Peek-A-Boo

On this glorious Memorial Day, I decided to take a hike through Spears Woods, part of the Palos Trail System. What a beautiful day! It was supposed to rain all day but I got lucky, no rain, only cloudy skies and 82°F.
Last night we had a thunderstorm with heavy rain for over an hour, so today the forest was filled with a strong earthy aroma, oh how I love that smell!

Anywho....I slightly went "off track" and found this really cool handmade birdhouse. I could appreciate the time it took to spray paint all those polk a dots and attach a wire perch. Very creative! I don't know who made this birdhouse nor who placed it here, I assume it was a restoration club of Spears Woods.

Who lives in here anyway?
I found out......


Why it's a tree swallow STARING RIGHT AT ME!!!
Do you love his white chin and belly? So do I. Even better, he has this metallic blue back that is something to see in person!
This is a zoomed in picture, I didn't actually get this close.

How lucky I was to have seen the occupant of the artistic birdie residence!

Because We Love Snow

Oh lets enjoy a few more pictures from the Bullfrog Lake area, part of the Palos Trail System!
This picture was at the beginning of my trail and the snow reminded me of sand from the Indiana Dunes, with weeds growing here and there. That's exactly how it looks, except I visit the Dunes when it is much, much warmer!


Do you see that water pump? I don't know why it is there. I wonder if during the warmer months it even works? I saw several of these on my hike. A close up of the pump with trees in the background might make for a nice painting though.


This picture tells a story. Can you tell?
If you follow the shadows, you can see evidence of a steep slope. The left side of the slope is in complete shadow, away from the sun. The right side has trunk shadows riding uphill. I love how shadows follow the contour of the land. It is very clear against the snow. I am facing north in this scene, so you know it must be close to evening because the sun sets in the west and the shadows are casting towards the east. There is one tree that still has snow along its side. That proves that the snow storm was blowing from the south to the north...evidence all around us!
I love how much information you can get from a simple picture.

Bullfrog Lake Frozen

Feeling time slip and the snow melting as we speak, I decided to head out to Bullfrog Lake, just to enjoy winter a few more hours before the impending warm up.
As I walked the trail by the lake I came upon this stunning scene, which will soon be made into a painting. Sparkles shimmered in the sunlit snow and my eyes followed the tracks into the distance, suddenly three crows began to "caw" at this very spot and followed me to the lake which was at the end of my trail.
It was an exciting moment.


Here we see the beautiful Bullfrog Lake in its frozen state, part of the Palos Trail System, located in Willow Springs, IL. In the middle of the lake are serious ice fishermen with tent gear and all, and across the lake we see many sledders enjoying the day. On this photo you can see animal tracks near the cattails and skier tracks on the lake.


And here we have a giant Chicago Nature Lady print, brushing back the snow, stepping on the ice of the lake and later having to touch it with her hand!
"Strange human," said the crows, "Strange human!"

Afternoon Walk

Today I went back to Country Lane Woods to burn off some Christmas cookies. It was a perfect day for a hike, a mild temperature of 45 degrees and very little wind with a sunny sky.

To my surprise early on, I ran into a gentleman walking his horse. Now horses are not uncommon on this trail, but people are usually riding them. His horse was gently grazing on the side of the trail.


Meet Breezy. He is a 24 year old retiree. Too old to be ridden so his owner lovingly walks him everyday. I asked if I could pet him which the owner allowed, but was warned about the mud on Breezy's back from rolling around. Rolling around! That's what I'm going to do when I'm a retiree, too old to go to work but never too old to enjoy life rolling around!


This is Cranberry Slough. What's a slough? A slough is a muddy, marshy, swamplike region. There are many in this area. I had to walk just a little off the path to get a good picture. Cranberry Slough is surrounded by millions of oak trees. I kept walking around the oaks looking for owl droppings or a pellet. How neat it would have been to dissect a pellet. I will keep on wishing for one.

You can see the evening clouds have arrived. It is a peaceful picture of a peaceful afternoon. Much needed after the holiday stress. I know this is where I belong...far, far, far away from a mall with crowds of people. I belong with the trees.

Old Country Lane Road

This is the beautiful Old Country Lane at Country Lane Woods. This use to be a happenin' street back in the day! Now it serves as a really neat gravel trail, you can walk it or ride your horse for miles. Today it was about 45 and drizzly. Drizzle won't stop my fun, no sir.


Isn't this beautiful? This is a small pond right off the trail. It's hard to see but there are many exploding cattails. Good for the Chickadees, which I did hear in this area - no joke. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to zoom in on one of the cattails. When walking towards this pond I did hear activity by the edge. Perhaps it's warm enough for the frogs to still be out, I'm not sure.


Everyone needs a walkin' stick! We find a stick.... we use the stick.... we leave the stick! My grandpa always made sure the grandkids had a walkin' stick, everyone of us. I'm keeping the tradition going.

I hope you enjoyed this brief visit to Country Lane Woods.

Spears Woods in November

When people ask, "What do you get out of walking around in those woods?" How do you answer?
I've met non nature lovers, people afraid of the outdoors due to the fact that bugs live out there, people who love the hustle and bustle of the city with as many people as possible, and surprisingly many just don't understand.
This is how I answer: Do you know the painting, "Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo? Where God's stretching out His finger touching the finger of Adam, breathing life right into him? Corny as that sounds, that's exactly how I feel. I am never more closer than when I'm in the woods, not even at church, oh that sounds bad.
When I'm as far away from people and in the center of pure creation, the communication highway is wide open and everything is so clear to me.
This is Spears Woods. I'm cheating a little and for the rest of the week, using pictures from Sunday's walk because daylight is short and I can't do much after work anymore. Spears Woods has several beautiful features...


Not only does the trail take you into deep forest, but shortly after you can visit a savanna and lake area. How I love when autumn colors give their last performance of the year.



Here is the lake. It wraps around an island of trees. I've spotted many deer in this area but not today.
This weekend, I have to paint some more autumn paintings in pastel, I will be using Spears' pictures for inspiration no doubt.


Oooo, I love the slime that forms at the edge of the water. Frog territory, I'm sure. Notice the ripple in the water? It was very windy that day. Leaves swirling in the wind and branches creaking as they bend. I loving it all, communing with the One behind it all!

Hey, What's Up That Tree?

Here I am, trying to fit inside this tree. I could have done it if I tried, ha, ha, ha. This beautiful tree is located at Spears Woods, part of the Palos Trail System
Sunday was the perfect day for an autumn hike, not too warm, not too cold, although it was a little breezy. Well, not even one minute into the trail did I spot this neat hide-a-way for animals and weird nature enthusiasts. I wonder what animals take shelter at night in this very tree? Here is a close up....


Doesn't it look like this tree has steps which lead upstairs? Only if I were that small, even for a moment! Doing the next best thing, I stuck my hand up the tree, turned my flash on and took this amazing picture....


Isn't it just the neatest!!! I get so excited just looking at it! Doesn't it look like the mouth of a cave? Now, if a bat flew out of here as I was taking this picture I probably would have had a coronary right on the spot. I'm happy I didn't disturb some poor creature, minding his own business in his home. When I got home I did zoom in to look at every inch up close like, in hopes of finding a spider or something, but I can only find a web and some fungus, I think. See in the center? That's not daylight, this was an incredibly large tree with many leaves on it, not completely dead. I think the center is white fungus. Any who, I just love this picture and now I'm on a mission to photograph every tree gut I can find!
Does anyone know what types of animals like to hide in tree hallows like this???