A Walk in the Country

After I read Robert Frost's Banjo this morning, I could hardly wait to go out for a walk. I suggested that we go to farm country, but Robin wanted to cycle around the lake, and that turned out to be a wonderful suggestion. I took the video camera along, and several times on the four-mile walk, I stopped to take a still picture for the blog. When I got home, I tried to upload the photos, but unfortunately, I still can't make it happen, even on the laptop to which I used to upload all my photos. I'm beginning to suspect a problem with the camera itself - or the cord. That would be good.

At both ends of the lake, there was some snow on the ground beside the path, and there were a few muddy places, but by and large the walking was easy - that is, until it was almost over. The circuit is 6.1 kilometers long. At 5 kilometers, suddenly there's a 9o-degree hill. Okay, it's not really 90 degrees, but it looks that way as you approach it, and it certainly feels like 90 degrees. I stopped twice on the way up, to catch my breath. Robin, pushing his bicycle, lagged behind - but once we got to the top of the hill, he climbed back onto his bike and left me in the dust - er, mud. As we walked, we commented that it must be ten years since the last time we took that particular walk. The path has been greatly widened, and there aren't nearly so many roots to trip over as I remembered. On the other hand, I don't remember that hill. I have a feeling that that's because I was, oh, ten years younger the last time I walked around the lake. The hill would have been much less steep. ;>)

There were lots of people out today, families with children, older people like us, all sorts of people walking their dogs. There was also an idiot on a dirt bike, but only one, and he disappeared quickly in a cloud of exhaust fumes. I think that before you can buy one of those things, you must have to prove that you can't read a sign - like the one prohibiting motorized vehicles on the path. (I promised Debra Schubert this morning that I would henceforth call 'em as I see 'em. I'm practising.)