A Walk in Dobbins Woods

Birthday Boy

Another cloudy morning, not a touch of blue, just gray lake, gray sky, and an easterly wind and despite the clouds and the weather report, we have had no rain in two days, just the clouds.  Last evening, we could see the rain and mist on the Bemus hills but we were spared the rain, though we need it.  The weekends supposed to be better, perhaps a bit warmer, as today, again, will be in the 60's, great weather for a walk, working out side, or gathering more rocks for my cairns.

We walked in Dobbin Woods the other day, a 60 plus acre preserve about ten minutes from our house.  We enjoy it most in the winter, with its cathedral like pines draped in snow but we decided to see what it was like in the summer.  To our surprise, we seemed to have been the first people to walk it in a couple of weeks, as some of the trails seemed grown over with grasses and weeds.  Still, it was a beautiful morning to walk, despite the clouds, and we enjoyed the quiet and solitude.  Because it's mostly wooded, with various types of trees, there was hardly any color, just various shades of green leaves, bushes, and ground covers.  As you can see, we did find a bit of color, some wild mushrooms and a tiny salamander or chameleon, about two inches in length.  When we tried to take its photo, it would scurry, try to hide, and did not change colors to match the environment, so it was a salamander or lizard.  The walk takes about 45 minutes, and is a nice change from the CI or Lakeside Drive in Bemus.

Mushrooms

Lizard or salamander?

I still am at sixes and sevens, not quite yet at home with all this leisure, days filled with nothing that we have to do.  It's like a hangover from a very busy four weeks; suddenly, your life seems empty, no kids, grandchildren, or friends, and you have to get used to that all over again, until it becomes routine.  It's time like this that we have to be careful as the remedy for  this ennui is often spending money, on almost anything to fill the void.  I can already see me wanting to head towards the Mall....will I resist this or give in?

The Cassells may stop by tomorrow after his golf tourney; we decided against going to it because of the weather around here would have made watching the match difficult.