Today I got caught walking twice and both times my across-the-street neighbor spied me. He had a good excuse to be out since he was walking his big dog. I was just rambling for the pure fun and health of it. Okay, those are good excuses too.
It was pretty funny actually since the first time I had stopped en route to the trail to put a bowl full of refuse into our experimental compost can in the garage. When he walked by I was stirring the contents with a shovel. I must have looked like a witch stirring my cauldron. The second time he saw me out on the trail and I was nose to nose with a giant pine tree taking close-up photos of the bark.
I acknowledged that I was up to some rather unusual activities, laughed awkwardly and went about my picture snapping. He said he had wondered why I was shoveling the contents of our garbage can, then asked me if I had seen the bark on a tree much further up the trail. It sounded interesting and I should get up there.
So all in all it was a good day. I got in two walks, some good photos, a tip on some interesting bark…and very likely a reputation as eccentric.