Wanna Walk?

At various times through the past few months, I've mentioned in passing that I have been walking. DH and I get up and go first thing in the morning. Doing one's exercise early gets the day started off on the right foot, in my opinion. Since DH is a lifelong runner, he will walk with me for a bit, and then run his 2 or 3 miles, and catch up to me on the home stretch.

One thing that makes the daily walk lots of fun is the seasonal changes of the countryside. We started in earnest in May, and have walked through the spring wildflowers, the summer's hot-weather-loving chicory and wild phlox, and now are enjoying autumn's asters, tickseed and goldenrod.

I will show you a few flower pictures tomorrow. Today, I think I will just show you various shots of the path on which we walk. It is a bike path, very well maintained, and goes from Chillicothe all the way to Washington Court House, perhaps beyond. We get on in the little town of Frankfort and walk west between 3 and 5 miles.

This picture is from earlier in the summer, early June, I would guess. I love seeing how the shadows fall across the path and in all those trees and bushes, songbirds serenade. It is so refreshing on a crisp summer morning.

By the looks of the leaves clinging to the edge of the path this is a late September view.

This picture is probably from the same morning, just a little farther down the path. I'm guessing it's overcast, because you can see what a sun-filled fall morning looks like in this next picture.

Gorgeous, isn't it? Just at the point where the path is lost, a huge corn field is on the left, and an equally large soybean field is on the right. We have enjoyed watching the crops mature and turn. Just last Monday, the farmer combined the corn. From the looks of the soybeans, it won't be long before they are harvested.

This picture shows the path crossing over a county road, Dexter Road. I cross over Dexter and turn around to mark my 2.5-mile mark. This is a 5-mile day! I had hoped that the farm off in the distance would show up better. It was really picturesque this morning, when I snapped this shot.

And this is the view after I've made the turn-around. Along this stretch of the path are 5 or 6 walnut trees, so I have been practicing my soccer-kicking with the fallen nuts. (I'm not very good.) This part of the path makes doing a long 5-mile walk worthwhile. The trees are quite dense here and the feeling of being deep in the forest is very cool. The birds sound different, muffled, and all is very peaceful. I consider this section a bit of a reward for my 5-mile mornings.

Okay, there you have it! An introduction to my morning walks. I have pictures of flowers that I need to organize for tomorrow's post. Also, I will tally up my miles walked since May to share. For an old sedentary gal like myself, I think you'll be impressed!

Happy Quilting, Friends!