It's a wild life

Another doggy day...of sorts. I am still watching the neighbor's dogs and taking them for morning and evening walks. I took all of these shots with my cell phone. It is a Google Pixel and while it isn't too bad of a camera, I just decided to use it instead of my other one.

When walking the dogs mornings and evenings, it is easier to stuff a tiny phone into my pocket. I asked the camera to enhance the two shots. It added brilliance and colors. I think the shots are more brilliant and colorful than I saw it with my eyes. 
But I'm not going to change it. It is prettier than it was to the naked eye.

 I had a meeting at the bank with one of their financial people, got help from a teller for doing an auto deposit, got a few items from the store. Interestingly enough, I have not been shopping except for milk and cereal since the week before Rich passed away.

He was the ferocious eater in our house. Steaks and potatoes were the meals he requested for the last 6 months of his life along with many special requests. I honored all of them. Now I have frozen meat packages that I can't imagine cooking -- unless my grandkids come up and want steak with their supper.

I probably have a couple of years' worth of food stored in the freezer for myself.  My neighbor gets a CSA box throughout the growing season. CSA= Community Supported Agriculture. The box contains fresh produce each week from local home grown farms. I've had zucchini, squash, onions, peppers, tomatoes, fennel, kale, broccoli, and more stuffed in the boxes from the past two Thursdays from doing my dog sitting.

So my meals come about like this. I cut a bunch of stuff up that is fresh, toss it in a pan with some Olive Oil and sauté it. I eat it like that or make some rice to put it on. In a pinch for some protein, I grab some fresh farm eggs from Olive and mix it in with the rice and veggies.

Viola! I eat!

Anyway.......................

When I got done with my errands, I loaded my bicycle up along with Charlie's pet carrier and decided to try out the trail I'd done two weeks ago. 

Charlie did not seem excited or even happy about being stuffed in the trailer at the trail head, but he didn't whine or cry while I cycled. 

We stopped once in a while so he could get out and look around.

About 3 miles in some ladies were walking and asked if they could see my little dog. Charlie got out and charmed the heck out of them. I learned that one lady had just lost her husband a few weeks ago too. The other lady was also named Valerie, she'd just lost her doggy buddy of 14 years. We chatted on the trial about all the good things in life. 

It really lifted me up to meet them.

By the end of 7 miles, Charlie was feeling quite comfortable in his chauffeured carrier.  I did feel the extra 15 lbs of Charlie and the 15 lbs of the carrier by the time I finished the ride. Not so I'd be sore, but it was a nice workout. We'll do it again as long as I can find good flat trails. Charlie didn't even seem to mind the bumpy trail.

Views along the Pine River Bike Trail.

I will definitely come back in the spring during migration and walk this trail with my camera. I saw Kingfisher birds along with so many cool insects and dragonflies. I'll be heading to LaCrosse to get some things at a craft store and start to explore all of the nature trails that that city has to offer on Wednesday.

We ended the day with another dog walk along with packing up all the old stuff from Rich's sock/undie drawer. It made me sad to see that drawer so empty. So I filled it with my workout clothes. 

Bikes make friends

I had to make another run to the funeral home to deal with a spelling error in the death certificate and drop off the thumb drive that Rich's daughter and I put together.

I didn't want to waste the 26+ mile trip on just dropping off paperwork again. So I'd put my bike in the back of the 'Ru and thought I'd tried a bike trail that Rich told me about. The Richland Center Bike Trail. It runs from Richland Center town all the way to a place called Lone Rock. It's an old train bed that was converted into a trail. 

I'd picked a parking spot to the trail head in a place called Twin Bluffs. My thought was to ride towards a town called Gotham [Batman!] and then see what the trail looked like headed then back towards Richland Center.

The trail was fairly well maintained and obviously had some damage to the wooden bridges from the snowmobile traffic in the winter. 

Basically it was an out and back ride. It felt nice. What was even stranger was when my inner clock that told me I'd been gone too long it made me feel odd. I had to resist lookin at my watch.

Then I ignored it. I had all the time I wanted. Yes, it felt pretty strange.

When I got back to where I'd parked, there was a guy sitting on a picnic table that had a roof over it. The shade looked inviting, so I asked if I could share the shade with him. He waved me over.

Actually we'd just passed by each other when I walked out of the funeral home. His 3 wheeler E-bike was parked on the sidewalk by my car. I admired it because I figured one day, I'd be using one.

I said, "Geeze, we walked right by each other at Pratt's!"

"Yup," he replied.

"Wow, you have an awesome bike or trike. It looks great!" I nodded at his 3 wheeler when I sat down at the picnic table we were sharing.

"I may get one in the future, how do you like it?"

His name was Tony. He'd recently had a stroke and he liked to get out in nature so after wearing out a homemade E-trike, he'd gotten this one. 

He shrugged and smiled. "At least you didn't say I was cheating by using an E-trike."

I blew raspberries and said, "Dude! I am jealous!"

We discussed that a bit and I told him that what he was doing was awesome. His balance was poor as well as issues with his knees.

"What a perfect way to get out and see nature," I told him.

We talked a good long while and he told me about the wildlife I could see while riding this trail and where the best places were. 

We were different athletes with common goals. Ride bikes onto a bike trail to enjoy nature and the peace it brings us.

We then talked about the other trails that the dude at the funeral home had suggested. There is one near Preston MN that was paved and beautiful along the Root River. We both discussed how we'd love to ride that.

I commented that his trike was an excellent choice for him to get out and find the peace and joy he could find in the outdoors. I told him that I was considering a pet trailer for my little dog. 

He then said he didn't ride on weekends because there were too many people zipping by and telling him he shouldn't be 'cheating'.

[There was a look of hurt in his eyes when he made that comment.]

I told him that his physical injuries were invisible. I said, "I wonder if you wrapped yourself up with bloody ace bandages and painted on a black eye, if people would be more understanding."

Tony suddenly went motionless. "You get it." He chuckled.

I said, "I do. My husband was a Veteran with invisible injuries. People didn't understand. But I did."

I ate my snacks and we talked some more. Trails, maintenance, the bridges, the river, the weather, and nothing important.

I stood up and shook his hand. 

"Tony, I sure hope to run into you again on this trail. It has been a pleasure to meet you and your awesome bike."

Tony shook my hand and smiled. The Grizzly ol' Tony seemed to have found something other than just nature to smile about.

"Yeah. I hope we run into each other again."

Some cell phone shots from today.

Heading east on the trail.

 Oh what wonders! I stood here for a long time watching 

the Monarch butterflies who danced around my head!

Some of the areas of the trail were covered with shade

from a thick canopy above.

It also seemed to be a perfect day to use my Infrared camera and enjoy some colors of another light spectrum.

These are photos of the Pine River that runs through Richland Center and along the bike/multi use trail. I have another 10 or so miles to explore of this trail. 

My new acquaintance told me where the best views of the river were. 

I was so relaxed and chilled out when I got home that I was able to finish up some weed whacking and hand mowing. I agree with Mr. Tony. Nature brings a bit of peace to our lives.

A little bit of kindness and consideration go such a long way. Don't judge a book by its cover.

I like my bike. I liked his bike/trike. We enjoyed conversation. 

It was a good day.