Into the Woods

Every day I try to get in 10,000 steps. Today I did not exactly get them in! That is because I was in Cheektowaga in the morning and I wound up afterwards walking in Stiglmeier Park.

I have hardly ever been in this park. I went there once with my friend Meghan to do Zumba. It was about 90 degrees and there we were in this parking lot doing aerobics. I will never forget that!

Today was memorable too however for very different reasons. One thing, I did not exactly get in my 10,000 steps. I was too busy standing still with my mouth open.

I could not believe this place!

I had sort of thought that I would be walking around parking lots and shelters and stuff. I did not realize there are these trails. The trails wind around through the woods and you just follow them.

This cracked me up: At the entrance to the trails they tell you, "Do not walk alone."

LOLOLOL!

If I did not walk alone I would never walk!

Good luck getting someone to walk with you, you know?

Anyway. Oiks and schufts would not be walking this nature trail on this 25 degree day, or whatever it was today. It was just this side of bitterly cold. My hands were cold in my gloves. So I walked the trails unbothered.

What was there was birds.

It was insane! Like being at a zoo exhibit. As soon as I walked into the woods, a chickadee flew right in front of me and stopped on a tree bough, inches from my face. A cardinal sat on a branch a short distance away. Below the boardwalk where I was walking, a whole group of robins were bouncing around.

Then I saw a woodpecker, right in front of me. I had never seen a bird like that so close! That is he at the top of this post.

I also saw another woodpecker however my hands were too cold to take out the camera at that particular time. Let's admit it, your phone being a camera can be kind of a pain. You cannot just enjoy your walk. You are always feeling obliged to shoot photos and video.

I also saw red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, and a deer.

 

There was a woman in the news a long time ago who made headlines because she would not stop feeding the deer in Stiglmeier Park. I will not make that mistake!

I felt like that line from Shakespeare: "I like this place, and I would willingly waste a lot of time here."

I walked the Maple View Trail and then the Timber Trail. By the time I was done I had only about 7,000 steps. I might have made up a few more steps in the Goodwill afterwards.

However that is another story for another day.