Long-legged Friends

I get really excited when I see a bird with long legs just hanging around Marshall! There aren’t wetlands around Fennimore like there are here, and I don’t remember seeing them very often when I was growing up, despite the time my family spent at the nearby rivers.

Until now, Lexi and I would just refer to them generically as our “long-legged friends.” I often see them in the shallow water underneath the dam as I drive over it or by the river on one of my shorter bike routes.

On Monday I rode my bike west and then made my way over to Berlin Road, which goes through the Deansville Marsh. As I made my way toward the marsh, I looked to my left and saw a pair of sand hill cranes in a field. I watched them for a few minutes, and then looked away, and one of them had disappeared without me noticing.

I went a little further down the road and saw another pair, these had a baby with them.

I looked back to the first field and saw that the second crane I had spotted had returned to view. I could see five of them – all at once! It seems like the sand hill cranes aren’t bothered by company as the herons are.

After I watched the cranes for awhile I continued up a hill and admired the view of the marsh from above. I scanned the tree lines for signs of animals and I had to look twice when I saw four brown spots in the corner of a field near the marsh. It was a doe and three fawns! I had to keep looking because I didn’t really believe it could be deer.

I knew I was really lucky to see them out during the day, and in such hot weather. Their brown fur shimmered, and the color was a perfect compliment to the foliage that is so lush from recent rains.

Mama whitetail knew I was watching them, but she let me take a few pictures before she ran off, first with only two of the little ones following and then the third bounced away after them.

It is amazing how, on Berlin Road, the scenery goes from the patchwork of farmland, to wetland, and back to farmland so quickly. As I came over the last hill before I was surrounded by marsh grasses, I saw three baby muskrats scurry off of the road and into the cover.

Backwaters from the Maunesha come right up to the road in the marsh. It frequently washes out after heavy rains – but it makes for an amazing bike ride.

Since it was about midday, the same time I had seen turtles on the railroad tracks the first time, I got my camera ready as I approached the bridge, and sure enough, there was a turtle, sitting in the same place as before.

This time, it didn’t scurry away when I stopped to watch. A vehicle came over the bridge though, and once again I watched it slide out of control down the embankment and disappear first into grass and then into the water.

Further down the road, in the waters next to Charles Langer park, I spotted one of the great blue herons in the shallow water.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw his mate fly up in to a tree, but this guy must have felt safe lurking in the shadows of the pond’s shoreline. I thought he was waiting patiently for me to leave, but as I watched, he snapped up a minnow.

I got off my bike and tried to get closer, but that startled him and he flew across the water and hid in the underbrush of a tree.

It was pretty cool to see so much on one bike ride. On Tuesday I went out for a 10-mile ride in the early evening and didn’t see nearly as much. Yesterday I took the same 10-mile route at dusk.

Turtle sighting

The last couple days have been excellent for spotting the animals that live in the countryside around me. It has been very exciting.

Sunday was Father’s Day. We had a nice morning at home and then decided to take the canoe to Lion’s Park to spend some time out on the millpond. It’s just down the street, but too far to carry. So we improvised:

My dad won that wagon in a raffle when I was, like, three. And that would be a jump rope tied to the handle. Josh led the way and steered; Lexi and I took turns pushing. We laughed all the way down the street.

Our trip in the canoe took us all the way across the millpond and a way up the Maunesha River. Once we paddled out of the open water of the pond and into the quiet marsh grasses of the river, I saw two great blue herons. They are elusive and don’t like to be spotted – usually I see them as they are flying away from me. I love to watch their long legs dangle behind them – it’s sort of funny.

As we got further into the river channel, we were surrounded by these quick sucking sounds, sort of like a snort.

The sounds came from all directions, and we could see rustling, but no animals. After watching for awhile, we realized it was the sound of carp eating at the shoreline and roots of the wetland greenery – every once in awhile a red fin or shiny scales would skim the surface. You could see areas where they had created canals back into the grasses.

I have read that one way carp are detrimental to wetlands is that they erode shorelines - I guess so, if you can hear them dining on it! But it was neat – a unique sound of one of nature’s cycles.

A downed tree forced us to turn around after probably a mile and a half. The timing was about right – I could have gone further, but then I have a tendency to put my paddle down and watch for wildlife. The red “x”s on the map show where we put the canoe in and where we turned around.

On the way back down the river we saw a painted turtle resting on a log. I wasn’t quick or quiet enough with my camera and it plopped into the water before I could photograph it. This turtle’s shell was maybe six inches in diameter, not quite fully grown yet.

After we got home I rested for awhile and then went out for an evening bike ride, putting on about 10 miles around the Deansville area. There was a misty rain during most of my ride. It didn’t bother me. While I was out I saw several goldfinches, red-winged blackbirds, a muskrat and two sand hill cranes.

Jelly for Lunch

This morning it was decided we would pick our own strawberries at a farm outside of Marshall. Josh and I each grabbed a flat and the owner of the farm (I guess that would be…”the farmer”) showed us where to start picking. After a half hour or so we left with almost 30 pounds of strawberries.

After we got back from the strawberry fields I got on my bike for a ride, my first since last Friday. I headed to Sun Prairie to meet Josh and Lexi, and stopped to see my brother and Walter and Sophie on the way.

