It wasn't bad. I stuck mostly to the shade and there wasn't a lot of traffic except on Highway 6 where I'd decided to cross over and check out the other side. Like that chicken who didn't know where she was going. Oh, I forgot to tell you. It's about the birds today. Kind of.
The first street took me to a dead end. No signs indicating so, of course. That was okay. I didn't have a plan or a destination in mind. I knew there was a lake somewhere in the area but didn't know how to get to it. I didn't expect to see this family walking down the sidewalk next to me. I kept my distance. The mom and dad seemed to have their hands (feet? wings?) full just keeping track of so many of them.
They were the picture of nurture. Which brings me to:
I call it, "Nature vs Nurture". Beautiful Spanish Moss growing on the trees next to the road and my least favorite (migraine-inducing) restaurant in the world. It's where the road ended and I turned around and made my way back to the highway to continue my walk. May I never see the Sugar Land ChuckECheese again. I felt a cold chill being near it. I'm sure my kids enjoyed it when they were young. It's one of those parental things we do (giant rodent pizza parlors), but I loved taking them to the museums and parks so much more. Sorry kids, I have a feeling I gritted my teeth more than I should have in those days and you no doubt saw it. I wasn't always a good mama duck.
I found a small man-made lake on the next street and spent a few minutes trying to take a picture of a clever little duck who paddled one way and the other, back and forth past tree branches. I knelt in one spot and waited. He was quick and seemed to smile each time I missed him. It was such a pretty scene and he wasn't having any part of it. Silly duck.
I sighed and stood up, listening to my bones creak, wondering if the duck was laughing at that, too. That's when I saw what had been in front of me the entire time - this.
Fungus. It's one of those, "Oh. My. God." shots. So glad I had my camera. I have about 25 shots to work with - all different angles. Ups, downs, waters, woods, grasses. It's beautiful, just growing all by itself there on that tree.
On the way home I saw this bird sitting high above the mall parking lot. I told myself that he'd been flying around all morning and wanted to hang out and look around but was so smart he found the one bulb that was burned out and thought, "Yeah, it's still hot, but this perch is just a little cooler than the rest. It's really beautiful up here. I'm just going to hang out and look around for awhile." Or maybe he was just a bird that landed on a tall place.
©Michelle Scofield, July 23, 2011 All Rights Reserved
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