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Posts Tagged ‘walk in the park’

Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibilities

Posted in Art, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , , , , on October 16, 2011| 6 Comments »

My shadow and Maggie become part of the basket ball court art. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 “ Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso

Travels With Maggie

The park across the street from my son’s home in Lake Jackson has a basketball court, but I’ve never seen it used for that purpose.

 

The big green snake with big teeth -- Photo by Pat Bean

Perhaps that is why some young artists – I suspects students from the school next door to the park – decided to brighten it up a bit. While I was away for the summer, they dabbed the rough cement court with color.

The bright images include a river running across the court, a few houses and trees, a hop scotch layout and a couple of gigantic snakes, the kinds of things young artists have been doodling on paper since they could hold a crayon.

I found it enchanting – and so in tune with the week’s photo challenges about possibilities.

 

Grackles join the cacophony of color -- Photo by Pat Bean

“A picture of many colors proclaims images of many thoughts.” – Donna Favors

 

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A Sassy Squirrel Taunts Maggie’s Patience and My Thoughts

Posted in Favorite Hikes, Nature, Wildflowers, tagged , , , , , , on October 15, 2011| 8 Comments »

“If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which is the other side of silence.” – George Eliot

Some squirrels can be downright sassy. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Unlike all the other squirrels my canine traveling companion, Maggie, and I approached in the park early this morning, one didn’t quickly scamper away at the sight of us.

It held its ground, engaging us in a stare off. We got to within about 20 feet of it before Maggie could stand it no longer. With a sudden spurt of energy, she raced toward it.

She had 25-feet before her retractable leash would pull her up short, but she stopped before she hit the end. I think she knew, even before she started the chase, that she didn’t have a chance. She’s had a lot of experience with sassy squirrels during our many walks.

A small widow's tear blossom beneath a bush finally got my brain off squirrels and onto the wonders that Mother Nature always surprises me with when I take a walk. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The squirrel, which of course had headed up the nearest tree, was now looking down from a low branch chattering away in what could only be scorn for our intrusion. It had decided we were trespassers, that it owned the park and we had no business being here.

What, I wondered, had made this squirrel challenge us while all the others ran away.

It was like asking what makes some humans adventurous and some timid, why some of us love roller coaster rides and others shun what they consider such dangerous tomfoolery.

I often see parallels between animals and humans. I guess that’s why they’re often used to describe us humans, as in sly as a fox, slow as a snail, graceful as a cat, stubborn as a mule or swift as an eagle.

I never heard one, however, comparing us to a squirrel. What, I wondered would the adjective be: Sassy, brave, quick or foolish came to mind.

That squirrel hadn’t just taunted Maggie, it had taunted my brain.

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