Errand Walk: Marathon Park

I noticed splotches of sun behind the blinds in my bedroom as I awoke this morning. I immediately raised the blinds and crawled back into bed so I could watch the sun rise in warm comfort while snuggling with Charlie. It was short-lived... the sun was blotted out by clouds soon after rising. I got up, made coffee and hooked Charlie to her leash so we could get a quick walk in. We headed down to the River Edge Parkway to enjoy the sounds of the marsh birds now that the river is open and flowing. It was peaceful, but chilly and windy. The snowstorm with the winter weather advisory attached to it was on its way here.

I decided we'd better run errands right away before the weather turned ugly. So after breakfast, we headed over to Kohl's to pay my charge bill from the last shopping trip and check out new spring arrivals. Shopping for shoes and clothing for spring seems like wishful thinking at this point, but what the hell.

Since the nasty weather hadn't arrived yet, we stopped at Marathon Park on our way to the grocery store to take a quick walk through the towering pines. This park is obviously used by A LOT of dog-walking people because Charlie had to stop and sniff every tree. And there are a lot of trees! A few other people were also walking dogs - presumably trying to beat the weather as well.

*(Side Note: don't let the promise of a "dog exercise area" lure you to this park just for that - it's a joke and no one uses it. Just use the paved paths like everyone else and keep your dog on-leash).

On the opposite end of the park we found a 50-foot pine tree had broken off near its base and crashed into some other trees... quite a mess! I wish I'd had my camera along to take some photos of that. Luckily it didn't land on the nearby playground equipment. This is a great park to walk in the summer because the constant shade keeps it a few degrees cooler. Plus the paved pathways loop around so you can keep walking and walking without ever having to cross streets or wait for stoplights. The sweet smell of pine is worth putting up with the constant drone of traffic that surrounds the park. I always wonder why anyone would want to camp in this park... camping just isn't right when you can hear cars and people all around you!

While in the check-out line at the grocery store, I noticed that the snow had just begun and people were huddled and snow-covered as they entered the store. Great. And I still had to stop at the gas station to fill up. Charlie patiently watched me as I loaded the groceries in the back of the Jeep and then again while I filled up the tank at the gas station, huddled as close to the Jeep as possible to keep the snow out of my face. It was really starting to come down.

View from the front porch.

I can't believe it's April 14th and we're still dealing with this shit. Seriously, I've had enough.

Charlie in the backyard - on squirrel duty.

Even Charlie looks a little pissed off about the weather. Oh well, nothing to be done about it except turn the oven on and start baking. I've got ingredients for molasses cookies and lasagna - that should warm up the house nicely!

Happy Something. Grrrr.