Nature's Wonders

It was going to be a glorious Sunday afternoon so we hurried home from church and grabbed our hiking gear out of storage in the basement and headed to the prairie.  There was a chill to the air but a bright blue cloudless sky.  The prairie was all muted colors- browns, oranges, tans, and reds.  It was fairly quiet except for the wind rustling the tall, dry grasses.  It had been quite a while since we had been hiking.  In fact Arthur hadn't worn his hiking boots since our backpacking trip this summer.  Stretching our legs out on the trail felt great since it has been getting too dark too early for any good walks the past few weeks.  We came around a bend in the trail and a buck was standing several yards in front of us.  We stopped to watch it as it bounded across the trail.  It was remarkable how quickly the deer disappeared into the grasses in less than 20 yards.  There weren't trees, only grass about waist high but a large mammal just vanished.  Later on we saw several deer and turkeys out in a field.  We are always amazed at how rejuvenating getting outside in nature is for us.  We discussed where we wanted to go on our next hiking adventure-- the Grand Canyon is still on the list if we can get permits or some of the other national parks in the Southwest.  We also recently found a great deal on a tent and are excited to venture into the world of camping next year.  It may take great restraint for me not to set up the tent in the living room and camp out for a trial run.  Here is a photo that showed up on Yahoo's website and I recognized it right away.  It was taken on the top of Mount Adams in the White Mountains.  Of course when we trudged across Mount Adams fog had limited visibility to 50 feet so we didn't take in the view.  This sign is covered in rime ice-- ice that forms from freezing fog on the windward side of objects.  Nature is pretty impressive.  We can't wait to experience more of nature's wonders.  Omnia Vincit Amor.