Reflections on the beauty and brevity of life ~ 9/27/14

It was another lovely fall day today with temps hitting the 70s. We took a walk in the park but all of our thoughts were on the Engelsman family who just lost their wife, mother, and grandmother suddenly from a brain aneurysm. The entire community is shocked. How quickly a life is snuffed out. She was a vibrant personality soon considering retirement.

So what do we take away from the sudden death of a dear friend? Life is short, precious, and unpredictable. Enjoy each morning that you wake up to experience another day. That is your best day. Embrace those whom you love and spend time with those who love you back. And then find the beauty in every day you have.

Ada Township Park ~ 9/27/14

Looking for a new place to walk, we headed to Ada Township Park, where we hadn't been for several years. There are paved paths and nature paths and we looked forward to getting a hour's walk in. This sign looked like a good place to start.

But it ended up taking us to a subdivision and we weren't sure where it went from there so we turned around. This sign lead us astray.

The paved paths took us past some fishing boys, turtles, and beautiful reflections.

There's a pretty lagoon with strict rules.

We tried a few of the nature paths but they were poorly maintained - muddy, overgrown, and not well marked. But we did see a deer track and flushed a snake.

Along with being a township park, it's also an arboretum, so the trees are plentiful and identified.

Fall color is coming into its own.

We saw this cool tree on the way out but as walking parks go, this one is serene and a lovely spot for a picnic but not for a serious walk. Roselle is more organized but lacking trees, and the Calvin College Preserve is more interesting but with less mileage. It'd be nice if Ada Township would work on the nature paths here and you might be able to get a good hike in, without getting poison ivy :-) But you can see a Hydrangea Tree here!

Ecosystem Preserve Calvin College

Roselle Park 

 
 

Walking the Ecosystem Preserve, Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI ~ 9/25/14

Like it or not, Fall is fast approaching. And today was beautiful and we wanted a walk somewhere other than Roselle Park. Then I remembered a friend mentioning a nature walk at Calvin College and we decided to check it out. And it is fabulous. Here's the welcoming gate and path (sorry, no dogs, bikes, or running - we're totally cool with that).

This is the forest primeval (thank you, Longfellow).

But humans always make their mark, for good or mostly for bad.

The paths diverge throughout the preserve and offer various outlooks on marshes and ponds.

It's a lovely, woodsy walk.

Interesting to see the Safety Phones scattered throughout. A nice college version of the old pay phone or highway emergency phones (that were always out of commission).

Signs warned us to stay on the path and we heeded the warnings.

It was nice to see some fall flowers in the few places that receive sunlight, and a shroom.

We saw a total of four people here this afternoon, one of whom walked through the Restricted Area Gate, free as you please. We almost followed but decided to save that for another day.

So cheers to finding new paths to walk and enjoying the beauty of Autumn!