Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
A Nature Trail, Or…
Hello everyone on this another beautiful day up here in the north! Yesterday it was actually 83F (28C) and today it was 79F (26C), not bad at all and well above normal temperatures for this time of the year. And after all that cold weather, it literally feels hot out there. But right now there are clouds out there and thunderstorms are coming later. Poor Muffin. She will likely be spending the night under the bed instead of on the bed. She definitely does not like thunderstorms. If they get really bad, then she will come and cuddle close to me, something that she just started doing this year.
I have been out walking on my river path the last 2 days. It truly is a beautiful nature trail. That’s what it’s supposed to be. It is not a convenient place to toss trash. Some people have not learned that yet. I like to carry a little bag with me to pick up the trash that people leave behind. Okay. This is a rant today. People bring this stuff in with them, why can’t they carry it back out? They bring in various drink containers that are full when they bring them in, so why can’t they carry the empty drink container back out with them? I mean, it’s lighter now when it’s empty.
Then there is the many different candy wrappers, gum wrappers, cigarette butts. People walk along the trail smoking then toss their butts out among the trees. News item here, that can actually start a forest fire. It has happened before. It would be terrible to have that area burn up just because someone can’t dispose of their trash properly. And, of course, there is the normal breaking of bottles on the rocks. What’s with that? People love to do it. That means broken glass all over the place. Kids walk along this path too. Young kids. They just might pick up a piece of that broken glass and seriously cut themselves.
Another news item. Glass can magnify the sun’s rays and start a forest fire too. That also has happened. Why can’t people think a bit? There is a lot of advertising warning about these things that can cause fires. Every year it’s made public. People can’t say they didn’t know. Sigh. A lot of people say, it’s only a small gum wrapper, that won’t hurt anything. If a hundred people use that path every week and each person dropped one item, just think how much trash would be along that trail by the end of summer. It would be terrible.
Sorry. Just had to do my rant today. So many people just don’t think. Please everyone, think before tossing that trash. Get rid of it properly. That way everyone can enjoy the outdoors the way it should look. I am totally in favor of nature trails so people can get out and enjoy this wonderful world that God gave us. But let’s all help to keep it looking beautiful. Thank you for reading, I hope you are having a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
Insulator Adventures. Part 1.
Hi everyone! It’s another beautiful day here at Steve’s Country. And you know what that means. You don’t? Oh. Rats. I don’t know either and I was hoping you could tell me. Sigh. Oh well. Oh, right. Now I remember.🤔🙄 It means another crazy adventure with my dad and I. Really, they were crazy at times. And sometimes even worse. But they were fun though.😀 And we used to have a great time remembering all these adventures and having a good laugh.😂🤣 Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from this adventure so I am using some recent pictures instead.😁
So go ahead and laugh along with me as I remember another one of these great insulator hunting adventures.😃😂 Fall was a good time for our adventures, and that’s when most of them took place.😀🍁🍂 The amazing things that happened sometimes. Many times we didn’t find much interesting, but the things that happened are what made the outings so memorable. Like this one time we were trying to find a way in to the railway which was quite a distance from where we had to park the car. 
That meant hiking a bit through the forest and this one time, after checking the map thoroughly, we figured we had the shortest route planned. So it should only take maybe 15 minutes or so and then we would be at a new location. That would be nice since the isolated area should produce some nice finds for the growing collection. But of course things don’t always work out the way we planned sometimes. Or maybe I should say, they seldom worked out the way we planned. It seems there was always something that happened to turn an easy hike into a rather arduous trek. And that would nearly wear us out before we reached our destination.
On this particular day that is exactly what happened. But it started out as a fabulous sunny and warm day in late August. So off we drove to the spot where we would begin this short and easy hike. We arrived quickly enough and parked the car at the end of this little trail. But, that is where easy stopped and problems began. We grabbed our back packs and started through the brush which was no easy matter. It was very thick brush all through that area and there was no way around it. So we just started pushing our way through it.
As usual I was in the lead since I had planned this route on the map. Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring the map with me and so this is where we are now. You forgot the map?, asked dad. Well, I did bring a map, but it’s the wrong one, I said. BONEHEAD, said dad. We just got started and already he is enjoying himself, I thought to myself. I remember the way, however, I said, I studied that map a lot. Right, said dad. So off we went.
Watch the branches, I said. Thwack! AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! Guess he didn’t. Dad’s hat went flying and got stuck in a tree. I can get it, I said. I grabbed a branch and reached up. Sure enough I got it quite easily and I swung the branch down with dad’s hat attached to it. Thwack! AAAAA!!!! Oops. Guess I swung too hard. Got dad right across the side of his head. But amazingly his glasses didn’t fall off. Thanks, said dad. Not sure he really meant that. Dad still wanted me to go first, which was amazing.
Hmm, guess I had better stop here for today. But there is more to come in part 2. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 