Mileage: 2 miles around Maple Avenue Lake and the Wetland Trail at Hawthorne Park. Total mileage for the day: 4.6.
The path up to the lake is bordered by blooming honeysuckle:
After a solid weekend of rain, the skies cleared on Monday, so the trip around Maple Avenue Lake was particularly pleasant. I passed several fishermen. God, I hope they don’t eat what they catch . . .
The fishing theme was reinforced when I got to the other side of the lake. In the trash bin was the empty package for a Barbie fishing rod and reel. I can just imagine the pink, sparkled rod and reel that helped a little girl and her patient dad share the joy!
The route around the lake offers different fauna than the Wetlands route. In fact, I see a lot more turtles at the lake than I do at the wetland. They prefer the dead trees half submerged, like the tree pictured below. The turtle breeds are various–painted, snapping, etc.–but they line up on the log and sun themselves with equanimity. And when I get too close, they roll off. Sometimes all I know of their presence is the watery plop of each one as they fall in.
I did get to see a box turtle today. This one was incredibly patient and posed for his picture. This was my second sighting of a box turtle today. As I drove to work around 7:30, I passed a box turtle who was crossing Highway 46 in the lane opposite to mine. I am always tempted to stop the car and run back to ferry a box turtle across the road. I can do this on my country road without too much concern, but attempting turtle rescue on Highway 46 could be a risky for me as it is for the turtle.
Not all the fauna at the lake is natural and untamed. I met up with Mickey, the German pointer dog who belongs to a friend. He is a runner, very athletic, and a swimmer too. When we met up, he let me pet him, and I earned a damp hand for my trouble.
