environment

Hikus Interruptus

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Debora

This morning the kids and I continued our Trinity River Project by covering this bit of trail:

We had planned to hike farther today, but the rain that was forecast for this afternoon rolled in early. I don’t mind hiking in a nice autumn rain, but my camera and phone do. I guess I need a waterproof case for them now that I’m not in the desert anymore.

Before we hit the trail we stopped in at River Legacy Science Center. It’s a great little place that teaches about the local wildlife and river systems, and has some of the river species on display.

Apparently there’s a plan in the works to connect all the trails and parks along the Trinity River from Fort Worth to Dallas, but it’s complicated by the fact that a lot of the land is privately owned. It’s a cool idea, though, and since the trails themselves are mostly already in place I don’t think it would be too disruptive. I hope it works out — how cool would it be to be able to ride your bike from Fort Worth to Dallas without ever having to touch a street?

Another cool thing we found at the Science Center was a map with tiny lights that show the course of each major Texas river when you press the corresponding button. Here’s the Trinity:

There’s a spot behind the building with steps leading down to a pond, and I think they must feed the local turtle population from there, because a lot of very hopeful-looking turtles popped their heads up when we came out.

A better view of of the pond:

We saw even more turtles once we got out onto the river trail.

We got as far as this strange, abandoned bridge…

…and then it started raining, and we turned back to save our gadgets.

It’s just as well; as we were driving to our next errand the skies opened up and unleashed the sort of deluge that makes you crawl along behind the next guy’s taillights and hope that everyone doesn’t get washed off the road. That wouldn’t have been fun to hike in at all.

The rain disrupted my weekend plans with Mahogany. I might have to play hooky Monday morning and slip out for a ride.

Categories: Animals, environment, Family, kids, Life, Trinity River Project, Weather, Wildlife | Tags: River Legacy Science Center, turtles | 1 Comment

Bobcats and Stuff

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Debora

Today the kids and I continued our hike-every-mile-of-the-Trinity-River-between-Ft-Worth-and-Dallas project by hiking this stretch of trail:

We haven’t figured out our pick-up and drop-off arrangements yet, so our distances are still limited by the fact that we have to backtrack every mile of trail that we cover. Still working on a solution for that.

Perfect weather for a hike, with just a touch of fall coolness in the air.

We met a guy on the trail, a retiree who volunteers his time to the parks and helps keep track of the local wildlife. He is so tuned into the bobcat population that he knows all of the individual bobcats who live in the area and is concerned that six of them have gone missing in the past few months. We ran into him twice, in different places on the trail, once on our way out and once on our way back, and each time there was a different young bobcat hanging out with him. First this pretty girl…

…and then this gorgeous boy:

We also saw a couple of armadillos. They are cuter in real life than I expected. They look like fat squirrels wearing armor.

Other wildlife sightings included a great blue heron…

…lots of pretty butterflies and about a gazillion grasshoppers everywhere.

It’s kind of amazing, the abundance of wildlife that thrives here in the middle of the Metroplex. When we first decided to move here I worried that the kids and I would miss the “great outdoors,” but that definitely hasn’t been an issue. City people really seem to appreciate their green spaces. Probably for the same reason the kids and I do — no matter how much you love all the benefits of civilization, sometimes you just need to walk in the woods and relax.

Categories: Animals, Cats, environment, Family, kids, Life, Trinity River Project, Wildlife | Tags: armadillos, bobcats, heron | Leave a comment

Exploration

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Debora

This morning Mahogany and I took our first trail ride since she arrived here. She has always had a strong preference for the company of other horses, but it was never a huge issue until this morning when I tried to ride her away from her new pasture mates. I had an honest-to-goodness fight on my hands. I finally opted to dismount and lead her off to the trailhead and out of sight of the herd and stables. This basically just relocated the fight instead of ending it, but at least it was just the two of us there with no human or equine witnesses to the struggle. Having a battle of wills with your horse in front of curious onlookers is like dealing with a tantruming toddler in a grocery store…it’s just awkward no matter how you handle it.

