March 20 Day one of SPRING

Sunday:  After waking up to pea-soup FOG early this morning and driving to church, holding my breath, traveling at about 30 mph ... the first day of spring turned into a cloudless, clear-blue, amazingly beautiful day--a bit chilly and breezy--but SO NICE. After caring for 14 babies in the nursery this morning, I came home and fixed lunch for Emma and I and then took a nap with Belle curled up in my lap. She is a very cozy little cat sometimes!

It was nearly 4pm when I finally grabbed my camera and headed out in my neighborhood to take a walk. I am trying to prep myself for my Florida trip, which is just a little over four weeks from now, because my brother David takes very LONG walks on the beach. I don't want to wimp out on him, so I figure I had best build up my walking endurance. I headed through my neighborhood over on to Chauncey Avenue, which never disappoints to delight me no matter what the season. You can walk just a short distance and it feels like ... pure country ... farm lands ... open spaces. I love it.

I saw a lot of robins out and about today ... not a single flower ... not even a BUD! But still, it was good to be outside breathing in the fresh air. 

I walked all the way to the Imperial Mill and took a couple of pictures. This place fascinates me. I would love to SEE inside of it! You can only get so close to it because ... there are not any NO TRESSPASSING signs ... but there is a rather large dog ... 'nuf said.

When the leaves are on the trees, you cannot see through to the dam ... I didn't realize it was this WIDE! I wonder if they use the water power to power up their house?

Across the way from the Mill, is this great pond. I just love it. There are plenty of NO TRESSPASSING signs all over this property ... very disappointing. You can't even walk down to the edge of the water!

Wouldn't it be fun to live right here? There is such a lovely little rocky creek and ... the incredible sound of the dam is WONDERFUL.

I walked back home, checked the "health app" on my phone and discovered that I had walked 2.3 miles! Not bad. Emma was out and about--I made her a strawberry/banana frosty/freeze drink and then she said she thought it would be an excellent idea to take a walk! I informed her that I had just walked 2.3 miles and was pretty tired ... no way was I going to do any more walking!

BUT ... she reminded me how out of shape I am (!!) and challenged me to another walk. We just repeated the very same walk I had taken the hour before ... but it was more fun to have Emma beside me.

It's a very nice thing to have a walking partner! We enjoyed good conversation and laughter all along the way.

We actually went further up the road to where it turns into a "Scenic" dirt road and walked that way for a distance until I insisted that we turn around. When we got back to my house, my steps had added up to 12,265--FIVE miles! Yes! I hope I can manage to get out of bed tomorrow without moaning ...