow with these new tires for now. If I were in my truck, I would have continued on. I've driven that truck for 27 years, and even though the tires are at their halfway used up point, they are BFG T/A Radial tires, and they get traction.
I was already about 30 miles or so from home, so I took a different route back along a different river. I hadn't been there since last fall when we went looking for candy cap mushrooms and found a lot. I poked around the woods for the oddball mushroom, and didn't find any.
I did take the short hike down to the falls though, and I snapped an image.
2 -
There is no substitute for experience when it comes in driving in snow.
I was in Texas during their most recent Snowmageddden (winter 2020/21). My wife's SUV had good all-season tires and was AWD so I had no problem even though our area is hilly. My wife was pleasantly surprised as I drove past vehicles like Bubba's lifted 4X4 who were all stuck on the hills or in the ditch or whatever... Knowing how to drive in snow makes the difference.
Mind you, how much help was it? Most everyone else wasn't driving, including the transport trucks... We lost power for most of a week... the grocery stores started running out of supplies... We were talking about maybe driving someplace with power so we could get a hot meal. lol0 -
When I lived in Utah, I remember there was a big uptick in crashes during the first snows of the season. I had to drive in snow quite a lot. Now I mostly only have to when going over the pass, and sometimes it's pretty slick up there. It does help to know how to drive in snow, and it helps to keep it slow. Some people with four-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive don't seem to recognize it doesn't help them stop.
My truck will skid around like crazy until I put it in 4wd. Then it goes fine in snow. Some snow has a lot more grip. The slushy stuff where it transitions from rain to drier snow up in the pass is always the worst. It fills up the voids in tires and you're essentially driving without tread. That's the kind of snow I was seeing the other day and that I slid on a month ago. This car is my first front-wheel-drive car, and it has electric power steering. I'm still getting used to how it steers on the dry pavement, and then adding snow.... I'm sure it will be fine going over the passes, but this road is an area that is not maintained for winter. I had no idea if it was just this dark curve with snow that would go back to dry road or when it would get deep enough that I might have trouble getting turned around. I was alone. I thought it prudent just to turn around and change plans for the day. I still had a nice day. I'll go back up there when the snow melts, but now we're getting MORE.1 -
I got a big dump of snow overnight too. I started off my day with a shovel in hand... lol0
-
I went for a short walk today at the National Park but the cold wind chased me away... There are trails along the roadside but the wind was nasty...
This is Covehead Lighthouse from the road... and the road from the steps of Covehead Lighthouse!
1 -
I didn't take this photo (of an underpass mural, with light graffiti added), but the friend I was walking with did. It's a mostly-straight wall, the extreme curvature is a panoramic photo artifact.
1
