Sunshine, Flowers and Friends

Today was a combination of sunshine, flowers and friendship.  It was a beautiful day to begin with.  I had a hike planned with my friend, and a new lady that I hadn't met before.  As soon as we met, there was an instant connection because of her love for the Lord.  We enjoyed visting and getting to know each other, and then before we started the hike, we had a time of prayer together, and that was really special. 

So the day got off to a great start. We started earlier this time, at 9:00 a.m. because the sun has already been up since about 4:45 a.m. and it was already getting pretty warm out. 

My friend has an oasis in her backyard for the squirrels and chipmunks.  She has this lovely feeder and huge shady trees around her back porch, and the chipmunks are not afraid of you at all, and just let you stand there and watch them munch away.

Before we started out on the hike, we prayed together, and that set the day off to a great start! 

The flowers were out in all their glory, growing in places that just a few days ago had been covered in snow.  The purple flowers (I don't know their names) were everywhere.

I think this flower is a lady slipper, although I could be wrong. I confess I don't know the names of the wildflowers here yet.  I plan on finding a book to help me out in this department soon!

We hadn't gone far before we turned, and headed straight up this rocky incline. It was almost straight up at times, and we were grasping rocks, branches, twigs and whatever we could to pull our way up to the top.  By the time we made it to the top, we collapsed on the rocks and enjoyed the lovely view while we let our heart and lungs return to their normal function. We had given them quite a workout on the way up! 

These lovely blue bell flowers were everywhere too, mostly hiding close to rocks and places where there wasn't much dirt. 

The dogs were having a blast, as usual.  Even they had their tongues hanging out after the trip up the rocky hillside!

Maquita brought me quite a few presents as we sat at the top of the hill to catch our breath.  This time it was mostly pinecones that she wanted me to throw.  I refused, because by the time the pinecone got to me, they were covered in slobber.  She just didn't understand why I didn't want to accept her loving gift to me!

There is an old blue tarp that has been a landmark for us many times as we have tromped through the woods on our hikes.  Most of the time we ignore it.  Being silly as we are, we have come up with various and sundry reasons as to why this old blue tarp is out here.  During the winter, the tarp looked as though it had taken on the shape of covering up a body or "something" underneath it. 

I determined to take a closer look at the old blue tarp today, and dispel all the myths and legends behind it that we had come up with, as we passed by the tarp during the winter, when we couldn't see what it possibly could be covering. Apparently all it was covering up was old moose and deer poo... so much for all the mystery surrounding this blue tarp.. mystery had now been solved!

We continued on our hike in the bright sunshine, and  the sun was already beaming hot down upon us... and it was still mid-morning. 

We spotted a red-tailed hawk in the distance circling over the trees.  The sky was such a brillant shade of blue today, with nary a cloud in sight. 

We came across a deserted logging area that had been heavily logged in the past. 

Maquita and Cheetah had run on ahead of us, and would circle around to check on us and see how we were doing, and to get a drink.  Today, we didn't find any water puddles, springs, or creeks, so the only water they got to drink was water we brought with us. 

We came out of the woods into a clearing where Hoo Doo was in clear view, and you could see now how all the snow has melted off of Hoo Doo!  Local legend has it around here that when the snow has completely melted off of Hoo Doo that you are safe to plant. 

However, I've been fooled before by lovely weather, and I'm determined to hold off on planting until at least Memorial Day or the first of June.  We had frost on the ground about a week ago, so I know better than to get excited with all the fine weather we are having, and then have another frost hit.

As we were chugging along and had almost finished our hike, I had a humbling experience.

I was brought low to the ground. 

Indeed.... my right foot caught on a root or stick, or something, I'm not sure quite what it was, but before I knew it, I had fallen almost face first onto the ground.  I rolled over and sat up and shook myself.  I noticed I had a cut or two on my left hand, but other than that, I seemed fine. 

My friend gave me a hand, and pulled me back up onto my feet, and thankfully, nothing seemed to be broken, bruised or injured.... except maybe my pride lol!  And, even though my friends offered graciously to take a picture for me, I even more graciously refused.  I knew you... my blogging companions ... wouldn't mind not having a picture of this event. 

We continued on our way back down the hill, looking forward now to a nice cool drink offered to us by my friend.  We enjoyed some more great fellowship and a nice cold drink of cranberry/apple juice before continuing on our separate ways for the day.  It was an absolutely beautiful, and remarkable day, off to a great start with the hike, and blessed by the sweet presence of the Lord too... what more can one ask for!