I am lucky to live near one river and work near another, and I enjoy talking walks by them. They are always changing, and always the same. This is about a mile from home and is one of my favorite views.
Author Archives for pchemkelly
Scene while walking – February 4, 2013
These chickens live across the street from me. Technically across two streets and a canal, I suppose. I get to watch them wander around in the road and into the canal (when it’s dry; they’re not big into swimming) and the rooster is not my best friend in the summer when I have the windows open… But they are very handsome and I really need to start carrying my real camera because the phone picture on barely does them justice.
Scene while walking: February 1, 2013
One of the ranches I walk by has a lot of cattle, including several longhorns. This pair hangs out together a lot and are always very attentive as I walk by.
Scene while walking – January 30, 2013
I get to see a lot of wildlife while I’m walking. There are some wetlands on a ranch that I walk near – the road is above the ranch so I’m looking down. The pond attracts a lot of ducks – in summer it’s covered in algae and in winter part or all of it freezes over.
If you look closely (you may want to click to enlarge the photo) you can see that part of the pond is frozen and the ducks are walking on the ice there! A very entertaining scene, indeed.
Scene while walking – January 28, 2013
First, let me be fully honest. The date is the publication date of the post and not (at least generally) the date the photo was taken. Let’s face it – I’m usually going to be out walking later and then I may put together a post for the next day. Or I may even be using a picture I took while walking quite a while ago (it’s possible!)…
What I will guarantee is that I took the photos and I did so while I was out for a walk and I probably saw a lot more stuff during that walk than I took pictures of. So I hope you’re going walking too, and taking time to enjoy all that you see.
This particular day I was walking and saw smoke and flame. Wildfire is a constant threat here, though generally not as much during winter. When I saw flames through the trees that seemed to extend quite a way I called 911 to report it. It was then I was told it was a planned burn to dispose of debris and was coordinated with our local fire officials. I expressed concern because there was a LOT of fire and only one person I could see actually tending things (and one small looking water truck). The operator took my information and I figured that would be it. Shortly after that, my phone rang. It was the fire chief calling to tell me what precautions were in place and that the fire department was regularly checking on the area.
Click to see the large image and you can spot the guy tending the fires (this will give a sense of scale) – this was perhaps 1/3 of the total area that had fires burning.
I love that I live somewhere that I get a personal call to help me be certain my neighbors are safe. (and it was all fine in the end)
It certainly made for an interesting walk that day!
You CAN eat a gingerbread house
Mom and I decided to do a real documentation of the deterioration of one of the gingerbread houses we made – and we picked the Home Depot because it was exceedingly covered in frosting so should last the longest. It was placed outside in their yard in a location where she could easily put her tripod in the same location every few days to take a photo. We had a bit of wind which had moved the Home Depot, so she was thinking she should go out and move it into its proper place. That’s when she saw this (all photos courtesy of my mother):
He just kept snacking – apparently he really enjoyed the gingerbread!
He then took a hard look at her and decided he was done eating gingerbread for the moment….
Do you see what I see?
During the holidays I was gearing up to go out for my daily walk, something my husband has gotten used to me doing. This time he started to put on his shoes and I was surprised. He has some back and joint issues that make long distance walking, and certainly at the pace I do it, not truly feasible. But he wanted to go with me – so I suggested a change in route and that we walk to our local pub and then back, thus having a built-in break at a place we both enjoy hanging out. He thought that was an even better idea, of course.
So off we went. We walked a slower pace than I do alone, but probably similar to what most people would walk. Under a mile in he remarked it was further than he thought – and I was very glad I had suggested what I had! The walk to the pub by a direct route is only a bit over 1.5 miles. That’s a really short walk by my standards!
A bit later he said something much more profound.
“Things look different when you’re walking.”
Yes. They do. You’re moving slower and you have more time to notice things around you – and you can stop and investigate more closely if you want to. We live in an interesting area; it’s residential and rural simultaneously. We said hello to the steer we passed by (they watched but did not respond). We saw all sorts of birds. We saw more damage from the windstorm – many trees fallen over.
When we were ready to head home he picked a slightly longer route that involved a road I hadn’t walked on before. It has fast become a favorite – we saw goats (big goats!), chickens (also big!), and more cattle. We saw an enormous flock of birds cleaning up residual corn from a large field – when they flew together the noise was impressive. And we saw this building, which I think looks really cool.
Why this survived the wind when other things didn’t is a bit of a mystery (though the angled boards are likely the major part of the answer). I can’t quite make out what the roof once said and it’s possible this wasn’t a business anyway, but just a building that made money letting a business advertise on its roof in farm country. It has a story, and I don’t really want to know it. I like that it’s there. It gives me a nice feeling and I don’t know why.
