Friday, November 30, 2018

Outdoor Mom's Journal - November 2018

During our outdoor time this month we went....outside rather infrequently. It wasn't until I looked back on the month that I realized that we didn't go out much at all.


On November 9th, it was snowing and cold. We watched the dumpster (from the construction that happened because of the fire on May 5th) be taken away which was nice. Finally...we don't have to look at a dumpster in our driveway.


On November 24th, we went on a hike at Interstate State Park in Taylors Falls. We chose a path that we had not been on before. One section was rocky and wound through tall pines.


There were sections that overlooked the St. Croix River.


Other sections had rock formations.


Despite the cold weather, there was still water coming from somewhere and running down the rocks.


On Sunday, November 25th, we went to the local Vinterlights celebration. We had hot chocolate and cookies in the community center. Then there was a brief presentation by the Lions Club president and mayor of the city. We sang a couple of Christmas carols and then went on our way.


My sister joined us which was fun; and I saw a lot of people I knew from the Lions and other activities. It was nice to see everyone.

We drove around to enjoy the lights. Below is the main building at Gammelgarden Museum.


The church was lit up too as were the evergreen trees.


The most inspiring thing we experienced was...going on a new hiking trail at Interstate State Park. The views of the river from the trail were beautiful.


Our outdoor time made us ask (or wonder about)...why does it feel so much colder as I get older than it did when I was younger? 

In the garden, we are planning/planting/harvesting...
not much. Nothing for planting now - the ground is frozen; and nothing is being harvested.

I am thinking that it would be nice to have everything landscaped next May. The ground was graded (for the most part) this past year, but never sodded. There needs to be a bit more work done with grading in the Spring. It would be nice to have it sodded (rather than seeded) so the dogs can walk on it right away.

The flower gardens would be nice to have completed and looking beautiful. I added a lot of perennials this past year and bulbs last month in a few spots.

If we do a graduation party here for Sophia in the Summer, things have to look better. Maybe that's the reason and motivation of getting things planted. 

I added nature journal pages about...
yet another month with no nature journaling. Maybe 2019 will be better for journaling.

I am reading...
a couple of books, but they aren't related to nature. Next year I should find some books about wildlife and nature.

I am dreaming about…
walking without pain. My left foot is acting up again and is causing me pain when I walk. I'm hoping it goes away. Combined with neck, back, and head pain from the car accident on the 11th of this month, I've had better months in terms of pain. 

A photo I would like to share...
on the way back from our hike at Taylors Falls, there was a moss-covered rock surrounded by leaves. The green was so vivid and quite surprising at this time of the year.


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