32. A Lovely Day with a Lovely Friend

Activities, Friends, Nature 0

Kathe

Where to even begin with the blessings that happened today?

After I posted about loneliness this week, my dear best-friend-since-3rd-grade Kathe asked if we could get together.  (We always mean to do so more often than we do.)  I’d been thinking that I really should use the Annual Pass to Shenandoah National Park that I bought last September, which expires this September.  And it worked out that we could go together this afternoon.

We got off to a rather late start, but it’s not far, and we didn’t have to hurry.  We did a very short hike to Land’s Run Falls.  It’s also not far from the entrance to the park, so perfect for a late afternoon hike.LandsRun2

The trail takes you to the top of the falls, so I couldn’t get the greatest pictures.  But it was so lovely and peaceful to be walking in the woods, hearing the rushing water, and there with my dear friend.

The leaves were just barely beginning to turn color, but already beautiful.

LandsRun1

 

And of course, always on Skyline Drive, the drive was beautiful, too.

LandsRun4

The whole day was simply such a blessing!

LandsRun3

 

25. The Great Blue Heron

Nature 0

Heron1

I already was thankful for my lake.  Part of what I love about my lake is that at least one great blue heron likes to hang out there.

I say “at least one” because there were at least two times when I saw one heron at one end of the lake and one heron at the other.  Usually there’s only one at a time, and I like to pretend it’s the same one, but I’m not observant enough to be sure.

When I first looked at the house, my realtor liked to run on the trail by this lake.  She told me an egret lived at the lake and told me a touching story that egrets mate for life and if the mate dies, they will continue to nest where they were last together with their partner.

Heron2

Well, I’ve looked it up since then, and that story is bogus.  Great blue herons do not mate for life.  But the fact is, herons and egrets do like to hang out at this lake, and it never ceases to give me a thrill.  In fact, when I go too long without seeing one, I start going through heron withdrawal.

So last Friday on my day off, when I went for my usual walk and saw the heron posing on the wall by the fountains, I turned right around and went back for my good camera.

Heron3

 

So, the romantic story may be bogus.  But I still feel completely blessed by my lake and the birds who enjoy it.

Heron4