TheBanyanTree: Pike Island

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I checked out my garden this morning and it’s amazing.  Hardly anything in
it has died!  My rose bushes are still going strong.  They’re not blooming,
but they continue to get more leaves.  I could still harvest broccoli and
celery if I wanted to.  Many of the perennials are green.  I even have a few
annuals that are still robust.

We’ve been below freezing many nights, but the days have warmed up, so maybe
that’s why the plants are still green and somewhat lush.  I finally threw my
mums on the compost pile.  Hey, it’s the Christmas season after all.  It’s
time for poinsettias and Christmas cactus.

Joe worships Tiger Woods and it broke his heart to find out that Tiger was
in a car accident.  Speculation is rampant on the internet about Tiger
having an affair with some hussy from New York.  Evidently, the story broke
in the National Enquirer (a reputable new source, yeah, right) this week.
And everyone is like, how could he?  His wife, Elin, is gorgeous!  The hot
hussy is rather homely, I must say.

Also, from reading the comments on the internet, most people believe that
Elin went after Tiger with a golf club while he was trying to get away.  The
couple postponed an interview with police again today.  Maybe tomorrow, they
said.  Well, if his injuries aren’t too bad, then why can’t he talk to the
police?

My heart was broken when John Edwards had an affair with that awful whatever
her name is and then he didn’t have the balls to admit it and admit that
poor baby is his, too!  What a mess that is.  And his poor wife is dying
from cancer.  Another hero down the drain.

We just want one hero who is who he/she seems she is.  Is that too much to
ask?

In spite of our fallen heroes, today was no exception to our continuing warm
late November.  The high was supposed to be 43 degrees, which is warm for us
this time of year.  There was no wind and it was very sunny today.  

Who knows how the weather will be next week?  So Shadow and I took a walk on
Pike Island.  Pike Island is an island in the Mississippi, at the junction
of the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers come together.  We access Pike
Island from Fort Snelling State Park.

There are no motorized vehicles on the island nor are bikes allowed.  Shadow
and I hit the trail along a few other hikers, runners, people with their
dogs, and families.  It was just absolutely beautiful today!

The outside trail along the perimeter of the island is three miles.  There
are a couple of short cut points, too.  Shadow and I walked the entire
perimeter.  I got some great photographs, which was also my mission, besides
getting some outdoor exercise on a beautiful late autumn day.

I’ve never been to the park during the late fall.  I’m always there in the
summer, so it was very cool to see things that are usually hidden by the
leaves in the trees. 

We didn’t see any animals, except for a pair of mallards.  Shadow would hear
something every once in a while.  He’d stop.  And then listen carefully, his
ears perked up.  And then he would go about his business.

The hike was a great way to continue this Thanksgiving weekend, by focusing
on simple, meaningful activities rather than looking for a job.  That will
come soon enough on Monday.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are
conscious of our treasures. 
-Thornton Wilder