I’ve decided I will try to get more pictures of the things I enjoy seeing while I walk and share them here. Sometimes I will venture out with my “real” camera in tow maybe even along with tripod (but remember, I’m on foot for many miles!), and other times we’ll be stuck with what I can manage on my cell phone (which honestly can be pretty good sometimes). I hope you enjoy seeing what I see!
Winter Flowers
Last year my aunt gave my mother a “Christmas Cactus” – nearly every one I’ve seen had red blooms, but this one has white/pink blooms. Normally giving my mother a plant is a risky proposition, but she does well with the succulents and the cactus bloomed like crazy this year. It’s a very pretty accent in their kitchen.
My in-laws sent my husband and me paperwhite bulbs this year. I dutifully watered the container and lo and behold, up they popped. I’m sorry to know that since they were forced to bloom out of season (technically not a winter flower) this is probably it. But I’ll give it a go to see if I can keep them alive. In the meantime:
Best wishes to all of you and yours for a happy, safe, and prosperous new year!
Fly like the wind
We had a big windstorm here Sunday night/Monday morning. I’ve lived here over a decade, and I’ve lived in windier places than this. This windstorm was the strongest I’ve been through. At 3am or so, I went to the backyard to try to secure items as best I could (the grill was walking across the deck). The furniture is all over the place, but we sustained no damage.
At this house.
We have some rental properties. For one of them, the chimney cap was blown off the house – I found it two lots away while I was out walking (I wasn’t looking for it; I did recognize it because we installed it). Then I got an email from our other renters. The shed in the backyard had been lifted entirely off the ground and blown into the neighbor’s yard.
These items were once stored in the shed. The shed is behind the fence.
There are items that were stored in the shed that got taken for a ride.
We’re very fortunate it didn’t take out the power line. I haven’t had a chance to talk to our neighbor yet but I’m hoping there is no damage other than it being unsightly. My husband and I will deal with it this weekend. Being a silver-lining person, I immediately noted this was an ideal opportunity to put in a better shed on a proper concrete pad.
You cannot overdecorate the gingerbread
A few years back my mom bought a gingerbread house kit on a lark and we collaborated in decorating it. This started a tradition not unlike the pumpkin carving that is a bit out of hand. This year she got a kit that had four little houses. I got one that I thought had three little houses but it turns out it was one big house (the box was deceiving, trust me). Then my husband, being helpful, got a Home Depot gingerbread kit.
HOME. DEPOT.
Gamely, mom and I decided we were going all the way from the commercial district to the expensive house-on-the-hill. The first step is putting together the parts. Turns out the Home Depot one was the most difficult to do. The one I got came pre-assembled.
I win.
Putting together the houses. Mom cursed her son-in-law for buying the Home Depot kit.
The house I bought came pre-assembled. Winning!
Because my husband bought it, I was tasked with the Home Depot decorations. Let me tell you, that is a lot of orange frosting. And I was very skeptical that this would look like anything useful once done. Especially seeing it midway:
Fortunately, throughout the year we end up buying extra candies and such to add to our gingerbread houses. This saved me in the completion of the Home Depot. In fact, the tiny little necco wafers (at least, that’s what they looked like to me and mom) turned out to be pretty great as lights on the building. Or perhaps I was just pleased because dad brought us each margaritas.
In fact, I finished the Home Depot (or I was done with it, which has a slightly different connotation) while mom continued her work on the tasteful “house on the hill”. So I grabbed a small house and went to town with the tiny necco wafers. Fast and adorable.
Mom finally finished her big house. This had to be tasteful, because people in this size of house would pay a decorator. I rolled out yellow gumdrops for her to use as the windows. If you decide to do this, use sugar on the rolling pin and board to prevent sticking (or lessen it, anyway).
Mom is ridiculously good at the icicles. You’ll note the items I did do not have icicles.
We were tired of the process by this point so left the remaining three houses for a couple of days later. I had bought some cookie frosting so picked the house with a flat-ish roof so I could use it (very liquid, but then hardens). The tilt to the structure is on mom because she put it together. The fact that it looks like it’s staring at you is all my fault. We named it the “stalker house”.
Meanwhile mom did this adorable little house. She would prefer it if you just admire the roof and skip looking at anything else.
We had one left and collaborated. I picked a Denver Broncos color scheme and we went with it in a big way. It’s our favorite.
You have your reasons, we have ours.
Finally we had to put it all together into a scene. We have mirrors to be ponds and step-stones, little strands of lights, some old bits of garland made into trees…. and marauding polar bears.
My husband is no longer allowed to purchase a gingerbread kit unless he puts it together and decorates it himself. (this will not happen).
Merry Christmas! Stay out of the path of marauding polar bears!
@KellyOSullivan 