Josh and his mom have spent the afternoon making jam in her kitchen. It’s delicious. I had plenty just to make sure.

After a week off I am feeling quite tired after this ride, and I think I’m a bit dehydrated. I know better. Tomorrow will be better.

Today’s total is about 12.5 miles. And that’s all for the week.

Kissing Elephants

I still have not been on my bike this week, for a number of reasons. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow for a comfortable 10-mile ride… although after a week off I don’t know how comfortable it will be.

Lexi’s last day of school was Friday. She has this week completely off, and then starts summer school on Monday. Her summer school week runs Monday – Thursday from 8 – 12 and is structured like a summer camp this year. It is two three-week sessions, and she’ll have all of August off. She’s looking forward to it.

We’ve spent this week trying to keep ourselves busy while spending as little money as possible. I’ve become pretty good at this, acknowledging that my college life and freelance business give me lots of flexibility but not necessarily the flexibility to throw money around.

On Monday, we went to Olbrich Botanical Gardens on the east side of Madison and then to the M.Y. Dream Park in Monona. At the gardens, we went into the conservatory first. This hanging plant was right at the entrance – Lexi thought the flowers looked like they were waiting for a kiss, so I had her pucker up for a picture.

The conservatory has a rainforest ecosphere – lovely green and flowering plants, a waterfall and pond with koi and goldfish, birds, and even some geckos, but we didn’t see any. We spotted some eggs underneath some greenery – we don’t know if they were bird or gecko eggs. Maybe we’ll make it back next week to see if they’ve hatched.

A tactile table is tucked away in the corner of the conservatory for little hands to explore. Lexi had fun touching and smelling everything there.

After we walked around the conservatory we went out into the gardens. Red-winged blackbirds nest in the arbor and startled Lexi when they swooped too close to us. We could hear babies chirping and were able to spot their nest from the path.

Starkweather Creek cuts through part of the Gardens’ property – a footbridge over it leads to a Thai garden, complete with an authentic Thai pavilion. The pavilion was a gift to UW-Madison from the Thai government and Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association, and the university donated it to the City of Madison for inclusion at the gardens

Lexi took this picture of me “kissing” an elephant in the Thai garden. I’m going to send it to my friend Molly – she has a similar picture of me taken about 28 years ago… except in that picture the elephant I’m kissing is on a stoop in Stitzer and I’m wearing only a diaper.

Even though we spent a couple hours at the gardens that day, we didn’t see it all – despite her interest it could only hold her attention for so long. We followed up the gardens with a trip to the dream park for another hour or so. Lexi played while I read and gave myself a manicure.

Tuesday was spent at home, but on Wednesday we found ourselves in Madison at campus museums. I’ll write more about that later.

It’s not every day you see turtles

I’ve taken a break from biking for the weekend. Saturday was my planned day of rest and it’s been extended for a couple days because I haven’t been feeling well.

 

Last week I rode almost 60 miles from Tuesday – Friday. Every day I sort of knew where I was going but I was able to be flexible. My wandering gave me different mileage each day but each route began heading west – I have this theory that generally, this will have me biking into the wind at the beginning of my trip.  The hills tend to be gentler out there, too.

 

Wednesday was my longest ride – I rode to Sun Prairie to visit my nephew Memphis and his friends Walter and Sophie. My brother was there, too. 

                                                                     Memphis                                              

                                                                           

On the way back, I took the county highway to Deansville, a cute little hamlet with one square block in the middle of it, and followed Canal Road back to Highway 73, which runs north/south through Marshall.

 

Wetlands created by backwaters of the Maunesha River make this part of Canal Road a really pretty ride. One thing I really enjoy about biking in this area is the wild life. That day as I stopped to watch water swirl under the bridge I startled an adult turtle that had been sunning itself on train tracks. I watched as it slid down the rock embankment and into the long grass, and then watched the grass rustle until I heard the turtle plunk into the water. Just as I was about to take off, a second turtle caught my eye, and it went through the same routine.

 

The two days following I stopped again to look for the turtles but I did not see them. I will keep looking.

 

Mileage for the week was, roughly: Tuesday, 13.5; Wednesday, 20; Thursday, 15.5; Friday, 10. 

Every Why Hath a Wherefore

I guess it’s time I started a blog. 

I don’t really want to. I hate writing about personal things. But I need to practice writing… someone recently told me that… lots of people have told me that.

 

I’ve been putting it off for a long time.

 

Of course my freelance business keeps me writing. But school boards, town meetings and graduation ceremonies leave little room for creativity. And they’re cyclical… 12 months pass and I’m writing about the same thing again.

 

It’s summer, and Lexi is in her last week of school. I’ve been done with my semester for nearly a month now, and have spent most of my time tidying my house, socializing and riding my bike.

 

For now, I’m going to use my blog to help me with two goals: writing more and working toward better fitness though biking. I’d like to participate in a charity ride or two next summer, but I need to know I can keep at it. So I’m going to use my blog to write about my rides, monitor my progress and log mileage.

 

I’ll also write about the everyday silliness that is my life. And some of it’s not so silly, you’ll hear about that too. And after I’ve been back in school for a month or so, well, I’ll try not to complain too much.

But for now… cheers to summer.