Yesterday, in Orome's forest...
Mar. 27th, 2007 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
zhieYesterday, there was awesomeness. It was so warm up here, hit 80 degrees, which, for WI, in the spring, is not a usual occurance. One of my coworkers mentioned she was not looking forward to going to the gym, as it would be hot and smell like mens boxer shorts. Conversation eventually led to walking in the park would be good, so we decided that after my last meeting yesterday, we would go.
And I needed that to look forward to... I lectured at 9am, a long, intense one on literary criticism, and then at noon I had a presentation to make before the student senate, and then a meeting at 3pm with the partial council, so, guh... and during the break in the AM lecture, I had someone come in and schedule a lecture for 8am today (which, turned out, was not a lecture and was more a babysitting session, but I'm not going to rant on that).
So, we head to the park after my meeting and of course parking is hard to find but eventually we get a spot. There's a series of trails in the park system here which span near Lake Michigan and has all these bridges, paths, stairways, valleys, ridges, really old trees that look like ents, and beach. It's fabulous, and there are lots of little places no one knows about, so I set about showing three such things to my coworker.
First, there's a spot on this ridge along the side of a drop down to a stream some twenty to fifty feet below depending on the spot. At the end, is this tree that's gotta be over 200 years old, maybe closer to 300. She was in awe.
Second, there's a waterfall that was built that is no longer operating, and so many trees and bushes have grown that if you don't know it's there, you'll walk right past. I led her to it, and again, it was pretty darned cool.
The third was the best, with a special surprise even for me. The sun was starting to set and we had made it back to the entrance, but I pointed out a path that few go down, and we started walking. I was pointing out all of the large trees in this path, the little stream and the mini waterfalls... and then she says 'deer'.
When we first entered, she had asked if there were any deer, and I said, sure, lots of them, mostly see them after midnight if you drive through really slow. Standing about a hundred feet away was a young doe munching on dinner.
"Well, come on," I said when she just stood there. She was afraid the deer would run, but I told her, if they think you're going to harm them, sure, they'll run. Otherwise, it's fine. Trust me.
As we walked towards the doe, she cautiously walked towards us. We got about thirty feet from each other when another doe popped up, about fifty feet away. The second one was more cautious. Then a motorcycle on the road not too far away zoomed by, and it scared the deer a little.
Meanwhile, I spotted a large buck (no antlers yet, but he was a big boy) some ways away, watching things. By this time, my coworker was a little scared to get closer ('we're bigger then them' I said; 'they have four hooves and can kick!' she said), so I approached alone, and made it about fifteen to twenty feet from the first deer. So close I could see her nose sniffing and her eyes going between me and her meal and all the hairs on her tail being blown by the wind.
And then, a car went by up on the road and she decided it was time to wander back toward the rest of her family. It was quite the experience; I don't think I've even been that close to a (live) deer at the zoo before.
Tonight, bowling. I scored a 119, a 176, and a 120.
Not too shabby for someone who's had a sprained ankle for a week now (though, I was in pain the first game especially). (You'd think I'd go rest and not be hiking and bowling, right? bad me)
And I needed that to look forward to... I lectured at 9am, a long, intense one on literary criticism, and then at noon I had a presentation to make before the student senate, and then a meeting at 3pm with the partial council, so, guh... and during the break in the AM lecture, I had someone come in and schedule a lecture for 8am today (which, turned out, was not a lecture and was more a babysitting session, but I'm not going to rant on that).
So, we head to the park after my meeting and of course parking is hard to find but eventually we get a spot. There's a series of trails in the park system here which span near Lake Michigan and has all these bridges, paths, stairways, valleys, ridges, really old trees that look like ents, and beach. It's fabulous, and there are lots of little places no one knows about, so I set about showing three such things to my coworker.
First, there's a spot on this ridge along the side of a drop down to a stream some twenty to fifty feet below depending on the spot. At the end, is this tree that's gotta be over 200 years old, maybe closer to 300. She was in awe.
Second, there's a waterfall that was built that is no longer operating, and so many trees and bushes have grown that if you don't know it's there, you'll walk right past. I led her to it, and again, it was pretty darned cool.
The third was the best, with a special surprise even for me. The sun was starting to set and we had made it back to the entrance, but I pointed out a path that few go down, and we started walking. I was pointing out all of the large trees in this path, the little stream and the mini waterfalls... and then she says 'deer'.
When we first entered, she had asked if there were any deer, and I said, sure, lots of them, mostly see them after midnight if you drive through really slow. Standing about a hundred feet away was a young doe munching on dinner.
"Well, come on," I said when she just stood there. She was afraid the deer would run, but I told her, if they think you're going to harm them, sure, they'll run. Otherwise, it's fine. Trust me.
As we walked towards the doe, she cautiously walked towards us. We got about thirty feet from each other when another doe popped up, about fifty feet away. The second one was more cautious. Then a motorcycle on the road not too far away zoomed by, and it scared the deer a little.
Meanwhile, I spotted a large buck (no antlers yet, but he was a big boy) some ways away, watching things. By this time, my coworker was a little scared to get closer ('we're bigger then them' I said; 'they have four hooves and can kick!' she said), so I approached alone, and made it about fifteen to twenty feet from the first deer. So close I could see her nose sniffing and her eyes going between me and her meal and all the hairs on her tail being blown by the wind.
And then, a car went by up on the road and she decided it was time to wander back toward the rest of her family. It was quite the experience; I don't think I've even been that close to a (live) deer at the zoo before.
Tonight, bowling. I scored a 119, a 176, and a 120.
Not too shabby for someone who's had a sprained ankle for a week now (though, I was in pain the first game especially). (You'd think I'd go rest and not be hiking and bowling, right? bad me)
