A Watercolor & Marsh Adventure

Anne Frank ~ The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

The quote above is a favorite and it makes me wish for warmer weather and more time to spend outside on the nature trail. Within the last few months, my friend Hannah and I have had plenty of fun on the nature trail, rain or shine, 20 mile treks, you name it. Our last outdoor adventure was in September. On this particular outing, we packed up our watercolor gear and biked along the trail to find just the perfect spot to spend the afternoon.

Since I live right near the trail, I've been able to venture out more often than Hannah. On some of my solo rides, I kept my eyes open for a spot for us to watercolor. There were a couple of spots I had in mind before our watercolor ride. At one spot along the trail there is an open path that leads to a large field of wild vegetation. I thought we could park our bikes in the open path so they wouldn't block the actual nature trail.

This was the path that led us to our destination.

Upon arriving to this spot, we rode our bikes along the open path closer to the open field. Along the edges of the field it was more or less cleared out. We decided to walk along the edges of the field as we looked for a prime spot. As we walked we continued around the corner edge of the field still not satisfied with a spot to watercolor. Thus, we kept on going leaving our bikes in the distance. This was all unchartered territory and it was fun to discover new places. Awhile after turning the field's corner, we noticed some water between the tall grasses and plants to our left. Then I vaguely spotted an Egret sitting in the water. As the vegetation thinned and we could see the pond more clearly, our new Egret friend started to fly away.

Hannah taking photos by the marsh

We were thrilled to find this peaceful sanctuary to set up our watercolor workshop. We got our blanket and set up shop for an afternoon of watercoloring and snooping around the marshy area to take photographs. And of course, I brought along one of our favorite snacks to eat, dried apricots.

Hannah watercoloring her masterpiece

We saw flowers, cattails, frogs, dragonflies and more while venturing around the marsh taking photos of anything that caught our interest. At one point, our Egret friend was flying over head nearly landing in the pond once again, but then abrupty changed his mind. Some ducks visited the pond and when they flew out of the pond, we could hear and feel their wings thrust against the air. Our time spent there was simply wonderful.

Me watercoloring at the marsh

Please take a look at some of what we saw during our "marsh-safari" and see the watercolors that each of us created while there.

Some Queen Anne's Lace, so delicate and pretty!

Possibly a dried out Queen Anne's Lace?

Tiny purple daisies!

Oh look, what did I find? Um... I can't remember.

One of our feathered friends left a piece of them with us.

Our marshy view, isn't it nice?

The "watercolorists" with their works of art.

Hannah's watercolor from our marsh visit.

My watercolor from our marsh visit.

Nature Trek, 20 miles round trip, part 2

Here we go back on the trail after spending a few hours in town. Our first trip took us about an hour, how long will it take us to get home...?

Hannah biking home

Me biking home

There were plenty of pretty golden yellow flowers blooming on the fields along the trail. They cheerfully greeted us showing us their vibrant, true colors. I marveled at their uplifting beauty.

A purple prickly plant, not sure what it is.

And here's a field of wheat? No, I'm not sure what it exactly is. Hannah and I were guessing it was wheat. Can you identify what it is if it isn't wheat?

And here's Hannah about to jump in the wheat-like field. Noooo, she didn't actually jump, but I caught her in the act of "pretend" jumping.

Hannah tried to get a pic of me "pretend" jumping, but it looks like I'm reaching out to touch the wheat...wash the wheat? Not sure what is looks like I'm doing.

Here's a close-up of the wheat. I like the bright blue sky in the background.

Hannah on the sixth bridge.

This pic from the sixth bridge was on our way to town. This was the final bridge on the trail before heading into town. It also is the longest bridge on the trail and it turned out to be our favorite bridge. On our trip back, I looked in the marshy water to the left and saw a large crane just taking flight from the water. Its wings looked so large as it flew away. We were bummed out that we couldn't have gotten a better look at such a fascinating bird.

Me on the sixth bridge.

Okay, so how long did it take us to get back home if it took us an hour to get there? An hour? No, it took us about 2 hours to get back, but we stopped more frequently to take pics and we were riding against the wind and we already rode 10 miles in the morning. That's why it took us twice as long. Plus, the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to take as much time to enjoy it. And we did. :-)

Missed part 1 of our Nature Trek? Click here.

Nature Trek, 20 miles round trip, part 1

We've been planning on taking a trip into town from the nature trail for a month. And finally the day arrived this last Saturday. Thankfully the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and nice sunshine with a light wind to keep us cool in the sunlight.

The photo above is my bike trekking friend, Hannah. She is standing on the fifth bridge on the trail to Fondy.

Some marshy, marsh vegetation. It was relaxing watching the tall grasses sway in the breeze. They looked like waves rolling on water, it was very mesmerizing. I could've watched them for hours.

