A SHORT MORNING WALK AND A LOOOOOONG AFTERNOON WALK

A routine short walk and Jeep ride for Pheebs and I again this morning.  We were back home by 10:15 and half an hour later it was all three of us in the Subaru heading for London's Victoria Hospital.  Dropped Kelly off at 12:25 and headed over to the Westminster Ponds area.  Minutes later Pheebs and I had boots and paws on a trail leading west along the north side of Walkers Pond.

 IT DIDN'T TAKE US LONG TO GET ON A FAMILIAR TRAIL

A SMALL POND COMPLETELY COVERED WITH DUCKWEED

 A FEW THINGS ON THE GROUND ALONG THE WAY

Because of my hip, our usual walk is about 20 minutes walking west and then 20 minutes walking back to the car.  Today that didn't happen.  Instead of turning around at the west end of Walkers Pond, and with my hip not hurting me one little bit I decided to continue on the trail and see if it would take us all the way around the pond.  So, off we went without me realizing I had just totally underestimated the long distance we had just embarked upon.

 PHEEBS MEETS A COUPLE PALS ALONG THE TRAIL

 HI-HO HI-HO IT'S OFF ON THIS UNFAMILIAR TRAIL WE GO

 PHEEBS LIKES TO BE OUT FRONT LEADING THE WAY

 THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY LONG BOARDWALK

 WALKERS POND ON THE LEFT

I don't know just how far along the trail we were before I realized I had made a poor decision.  I don't normally carry water with me because we're usually back to the car in about half an hour.  I don't drink much water while walking anyway but......Pheebs does.  However, it's a swampy area and I didn't want Pheebs drinking from the larvae-infested water so I quickened the pace to get us back to the car as soon as we could.  Little did I know we still had over two-thirds of the way to go.  And then my hip started barking at me.

 THERE WAS A FAIR BIT OF PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE ALONG THE WAY

 I WAS SURPRISED TO COME ACROSS THIS VIEWING STAND

 PURPLE LOOSESTRIFE ALONG THE SHORELINE

We reached a point along the forested trail through the forest where I wasn't sure where we were but I knew enough to keep bearing left whenever the trail split left or right.  We passed by a couple more sizeable ponds, some mud pits, and a couple hip challenging climbs.

 IT WAS ABOUT HERE I BEGAN TO REALIZE I HAD MADE A POOR DECISION AND WASN'T QUITE SURE JUST EXACTLY WHERE WE WERE OR HOW FAR IT WAS TO THE CAR 

 THE FOREST WAS GETTING A LITTLE DENSE THROUGH HERE AND LUCKY FOR ME I HAD MOSQUITO SPRAY ON

 WE JUST KEPT ON WALKING AND WALKING AND WALKING

 THERE ARE STILL A FEW MAYAPPLE PLANTS AROUND

 I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE IT'S A BLUE BEEBLEBERRY TREE STUMP

 WE TOOK A QUICK SIDE TRIP DOWN THESE STEPS TO A POND I COULD SEE THROUGH THE TREES

 I AM GUESSING THIS IS SPETTIGUES POND

I knew we were steadily heading in the right direction and kept searching the trail ahead for something recognizable.  After what seemed to be a long time I finally spotted it.....a turn off the main trail that Pheebs and I had walked before a couple times.  I knew this side trail would lead us to the easternmost end of the two big open-area baseball diamonds.  Minutes later we broke out of the woods onto the smooth green outfield grass.

 THERE WERE ONCE VERY LARGE TREES IN THIS AREA

 I HAD TO DOWNSHIFT MY SORE HIP INTO SECOND GEAR TO GET UP THIS ROOTED GRADE

 I MADE IT BUT 'OUCHY-OUCHY-OUCHY'

 FINALLY, I RECOGNIZED THIS SIDE TRAIL AND MINUTES LATER  WE WERE OUT OF THE FOREST AND CROSSING THE BASEBALL DIAMONDS TO THE CAR

It was at this point that I noticed something disturbing about myself.  My balance seemed to be off and I found myself stumbling.  This was something new for me.  We still had over a quarter mile to go to reach the car and my stumbling imbalance never ceased until we finally reached the car, stopped, and I was able to get a big drink of water for Pheebs.  I was a mess though.  The humidity had ramped up and walking fast had caused me to sweat and turned my oily skin and me into a sticky ball of icky paste.  We were quick to get into the car and crank up the A/C full tilt.  It was almost 2 p.m. and we had been on the trail for nearly an hour and a half.  Luckily, before setting out on our walk I had sprayed myself with mosquito repellant which worked great.  I wasn't bothered by one miserable mosquito all the time we were gone.

I SPOTTED THE ORANGE AIR AMBULANCE LEAVING VICTORIA HOSPITAL

At 2:25 my phone rang and it was Kelly saying she was ready to go.  Minutes later Pheebs and I scooped her up at the hospital and we were on our way home.  One quick stop at a McDonalds for coffee and a couple of fish taco wraps to go and we were back on the road again.  It was 4:15 when we rolled into our driveway.  My aching legs barely carried me into the house but that was okay because my legs had been definitely way overdue for a long powerwalk like that.  At the time of posting this tonight I am almost asleep at the keyboard....... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz      

 PICKING UP THE BOSS

 COFFEE BREAK:))

In case you missed it on the blog's sidebar, my good buddy Jim has a great post entitled, An Expert's Guide To Puttering.  It's a must-read for all we Senior putterers out here and I my very self must admit I too have attained, some time ago, the lofty status of true putterism.   

Al's Music Box:)) Steppin Out by Joe Jackson from the album 'Night and Day' 1982.  Right from the first few bars of this song, I knew I was going to like it and it has turned out to be one of my all-time favorite songs.  A solid beat is always a true hook for me and every time I listen to it my head gets boppin to the point where it almost flies off.  Also liked the choice of instruments and Joe Jackson's voice on this.  For me, it is one of those great magical 'feeling good' songs and I find it truly energizing every time I listen to it:))

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A big-shot businessman had to spend a couple of days in the hospital. He was a royal pain to the nurses because he bossed them around just like he did his employees.  None of the hospital staff wanted to have anything to do with him. The head nurse was the only one who could stand up to him.  She came into his room and announced, "I have to take your temperature." After complaining for several minutes, he finally settled down, crossed his arms and opened his mouth."No, I'm sorry," the nurse stated, "but for this reading, I cannot use an oral thermometer."  This started another round of complaining, but eventually, he rolled over and bared his rear end. After feeling the nurse insert the thermometer, he heard her announce, "I have to get something. Now you stay JUST LIKE THAT until I get back."  She left the door to his room open on her way out. He cursed under his breath as he heard people walking past his door, laughing.  After almost an hour, the man's doctor came into the room.  "What's going on here?" asked the doctor.  Angrily, the man answered, "What's the matter, Doc?" Haven't you ever seen someone having his temperature taken before?"  After a pause, the doctor confessed with a suppressed laugh in his voice, "Well, no, I guess I haven't. Not with a carnation, anyway!"

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- I'm not saying that I'm a bad driver...But when I drive, my navigation device doesn't speak, it prays in Latin.

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One night, Murphy was walking home when, all of a sudden, a thief jumped on him. Murphy and the thief began to wrestle. They rolled about on the ground and Murphy put up a tremendous fight. However, the thief managed to get the better of him and pinned him to the ground.  The thief then went through Murphy's pockets and searched him. All the thief could find on Murphy was 25 cents.  The thief was so surprised at this that he asked Murphy why he had bothered to fight so hard for 25 cents.  “Was that all you wanted?” Murphy replied, “I thought you were after the five hundred dollars I've got in me shoe!”

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