Monday, April 25, 2016

A Path Less Traveled

This quote is found in the Dillon Nature Center educational area. I added it to one of the images I took on our recent walk on the nature trails there.

Sometimes I go nowhere on the treadmill. Sometimes I kick up dust on our dirt road. And, once in awhile, I travel the road less traveled.

Randy and I had a little extra time between appointments in Hutchinson last week. So we went to Dillon Nature Center and walked the trails there for a change of pace - pun intended.

The birds sang. (No, I couldn't capture them in my camera viewfinder as they darted quickly from tree to tree. But I did catch glimpses of red and brown among the branches of trees as they flitted from perch to perch.)
The overhead branches formed a canopy of light and shadow over the nature trail. And I couldn't help but think of the very first song I sang for a music festival in junior high.

I know a green cathedral
A shadowed forest shrine
Where leaves in love join hands above
And arch your prayer and mine.
It's a lesson in irony to remember lyrics from a long-ago solo and not be able to remember why I came into a room. But it's my reality, it seems.

Some of the annual flowers brightened our way. My favorite was this beautiful columbine.
Flowering shrubs provided fragrance and beauty, too.
The sun created bursts of light through red buds and green leaves.
 
It was almost as if these cypress roots are like little people enjoying the view from the shoreline of the pond.
We enjoyed the view, too.

6 comments:

  1. Kim,
    It's fun to take a day to do something different and make time to walk the road less traveled. Your pictures continue to be beautiful and thoughts inspiring.

    J and I escaped last Friday. Strolling through Michales was much fun. I also enjoyed seeing baby chicks in Runnings and the amazing flowers in Menard's garden center! It was good to get off the ranch for a day.

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    1. A change of pace is a welcome escape! Glad you got away, too!

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  2. Lovely thoughts and pictures! And how funny that you can remember lyrics from long ago and not what you're after today. Me, too!

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    1. Yes, I remember a poem from grade school, too. It's astounding what your brain retains (and doesn't)!

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  3. Having grown used to the wide open vista's of your farm, it was a surprise to to see such lovely woodlands and flowers. I have just been reading the blog of an English couple hiking the John Muir trail. Absolutely sensational views.

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    1. We went to Muir Woods near San Francisco several years ago. Unfortunately, we were with a tour group, so we didn't get to stay nearly long enough. I'd love to go back some day.

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