Measure of a successful walk

Break out the field guides! Haul out the old big red dictionary! Search my photo files and check the nature websites!  A great walk's been had, and some of my photos turned out. Now the memory jogging begins. (Too bad memory jogging doesn't count as steps toward my employee wellness program).

Although today's walk was at the Heard Nature Sanctuary north of Plano in McKinney, the measure of success is the same for a walk at Oak Point Nature Park.




Pipevine swallowtails have the stunning irridescent blue lower wings, but fewer spots and less orange than other swallowtails.

Eryngo

Every year I have to look for the name these pretty purple pineapple-shaped wildflowers.

The concern with my favorite Gulf Fritillairy is spelling. One t. Two ls.

This was a new sight for me. Grapy berries or berriysh grapes growing on a shrubby vine near the boardwalk with poison-maybe leaves. Behold, beware! Beautiful colors in the fall sunshine. From internet sources I'm thinking these are members of the grapevine family, Vitaceae (Vitidacaae), called Peppervine or buckvine, Ampelopsis arborea, or even "cow-itch."

You might be able to make jam or wine according to one foraging site or hand-pull to remove as a pest plant. How did our ancestors survive without Google's contradictory guidance?

One final lap of memory jogging to log due to the very low water in the seasonal wetland slough. Although dragonflies were busy, the dry months have turned the wetland into a naked lake. Fascinating, but unnerving, it reminded me of watching my Grandma put on her corset and roll up her support stockings when I was a little kid.

"Slough" has given me trouble since way back reading By The Shores of Silver Lake in fifth grade. "Slough" can rhyme with stew or cow but not with fluff unless you are discussing shedding skin like a snake.

Being able to visit a place around the seasons, through different times of day and light, wind, and weather is a gift. It is also a challenge to stay observant and curious. Thanks to those who have given me memberships to the Heard.

© 2014-2019 Nancy L. Ruder

Big N, little n, FX nature

Recently a  coworker took time off to go swim with sharks in an aquarium. Today I spent time staring at schools of tiny fish in the lowering waters of the Heard Nature Center wetlands, at mating Eastern pondhawks, at Mr. Big Ribbit, and listened to a warbler sing about the inch worm it ate for lunch. We each have our own bucket list, I guess.

Inchworm still in its beak.

Eastern pondhawks ensuring the future of their species.

Last evening leaving work I drove past a protest march outside a French restaurant. The marchers carried placards demanding an end to torture of ducks and geese. I don't know much about foie gras, but I was offered a sample of gourmet hummus on a pretzel stick at the grocery store today. A radio opinionator carrying on about Scott Pruitt's disregard of climate science suggested letting hungry polar bears loose in Congress. Congress gras. Congress hummus.

Walking the boardwalk over the wetlands an older couple was torturing two granddaughters with forced exposure to nature. The girls could not spy the warbler, or hear it singing over their own exasperated sighs. "You must learn to love nature," the grandparents kept saying in between phone selfies. March on! Or as the girls thought, "YRMLM."

Passing the spot where I saw snakes* on a recent visit to the Heard I found instead the biggest frog I've ever seen outside of captivity. It was bigger than a 24 oz. bucket of probiotic Greek yogurt.

*4/22/18

© 2014-2018 Nancy L. Ruder

Beats a doctor's waiting room

2018 has been low on mental health hikes and the wear and tear is showing. North Texas is already ghastly hot and humid, and it isn't even July. Knew I had to start early if I wanted to get a walk in, and the only walk motivator I came up with was The Hunt for the Missing Turtle Pond.

Since the new accessible trail and boardwalk opened at Oak Point, I hadn't figured out where the new improvements crossed over the old familiar trails. The Turtle Pond whereabouts was particularly bothering.

So, it is found, but no turtles were hanging out. Also, no snakes.

There was a peek-a-boo butterfly or two:

A nice addition is this historical sign on the Willow Springs Trail showing the site of the first Methodist meetings at the Russell home. Unfortunately the land grant information in the lower right corner is already illegible.

The current First United Methodist Church is just down Spring Creek Parkway at the intersection with East Parker Road.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth493487/m1/1/zoom/?resolution=31.999876018513465&lat=2241.502926980468&lon=252.63680826002883

Fungus looked so much like a melted hot fudge sundae I had to go to Braums next.

Looking crabby because they couldn't get a Braums sundae.

Find the Joseph Russell land grant on Rowlett Creek.

© 2014-2018 Nancy L. Ruder

Zillow

New listing.
Move-in ready.
Convenient access to boardwalk.
Retirement community.
Bring your own blankets.

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

A turtleful day in the neighborhood

Hermit thrush is the verdict of the helpful identifiers on iNaturalist:

What a cooperative little bird posing beside the boardwalk for a photo! These days I am torn between walking at Oak Point and walking at the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary a few miles to the north. Excited about the birdwatching spots on Oak Point's new trail,  but I still needed to check the progress of the Heard's wetlands. So please excuse the deviation from this blog's intended subject.

The bright sun and low angle made for intriguing illusions in the wetlands. The trees, the tree reflections in the water, and the shadows crossing made my eyes pop.