So anyway, I led her through the back gate and remounted, and the battle resumed, and I eventually won. And once I got her onto the river trail and she was basically locked onto the path, we had a really lovely ride. The flipside of Mahogany’s willfulness is her bold fearlessness, which makes her a wonderful exploring companion.

At a couple of places along the trail we found cows sheltering in the brush.

(For the curious: I always try to include bits of horse in the photos I take from horseback. That’s how I tell my trail ride pics apart from my hiking pics.)

When we looped back into the pasture, Mahogany set up for another fight. She wanted to run straight to her buddies, and I wanted to remind her who was steering by making her walk around the perimeter of the pasture. That ended up being more of a heated argument than an actual battle, and then she remembered that I’m even more stubborn than she is and did her laps without any more fuss. But I can see that this will be our first training project here: Mahogany needs to learn to leave the herd behind whenever I ask her to, without a struggle.

Luke and Elizabeth and I have fallen into a pattern of exploring at least one new thing every weekend, and today we investigated the Colleyville Library. We found it nestled in a village with a remarkably Southern California vibe. The whole setting reminded us of a cross between the Mission Inn area of Riverside and Disneyland’s Main Street USA.

While the Hurst Library is still our reigning favorite, the Colleyville Library is far and away the prettiest one we’ve seen in the Metroplex so far.

One of these days I’m going to just drive around and take pictures of all of my favorite buildings in the Mid-Cities area, and post them. There is some crazy beautiful architecture here.

I freaking love this place.

Categories: Animals, environment, Family, Horses, kids, Life, trail rides | Leave a comment

Dolphins!

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Debora

Hello Internet! I’m not really back, I just have some pics to share and this is the easiest place to do it.

So yesterday the kids and I were on a boat. I got violently seasick and spent a good part of the day hanging over the rail making contributions to the local ecosystem, if you know what I mean. BUT! I also got to see literally thousands of frolicking dolphins! They were everywhere, the ocean was alive with them as far as the eye could see.

Luke and Elizabeth loved the rolling of the boat and didn’t get sick at all (oh to be young again and have a cast iron constitution), and generally had a great time, albeit for different reasons. Elizabeth enjoyed seeing dolphins and sea lions and pelicans and such in their natural environment, while Gadget Boy couldn’t get enough of all the nautical paraphernalia. Example: our boat passed near this adorable sight:

Everyone gathered near the rail to see the sea lions, and Luke said in hushed tones of intense excitement, “Wow, a real live buoy! I’ve never seen a buoy in real life before!” I’m not sure he even noticed the wildlife, but there were plenty of maritime gizmos everywhere to thrill his little cogs-and-gears heart, so he had a fun day too.

I was feeling hollow and wobbly by the time I got home, but I slept like the zebra* last night and woke up feeling really great this morning. Seasickness aside, I think all that salty ocean air must have been good for my lungs, they feel clearer than they have in weeks.

Not that I’m ready to go jump on another boat anytime soon. Blerg.

*Have I ever explained the zebra thing here? It’s a reference to the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland. One time we had a cruise pilot that had a whole running stream of jokes about that scene where the lion family is nomming on the dead zebra. “Oh, look at all those lions protecting that sleeping zebra!” “We’ll just continue on and let him rest…in peace.” Like that. Somehow it worked its way into our conversational repertoire, so if one of us says, “Wow, I’m exhausted; I’m gonna sleep like the zebra tonight,” it sounds perfectly normal. To us. I fear that eventually as our conversational shorthand evolves we’ll become completely incomprehensible to random strangers, kind of like the Tamarians from Star Trek. “Shaka, when the walls fell.” “Darmok, on the ocean.” “The zebra, ‘asleep.'”

Categories: Animals, environment, Family, kids, Life, Travel, Wildlife | 6 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: Dappled Glen, Hidden Creek

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Debora

Categories: environment, Wordless Wednesday | 4 Comments