Monday, September 03, 2012

Walking leads to some interesting moments.

I mentioned that I am up to 4 miles walking.  I go from my house to the next road, and then back, twice.  I have been able to do this pretty well, until the last few days, when I got a dime sized blister on my heel.  NOT fun.  But, I have found a bandage meant for blisters, and it has helped a lot.

It's been an adventure of sorts walking out on the road as opposed to walking the hill at the house.  I have found that most of the neighbors know that I am walking... Even though it's usually at about 5-7:30 am.  I have had several of them comment on "Oh, I missed you x day..."

Er.

Usually Monday, that day I "skip" walking as I go do my shopping for the week, and get enough walking doing that!     : P 
And more than once, neighbors will walk out to talk.  I chat with them on the goings on locally, gossip, all that important stuff... You live in a rural area, people tend to get up early...

The assortment of animals around here has lead to some amusement on my part.

Horses:  One neighbor trains horses for carriage work.  She now knows that one of the horses needs to go the other direction from the way I am walking.  Twice now, she has been working the horse, and once it sees me, it will slow until it paces me, and it really, REALLY doesn't want to walk away.  I don't know if it sees me as a 'buddy', or just wants to slow down, or what, exactly, but I now see her check the road, and if I am coming, she goes the other way, so as not to have her horse 'argue' with her about how fast he needs to go.  She has several other horses, and none of them seem to be so inclined to slow and pace me, except the one. 

Birds: If I am lucky, I get out at sunrise, and I get to see two Blue Herons that must nest by a local field.  They swoop down over the area, then go back up to (a nest? food?) the direction they came down from. 

Another time, I was walking and couldn't figure out what the big "lump" on top of the phone pole was.  There were small birds all around it.  When I finally was close enough to see, it was a Redtail Hawk, and it was on the post, while all the little birds were quite close on the wire.  I must say it suprised me.  I wanted to take a picture, but by the time I'd come back with the camera, it had left.

There is a rafter of turkeys that live in the trees on our place.  They go from place to place in the area, and right now, are leaving lots of feathers.  I have been picking them up, I have quite a few.  I also have an owl feather, Husband found a goose feather (that I might wear at Ren Faire this year), and even a black and orange feather, that I am still trying to figure out what bird it's from.  I put the feathers on my hat, but I think I am going to have to do something with them, I put them in a vase, and the vase tipped over and broke, soooo... Plan B.

Cats: There are dozens of cats around here.  And they do not like to stop and chat.  I come by, and they slink away, or even flat out run.  Since I walk just at morning light, I think quite a few of them are finishing the 'night shift' of cat doings.  The horse barn seems to be a haven for a lot of them, I have counted at least 5 or 6 most mornings walking there.  If there is a fence between them and me, they just sit and watch me go by.  If not, they hide under the foundation gap, or run off.  ONE cat has meowed at me, but when I kneeled down some and called 'kitty', it made sure to stay way far from my hands...

Dogs: All the neighbor dogs seem to have well tuned barkers.  I know which houses have dogs now... All of the ones that have dogs also have NOISY dogs.  The neighbor that trains horses, has a farmhand that brings his dog.  I am not on great terms with that dog.  Why, I do not know, but the dog, named Odie, will run up to the fence, and bark at me.  Then follow along the fence. Yep, still barking.  When he reaches the gate, he will bark, and start to follow me.  I have shooed him 'home' two or three times, which he doesn't like.  His people is pretty nice, though, and now calls Odie, to try and keep him from being quite such a... pest.

Rudee misses walking with me, but I don't dare take him on the road.  He doesn't walk well on a lead, he wants to wander, rather than staying by me, and I have no idea how the other dogs around might react to him.  Plus, the poor ol' guy is getting arthritis in his joints, too, so we just take much shorter walks, or we let him out to wander when we are outside.  He seems to enjoy this.

I had one interesting little dog incident.  I was walking, and ZIP goes a little bitty (Yorkie???) dog.  I was rather surprised, and managed to snag it and read the collar.  Phone, no address.  Ok, whip out the cell, no answer.  I start walking back, and the stinker manages to wiggle out of my grasp with traffic coming!  I wave frantically to get the truck to stop, when the guy in the driver's seat leans out the window and bellows, "Bennie, what the **** are you doing out here?!?"  I let him know that the dog had followed me.  The guy looked embarrassed, "yeah, he tries to everyday when you go by, but I normally catch him.  (Ah, yes, another person noticing the walking gal...)  I now check for low rider pups, and the truck guy waves most every day now.

Part of the reason that I walk early in the morning, one of the trainers at the carriage place has two Dobermans.  They are mean, and one has tried to corner me when I have walked, so I adjusted the time to before he shows up for work.  I am hoping as the seasons change, I will be able to continue walking before he, and they, show up.

I have planned for this, much to Husband's amusement.  I wear a band around my hat that is actually meant for hard hats, it has a hands-free flashlight.  On the back, I put a bicycle light, which flashes about every second or so.

So if you see a gal in a floppy hat, usually with sunglasses, a bright orange safety vest, and lights front and back, it's me.

I think I will never cease to amuse my neighbors...

14 comments:

Sally said...

I hope you enjoy your early morning walks as much as I did reading about them. I also learned a new phrase 'a rafter of turkeys'. I think it quite suits the birds to be called a rafter. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Cat said...

After some getting used to walking on a road, not up in the woods, yes, it's not too bad. And, as far as a rafter, I guess it's okay, but I could think of a few other animals that might fit better. Generally, I believe the Victorians had way too much time on their hands. And you enjoy your week, too!

Dreaming said...

I'm proud of you! Neither horses, nor cats, nor Yorkies that bark shall keep the walker from her appointed rounds!
I used to walk with my neighbor. We lived on a dead end and went back and forth twice. All of the neighbors saw us and often would stop to say, "Hi" We used flashlights when the days got shorter. The only bad time we had was when a deer was startled in the shrubs near us. It blew. My friend practically jumped into my arms! We were both sure it was a dinosaur or something ready to pounce on us and eat us up!

messymimi said...

Better amuse them this way than to create a scene involving an ambulance.

Enjoy your exercise!

stephen Hayes said...

No one is going to accidentally run you down, that's for sure.

CC

Judy's Corner said...

I can imagine the sight you must be! Delightful! I suppose this could be why people are aware of your walking??? LOL

nynn said...

the small birds around the red tail were probably waiting for the bigger bird to fly so they could harass him. Little birds do not like the bigger birds and will dive bomb them when they fly.
You amuse more than just your neighbors. :-)

Cat said...

Yep, I have had some odd noises, turns out usually to be a dog or cat coming out of the underbrush... (whew!)

Cat (Love the take on Postal carriers...)

Cat said...

We hope to avoid THAT, yes. Husband had looked up which way I was to walk (walk TOWARD traffic, so you can see what's coming, just messed me up), and mostly, I do enjoy it!

Cat said...

Not unless they are on a cell phone... (snarl)

Cat

Cat said...

With my demure and subtle outfit? Nah...

Cat

Cat said...

I hadn't thought of that, but yes, especially since that is a small bird nesting area. I was rather surprised they didn't harass him while he was perched, though...

I am amusing. Good! Better than depressing! Heh.

Andrea said...

You must be the must well-informed gal in town!

Cat said...

:) Well, at least I get some interesting thoughts for the day, at any rate...

Cat