Power outage.
Silence. No computer hum. No toad filter. No monster fish bubblin'.
Once I'd determined that it wasn't just our house on the fritz, but also the neighborhood and beyond, I considered the options. It was another unseasonably warm day out, so I decided to go out and get some nature.
Magnum had been working on revamping his greenhouse, so he could garden without "fertlizing help" from the cat and other area wildlife. But he decided to chuck all that fun and come along with me.
We headed out to Bear Creek Park, a nice little area, not for strenuous hiking or biking, more for just a relaxing time in the woods for relatively easy hiking and wildlife viewing and such. It also includes a nice nature center that is a fun place to take young kids. I took advantage of it yesterday to gain knowledge and appreciation for honeybees, since they seemed to have it in for me a couple of summers ago.
So it was a nice day for it, even if the trees were bare and the grasses were brown. There weren't too many others around, so the woods and creek were quiet and peaceful.
Since we were up, we thought we should at least log one geocache and found this one. It was a few paces off the trail, and this park is really big on preserving the area flora.
I was feeling a bit criminal about being off trail, so we signed the log book and dashed back.
The particular area we were in is also off limits to dogs so as to not disturb the landscape and wildlife. Strangely, we encountered two hikers with a total of five dogs. It seems in addition to us, there was a definite criminal element in the park!
On the song bird trail, we saw a grand total of two chickadees. I think the area song birds are aware that it's still February.
So it was a nice little escape. When we returned home, the toads were splashing and the fish were bubbling. I learned that power was out for about three hours, so I'm glad I didn't wait around for it. There's some sort of mystery utilities project going on up the street, and it temporarily killed our power.
Those guys were still working late into the night, which seems strange for a Saturday. Probably more criminal activity.
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11 comments:
You did the right thing, when we have a power cut I get in a state and panic, normally about the lack of internet, but in fairness when we have a power cut it can last for 3 days. Not much fun, but I'm glad you had some anyway.
Maybe the rec center got some action when the internet went down?
I learned to appreciate bare trees with the help of my artist father-in-law. He was an artist who created landscapes from paints, pencils, and ink. He had a special love for the intricacies of leafless trees. I used to find winter trees depressing; now I see them as beautiful.
Forced disconnectedness. Seems like that turned out to be a pretty positive thing for you and Magnum. Did you learn anything about bees that will be helpful in avoiding stingage in the future?
Three DAYS!? That's a rare occasion around here. Thankfully.
I wonder!
Nice! I like trees in all seasons too. Sounds like your father-in-law had a real gift.
Nope, didn't learn anything about avoiding bee stings. Just was reminded that we'd all die without bees, so I guess I'm willing to take one (or more) for the team.
Our power went out for under 10 seconds and I freaked out. I didn't think I was going to be able to make pancakes!
Good for you for taking advantage of the situation and unlocking your rebel side.
No, not the pancakes!
I actually put my feet up on the futon and did the puzzle page in the newspaper. When the power still wasn't back, I figured we should probably just get outta the house.
Oh, I love nature walks. More than my husband does, but I drag him along. He calls them "death marches." It's funny what you said about being criminals. Fred was in a rock band in the 80's and I was raised very religious, so you would think of the two of us, he would be the criminally inclined one. But no, it's always me wanting to break the rules, like walking off a trail or going out the "in" door. Yeah, that's about as bad as it gets.
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