Best of all, a full Yertle of turtles were out enjoying the gorgeous afternoon, unperturbed by many little boys rapping sticks against the rails of the boardwalk. The turtles have it good, and they know it.

My dad passed away five years ago today. He was always disappointed about my failure to golf, but he did teach me the value of "unlaxing" in nature. On beyond relaxing there's a space of spiritual refueling and mindful focus. Return to it often.

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

Perfect conditions for rapid growth

Nothing like a three-day weekend to stimulate To Do list growth from a tiny seed in the dark, dark soil to a slender, unsupportable, potentially-strangling demand upon my time.

I didn't do it! I didn't trade the cow for the magic beans! It's not my fault!!

The To Do list is ugly, part crossed-through, part scribbled-out, part mustard-stained.  What is the powerful hold it has on me?

Bright sky. Crisp, but no wind. The new boardwalk awaits. I'm already in that neck of the woods. Crumple To Do list and toss it into the backseat. There's a great blue heron standing in the tall grass behind a One Way sign next to the parking lot. Cedar waxwings whine. A wren tsskks. Robins are having a convention.

Gobbling down one final fry I step from the car and head to the new bridge over Rowlett Creek to explore the nature preserve improvements. Didn't expect to be so wowed!

Austin chalk from the new bridge

Wide boardwalk

Bobcat Trail wetland

Birdwatching spot

Tunnel under Spring Creek

The Oak Point rec center

New spot for Go Ape

The boardwalk leads to two watching decks at the primo birding spots near the wetland crossing of Whispering Springs and Bobcat trails. It changes to a wide hard surface trail for bikes leading to a tunnel under Spring Creek Road to the Oak Point Rec Center. It branches off toward the parking lot for the amphitheater. As it goes, it exposes a completely new aspect of the nature preserve.

Thanks to all who created this new gem for the City.

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

Fake news, fake nature

Spend time with family in nature this Thanksgiving holiday. That is my charge or challenge to you, dear readers, both of you.

Feel the healing power of nature for your immune system, your mental health, your creative spirit. Stay curious about the complex interwoven systems of our planet. Express amazement and share personal discoveries about creatures and patterns still hanging on despite the current plutocratic rush to frack, drill, and clear-cut our national gems.

We are quite possibly the last generation joining hands around the feast table to be grateful for our national parks, for clean air, for not yet flooded coastal cities, for coral reefs still hanging on.  Yes, I am one discouraged grandma, knowing our generation has cheated our grandchildren and their grandchildren.

So, make Mother Nature the centerpiece of your holiday. I could never tweet a lifestyle blog with all-white pumpkins in a giant designer clamshell. Instead I could spy a giant white fungi in the, yes, crotch of a tree. Walking the wetlands boardwalk at the Heard Sanctuary in McKinney:

On the Cedar Brake Loop Trail additions to the centerpiece:

We have mind-boggling problems to solve in the real world. Join hands and work together to save our country, our planet, and not just from celebrity lifestyle tweeters.

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

Pecan time

Got a look at the boardwalk construction going on at Oak Point this noon. As always I feel much better when I know what's going on.  The boardwalk is going through the wetland area that was part of Bobcat Trail. It's a lovely wide surface at least eight feet across. This trail is going to be a gem!

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

Excited about the improvements

© 2014-2017 Nancy L. Ruder

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Oak Point board walk with cottonwood fluff.

This land is your land, this land is my land, NO Wait! It's OUR land, Woody. Been a bad week on the respect-for-public-property beat ... from Yellowstone to the library newspapers.

What does a person working the crossword puzzle in the library's newspaper have to do with going off boardwalk into the sensitive, unique thermal features at Yellowstone? You can make a photocopy of the crossword puzzle so you don't ruin it for the next library patron. The wonders of our National Parks must be shared and respected. The hot water ecosystem is extremely fragile. Worse, the daredevils at Yellowstone had corporate sponsorship for their adolescent stunts.

DAN WENK: Part of their stick, if you will, is they took photographs of the warning signs and were literally ridiculing the warning signs. So they got it, they understood, but they willfully chose to ignore.

I bet their mothers are so very proud of them!

I managed to keep this little daredevil from going off-boardwalk thirty years ago. He was all muscle and motion and energy, with no self-control. Reasoning with him was pointless. He was 18 months old. He did not have corporate sponsorship for his exploits. Somehow, I managed to keep him out of the geysers, hot springs, and mud pots, while his dad explained the park to his big brother.

Geothermal Dangers 

Boardwalks and trails protect you and preserve delicate formations. You must stay on boardwalks and designated trails. Scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust. Pools may be near or above the boiling temperature and can cause severe, possibly even fatal, burns.

• Keep your children close to you at all times; make sure they understand the danger.
• Pets are prohibited in thermal areas.
• Swimming or bathing in thermal pools or streams, where water flows entirely from a thermal spring or pool, is prohibited. Where swimming is allowed, swim at your own risk.
• Thermal waters may contain organisms know to cause infections and/or amoebic meningitis, which can quickly be fatal. Obtain more information at any ranger station or visitor center.
• Toxic gases may exist at dangerous levels in some hydrothermal areas. If you feel sick, leave immediately.

Hot, burbling mud pots!

© 2014-2016 Nancy L. Ruder