I've been feeling a little discouraged and blue the last day or two. Between my sweetie being gone a lot, the clouds rolling in and my hormones doing their monthly riot act, I just wanted to crawl back into bed and stay there. I probably would have if there weren't a certain hyper dog giving me the "Is it time yet?" look.
Instead we went for a 5 mile cross-town hike. Taking the dog for a walk is always a good emotional reboot for me. It gets me out into the fresh green air (I swear, in the NW you can smell the green) and the dog's happy exuberance always makes me smile. I needed to drop the car off across the bay for some repairs so it was the perfect opportunity to walk the new trail home.
We are lucky to have a wonderful new bike path as part of the Rails to Trails program, which converts old, unused railroad tracks into wonderful bike/hike paths. Ours happens to cross the Bay. It was a grey, windy day in the middle of the week and there was no one about so the pup enjoyed a little off leash time.
It was nice to dawdle and play tourist. I was in no rush. We sat on a bench and watched the seals and their pups. The seagulls dropping clams from up high in order to crack the shells and get the meat inside. The bright wildflowers and Madrona trees against the grey sky...
My favorite trees!
A beautiful garter snake...
We live in a very beautiful area, surrounded by water and islands in the northern Puget Sound. The only blemish on our island (ok, carbuncle) is this. An oil refinery. The irony is they have the most beautiful and coveted land out there on a peninsula. I love this shot with the rolls of hay in the foreground. Looks like a marshmallow factory! We call it Thunderdome because at night it often glows and the towers flame. You'd think we'd get better gas prices...
The first 3 miles of the walk was on or near the water. The rest was through our little town and I love walking the neighborhoods and strolling up the alleys...fresh air, good exercise and a reminder of what an amazing area we live in. Getting out of the house and away from business and stress is so important. Walks are always a great way to refocus and literally see the big picture. It was just what I needed. And it worked!
