I started early at Mimi’s knowing I had a full day ahead and wondering if I’d get time to go to Joan’s, my newest client, to pressure wash her two decks. I spent the next 8 hours wrestling with vines, wild, thorny roses, fallen limbs, digging and hauling. I easily broke and continued to sweat for the entire time. Following lunch, I switched gears and went to replacing screens on her porch. Though not nearly as strenuous, I was up and down on my ladder and stayed active. It was four by the time I finished and decided pressure washing would have to wait until tomorrow.
Driving home, I began thinking about my new camera body, having finally replaced my discarded Canon Rebel XT and a trip to the North Chagrin Reservation with Dakota. Once there, I quickly changed into hiking gear, grabbed my camera and headed for the park. Dakota was thrilled, though I adapted her collar to not be quite so noisy. I was planning on hiking down to the marsh and with her constantly out front and jingling, my opportunity to catch wildlife moving naturally was limited.
We hiked for 30 minutes before arriving at the marsh just as the sun was casting its longest rays of the day across the water and marshy vegetation. I spotted something white in the distance and my first thought was a plastic bag had blown out on the water. Putting my telephoto lens to my eye for a closer look, realized I was watching a swan, something I’d never seen in this locale. I made my way around the marsh photographing a Great Blue, some Mallards, a raccoon, a doe bounding through the trees and the rays of the setting sun across the water. By the time we returned to the car, I’d managed 90 minutes of hiking and the fortune to have shared and captured some decent images, I hoped.
Hike duration: 90 minutes. Yard Work: 8 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 75 bpm hiking and 75-100 working.
Calories Burned: 450 hiking and 2,500 doing yard work.
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