Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

It took me awhile to do this post because I lost my camera. It was somewhere in my house, but I couldn't figure out exactly where I put it. I finally saw the strap poking out from under my living room computer table. I guess that's what happens when you leave your things just lying around.

I guess I would have found it earlier if it hadn't been raining for the past several days. I would have dug it out so I could go back out to one of the nature parks. And I don't know why I was so careless with my camera this time because I usually take much better care of it. But let's get on with what this post is really about.

The dog statue in the picture above is what greets you as you walk in the front door of Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. I like that dog. It's in the same spot that it was when I visited this place on vacation several years ago before I lived here.

A while back I would have taken you on a careful guided tour of the nature center. Today not so much. If you want the tour you can check out the link I gave you in the last paragraph. It's a nice link. You might enjoy it. Maybe you'll want to visit your nearest nature center after you follow it.

The nature center isn't the biggest in the world, but it shows some of the critters and natural features you might find in the area. I haven't seen any real caves around here, but I kind of like this little cave in the nature center.

I took this picture above from the front of the nature center. I thought it might give you a good idea of what it looks like there. I guess I should have thought to take a picture of the big windows in back where you can look out at the forest trails.

I've never felt comfortable writing about inanimate objects. That's why in the past I used to show pictures of mostly animals. I still do if I can, but I don't get as many picture opportunities of them here. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. I'll have to keep looking.

I've been experimenting with my picture at the top of the blog. See, it's different. Oh, so you've never noticed it before? I look at the sidebar of yours. Maybe now you might be wondering what the T stands for in my name. Maybe not, but I bet you assumed it was The. Nope, it stands for Tiberius. My full name is Rattilla Tiberius Adventurer. So now you know.

And with that new knowledge an old important fact that you greatly needed has been pushed out of your brain. Don't worry, you'll never remember what it was. Now that we have all that out of the way, I'll talk to you later.

A Narrow Escape

I made it back to my favorite nature park the other day. It looks colder in my pictures than it actually is. The weather is getting so warm that the winter coat I was wearing was a little too much. All the snow is melting but there is still plenty here in the forest of the park.

There is a main trail to walk on, but I decided to go to the back of the nature center building where I saw the deer the last time I was here. I was hoping there was another trail back here. There was, but it was a deer trail, not one made by the humans of the park.

I decided to follow the deer trail anyway. I've followed deer trails many times before. They can go in interesting directions. I knew this one wouldn't be that exciting, but it's still fun to see just exactly where in the park it was going to lead.

I took this second picture to show you the deer tracks in the mud on the trail, but it shows something else a little better. Sure the deer tracks are there, but they're kind of difficult to see in the picture. You know what's easier to see? Mud.

If you read a couple of posts ago you might remember how I described slipping down a hill in the snow. At the end of the post I said it wouldn't be snow I'd slip on here, but it would be mud. Because of that I decided to follow this relatively flat deer trail.

Here's the fun part. On my way back out of the park I was walking down a slight incline on the trail. I had to cross from the left to the right of the trail. I couldn't walk down the center because it was too muddy. As I was crossing I stepped down with my left foot right in the middle. My foot slid out from under me and I slid about three feet down that trail on one foot.

Somehow I was able to keep from falling, but it was a very close call. I gotta say, I really hate when that happens. I mean I hate almost falling, not narrowly escaping. I thought I'd just clear that up.

But even with that little misadventure I had a wonderful time. I didn't see anymore deer but I had a nice short hike through the woods. I even saw a few other interesting things. Next time I'll try to get a little closer look at some of the more interesting things I saw.

I have to say it was good getting back in the woods. I didn't take the time to enjoy it this time though. I only really thought about it after it was over. Next time I'm going to stop and let myself really experience the forest. There's nothing else like it. I'll talk to you later.