I won’t complain about the rain today. We need it, and we have had several delightfully sunny, breezy, here-comes-Autumn type of days. Thursday was one such day. Tom and I decided to take advantage of the break in weather with a break of our own. Off we went to the Little Red School House woods. We were looking for a quick walk-about and ended up spending several hours strolling several miles, stopping to take pictures, to marvel at nature, and to just enjoy the beauty that surrounded us.
Although the parking lot was full, the woods were not. There were long stretches of time and trees and I felt very much at one with nature; the cawing of crows, the swallowtail flitting about, the rustle of squirrels and others we couldn’t see but heard, and the stillness and solitude that held us close.
Would you mind if I shared a bit of our walk with you?
Each bend in the wood brought new delights.
The prairie was teeming with bees and butterflies and prairie sunflowers reaching for the sun and over ten feet tall.
The path meandered at a slow, steady pace.
So did we.
A grandma and her darling little granddaughter crossed our path a few times and showed us where a snake was resting. He wasn’t sleeping, as you can see if you click on the picture, and he didn’t seem to mind the paparazzi, so, I caught him in his coiled repose.
Some bright red flowers caught my eye. There were resting in amongst the green.
Indian paintbrush?
Nearby, a moth was sunning.
This old log reminded me of my trip to the dentist the day before.
Open wide!
Earlier, in the prairie, we saw a large bird coming in for landing at the slough, which we could not yet see but knew it was there.
There he was once we arrived at the slough.
He was hard to find at first as he gazed about in among the lily pads.
Where to next? or, perhaps looking for lunch.
Nature’s knots . . .
. . . and dreams of brighter days ahead.
Lifeonthecutoff's Blog 
Oh I did enjoy this walk with you Penny, thank you. I enjoyed seeing what you saw, such beautiful woods to wander in, this is just the sort of place I would like to spend time in too. I loved reading the story of the Little Red School House. Your photos are lovely but I am not at all sure about the snake though, I clicked to enlarge your photo but hurriedly closed it again!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it, Marilyn. I think you would like these woods and can only imagine what you would be able to capture with your skills. Believe me, I was using the zoom on my camera to get the picture of the snake. It was safely at a distance. Thank you.
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Oh this was so lovely and peaceful Penny. Thank you for taking me on your walk. I was shocked to see the snake. How big? We do not have snakes in NZ and I would not have expected to come across one. I loved that you included The Little REd School House story. Thank you.
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I am so glad you came along on our little walk, Joan. The snakes wasn’t too big and was really not that close to me – thank goodness for built in zoom lens! I’m not too fond of snakes, but, there it was and I just had to take its picture. There are plenty of snakes in Illinois and I suspect small garden snakes here on the cutoff, which I haven’t seen and hope not too. I do remember them from my childhood. One of my cousins would love to scare my sister with them.
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I loved going on the walk with you and Tom. I also enjoyed the creatures that shared the walk with you. We have many herons around here and they are always fun to watch. I’m not sure if it was the way the light reflected in the snake’s eyes or if the snake is ready to molt. If it was molting, that would explain its’ lethargy. It may have been a bit cranky if you disturbed it. I love watching snakes as long as I don’t have to watch them eat. They are so graceful.
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Well, thank you for coming along with. Herons are so graceful to me. Yikes! I’m not much for snakes, but couldn’t resist taking a look. That is interesting that it may be ready to molt. There would be no way I would touch it. Pictures are one thing. See? I need to have you here to point these things out to me.
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Thank you for sharing your day with us. I am not familiar
with the area. Looks like a great place to just escape
the world and stop and smell the roses.
The pictures were great! I felt like I was on the walk
with you.
We must enjoy these beautiful fall days while they
last.
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Thank you, Roz.
You really need to see it – only two miles from us and a great place to bring grandkids with the new Nature Center. You are so right about enjoying these days as they won’t last long. I look forward to fall and the colors. I have a piece about Trudi Temple’s book in the queue to post, thanks to your recommendation.
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Great pictures Penny, I can’t believe you took a picture of that snake, you are getting brave. What next-a mouse…
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Thank you, Sharon. Yes, I”m very brave with my zoom lens from afar and Antler Man to protect me. NO! Never a mouse – you wicked girl bringing mice up. Ha!
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[…] walk on Sunday in The Little Red Schoolhouse Woods seemed like just the thing to do. It had been quite a while since we strolled the White Oak Trail. […]
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