Adventures.... through pictures!

Last weekend the "special other" and I visited a local nature preserve. It was really rustic for an area in the midst of a huge city such as Dallas; complete with thriving poison ivy, posted warnings about feral inhabitants, and poisonous snakes! It is in a hilly section of town and maintained by the Audubon Society. At one time it was operated by the City of Dallas parks department, but I can fully appreciate the reasoning behind the city letting an organization better suited take over its management. There are approximately 8 nature trails of varying distance and intensity. We opted for the "easy to moderate" path of slightly more than one mile. Either we are too old for this type activity, or the person who designated the rating has a cruel sense of humor! The path was steep up-and-down in the slippery clay soil upon which Dallas is built. Parts of the path were under water from rains of a several days prior to our visit. In fact, some of the paths seemed to be nothing more than the usual run-off path after heavy rains. There were times when a choice had to be made - walk in the water-covered path and get your shoes wet, or walk in the poison ivy but keep the shoes dry. I chose ruin the shoes because I have had one too many tangles with poison ivy in my life. I can spot that stuff a mile away! The picture below is from the preserve. At one spot along the path there was an observation tower we climbed for a view. Hence the picture of the lake. While on the trail we had no idea we were near a lake; the brush was so thick we were only aware of the mosquitoes, plant life, and the mud!

The next day I was out and about in the neighborhood and happened to have my camera with me. There is a house along my walk route that has an incredible display of natural wildflowers. I took quite a few pictures of the various species. Here is a favorite.

Later in the afternoon I was again practicing with the camera at Harry's house and took this picture of the rosebud. Lovely!!

Yesterday we took a road trip. We drove to a community about 90 miles NNW of Dallas, nearly in Oklahoma. The town is Muenster, Texas and it was their annual Germanfest weekend. The town claims about 1550 residents and is a wonder to visit. The small downtown square resembles the buildings one might find in a German village. The grocery store boasts ...rightfully so... a German meat and cheese market, filled with all manner of "wurst und kase" (translated to "sausage and cheese" for the non-Deutsch folk). The local restaurants feature German fare and each had booths of their specialties available on the festival grounds, including strudel from the local Konditorei und Bäckerei (confection shop and bakery). We listened to good old-fashioned German polkas and waltzes, not to mention a Chicken Tanz (dance) or two. Food was excellent, beer was flowing, weather was perfect, traveling companion his usual enjoyable self.

We ended the day by deciding to attend the anticipatory Mass at the local Catholic church, Sacred Heart, at 5:00 p.m. The rectory is directly adjacent to the sanctuary and is the charming house in the picture below.

The day was declared a "good adventure". Amazingly, it was mutually agreed the best part was attending Mass in the small German Catholic community. (You'd have to be Harry or me to understand!!) We decided that in the future when we travel to a small community for a day trip we will investigate the Mass schedule for the particular church in that town. Sounds like another adventure to add to the list!!!

Until another time......