Here I am on the fifth bridge.

Some marsh berries!!!

Hannah cycling to the finish line, the parking lot at Target.

Just before arriving at Target, while still on the trail, we heard the noon whistle blow. It took us approximately an hour to ride 10 miles into town. Since we had a delicious breakfast of creamy scrambled eggs with chives and a slice of toast with a glass of grape juice, we weren't very hungry at noon. Plus, we didn't want to be rushed to make it to the movie on time, so we waited until after the movie to eat lunch. The night before I made some yummy trail mix bars from a cookbook I recently bought. We packed the bars along with some water, dried apricots and last but not least some M & M's as our nature trail nourishment. To curb our hunger while at the movie we ate the trail mix bars and some apricots.

Hannah in front of Target

We parked our bikes in front of Target while we went to see a movie and go out to eat. We had a little time before heading to the movie, so we stopped to window shop at Pier One Imports. We seriously could only strictly window shop since we could not tote any wares home on our bikes. A great way to save money!!! Nonetheless we saw many things we would've love to have purchased. We went to see the movie, "Post Grad," it was a cute and funny movie. Thankfully, the theater and restaurant were both within walking distance from Target. We enjoyed our new found freedom of traveling to town on bike vs. by car.

Me in front of Target

This is on our way back home just after leaving the Target parking lot. I took this while riding my bike. Not very easy to do, but I got the shot.

Another photo I took while riding my bike. I turned around to point my camera at Hannah riding behind me. It was another tricky manuever, but I did get a shot. Can you see the Target sign in the background? On the opposite side of the road there are two bikers in the distant background, they were coming into town as we were on our way out.

And one more final shot while on my bike. This is the road where the entrance to the nature trail is. In my next post I will feature more pics on our fun trek home while on the trail. Stay tuned.

Giving my niece Kristin some "blog-time"

The other week after some "badgering," I posted a blog entry about my nephew, Jordan. Well, I decided that I will dedicate a blog post to each of my nieces and nephews. Today it's Kristin's turn. The photo above is Kristin at Lakeside Park, it's one of my favorite pics. I like the reflection of the water in the background.

About two weeks ago when the kids were here for a visit, Kristin and I went for a bike ride on the nature trail. During our trek we discovered tons of chipmunks, "Chipmunk City" as Kristin called it. I counted 12 chipmunk sightings and Kristin counted 11 chipmunks. And no, they were not the same chipmunks. We only counted them on the first half of our ride, we didn't count them on the way back. Those chipmunks are so cute, but they can give you a scare when they dart out directly in front of your bike. Yikes! We also saw some gold finches flying around. It was a nice day for a ride.

There are a handful of bridges throughout the trail and here Kristin is standing at the first bridge.

On our ride back we stopped by a bench to take this photo of us together. Thank goodness for self-timers and benches.

Kristin playing on the playground at Lakeside Park ~ June 2009

While Kristin was here, she was interested in helping me make my Petite Purses. I asked her if she'd like to decorate her own purse and take one home with her. I think she ended up making three purses and she's going to use one of them for her American Girl doll.

Kristin with one of her Petite Purses with her American Girl doll wearing the pretty dress that she bought at the American Girl sale that same week. I think the dress outfit was only $7.00 or $8.00.

Here's Andrew holding one of Kristin's Petite Purses.

A close-up of her purse she decorated. Didn't she do a great job?

I brake for flowers, yes I do!

This last week I was fortunate enough to be able to venture out on the nature trail on some nice, sunny days. Too bad the wind was a bit fierce on one of those days. Anyway, I was thrilled to see so many gorgeous blossoms blooming out on the trail. As the title says, "I brake for flowers!" When I ride on the trail I keep my eyes wide open to catch any glimpses of the beauty, patterns and textures of nature. And when something catches my eye, I put the brakes on my bike and stop to drink in the beauty and "capture the wonder" as I take photos. Sometimes I have to backup and reverse my direction to find what I almost missed by pedaling past.

One blossom

two blossoms

three!!!

And a dandy little dandelion!

So many flowers, so little time!

It never ceases to amaze me how intricate and beautiful nature is. It equally amazes me how a round, fuzzy bumblebee is able to zip through the air, looking too heavy to fly. I saw some fuzzy bees while taking photos of the flowers. Who knew I'd meet them there?

Off the beaten path, I found this tree growing in the middle of a farmer's field. I think I have a photo of the same tree during the fall with yellow leaves against a dark sky.

And here's one of my favorite features on the trail. No, not the bench, but the "tree tunnel." There are a few tree tunnels on the trail. It's so much fun riding through a tunnel of trees on a sunny day when little sparkles of sunlight dot the path on the trail. I never get tired of riding in them. They are such a wonder to behold. While riding on the trail, I'm not only a spectator but a participant experiencing nature in the moment.