Walktober 2024

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Multitudes of people are beauty-blind to the outdoor pictures. I doubt if one in a hundred begins to take in the beauty visible on even a short walk in city or country. ~Delia Lyman Porter, American writer and social reformer

Happy Walktober! It’s time for our group walk known as Walktober and hosted this year by Dawn.

Walktober coaxes us out of our chairs, off our sofas, and away from our troubles for a walk (bike ride, road trip, etc.) outdoors to take in Nature’s autumnal glory and share it with the world.

Let’s get to it!

After several false starts, I decided to hike some of the nine miles of nature trails surrounding Lake Charleston, a 440-acre reservoir several miles away from me, in hopes I might find some Fall color.

And I did!

I saw lots of tall trees:

And prairie grasses:

And some unexpected little flowers:

An evergreen, stubbornly hanging onto its green color:

Maple leaves:

Oak leaves:

And, of course, the lake:

Along with some kind of water birds:

And a hawk circling above:

And look! I think this one’s a pelican:

Well, I hope you enjoyed our walk. We had a lovely day for it — brisk, but sunny. If you haven’t done Walktober before, why not plan on joining us next year?

I’ll leave (do you see what I did there?!?) you with one more photo of the lake:

 

36 thoughts on “Walktober 2024”

  1. Debbie, I am so envious of all the glorious and colorful foliage you captured in your area! So far, in Philly, we haven’t had much of a color change. However, last week, I took the train out to the burbs and got so excited to finally see some. I think we need a nice cold snap in the city to get the color moving. Unfortunately, it’s been rather warm here.

    You photographs are stunning! I especially love the ones of the lake. The final one of the reflection in the lake is WOW!

    “I’ll leave (do you see what I did there?!?)” LOL! Yes, I did!

    Thanks so much for sharing your Walktober, my friend. Very much enjoyed. Have a fabulous week! Can you believe that it’s nearly November!?!

    X

    • Ron, I’m so happy you enjoyed our walk! Yes, definitely, a cold snap will encourage those leaves to change color. That, and the lower slant of the sun’s angle.

      Isn’t that a beautiful lake? I’d been to the spillway part many moons ago when I was in journalism, but I hadn’t been back since. It’s nice that they installed a trail around the lake — with benches!

      Enjoy your work week! xx

    • Laurie, I think it was supposed to be peak (or certainly near-peak) because the colors were spectacular. And they really showed up well against that blue sky. I don’t think I could have chosen a prettier day for this walk. The pelican? Yeah, I was surprised to find him. I didn’t realize Illinois had pelicans — I rather thought they were a Southern bird.

  3. That quote at the beginning is SO true! And my goodness, look at the color you have down there, absolutely stunning! And the flying birds, when I made that image bigger I thought they were pelicans, but then I thought, no they don’t have pelicans in IL, and then you showed a picture of one. So maybe those flying were pelicans too! We have them in Michigan during parts of the summer, and they’d be migrating now, so it’s entirely possible. My favorite image though is your first one, that path is so inviting! Very nice Walktober!

    • Dawn, you’re going to have to read my next post. It’s not a part two, but more of a part one, to this one. You’ll see what I mean when I post it.

      I didn’t realize we had pelicans either. In fact, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him! I sent the picture (blown up a bit) to Domer, who confirmed that’s what it was (not that he’s a birder, but he Googled it, too, and that’s what we both decided).

      Thank you for hosting Walktober. Did we ever decide to do a Spring walk as well? I know we were talking about it some time ago. Just a thought….

  4. Oh, Debbie…. these are outstanding photos!! You know I’m a walker and enjoy seeing all the beauty around me. Your fall foliage is gorgeous! I think you need to walk and share more often!

    • Kelly, I’m a walker, too. Monk and I generally do a 2-3 mile jaunt every single day (unless it’s inclement, when I hop on a treadmill while he gets to snooze!) I just love having four distinct seasons here. That’s what I missed when I lived down south. Still, when all that snow and ice start flying, I miss being on a beach!

  10. Wow! Your fall colors are amazing! Did Monkey go with you on your hike? The first picture with the path leading into the woods looked so inviting. Of all the fall colors I think burnt orange is my favorite — thanks for sharing so much of it with us to enjoy! You’re lucky to have such a beautiful place to walk so close by.

    • I didn’t take the Monk on this walk — he pouted at home by himself! I didn’t think I could do it justice having him stopping to investigate and potty everywhere. No, maybe he can go some other time, though I’m not entirely sure trail-hiking on gravel is something he’d be comfortable with.

  11. My gosh. This is a beautiful place; I’m sure it’s delightful in every season, but those autumn colors are glorious. Having a lake so close is special, too. Our bayous, rivers, and bays are muddy for natural reasons, but the clarity of that water is appealing. Thanks so much for choosing this for your walk. I’d say it was a perfect choice — the evidence for that is that I ended up wanting to be there, and envying you just a bit!

    • Thanks for accompanying me virtually, Linda! I’m sure you recall from your youth how pretty the Midwest can be. We have our problems, just like every other part of the world, but there’s so much beauty to appreciate, too. I’m happy you can appreciate it from afar. One of these days, we should get together — you show me those bayous, and I’ll show you our corn and bean fields, ha!

    • We’ve been awfully dry, too, but that’s supposed to change over the weekend, so they say. It’s been great for the farmers harvesting crops, but not so good having fire alerts. Ann, I’m glad you, too, are starting to see some pretty Fall color!

  14. Hi Debbie! The very first picture is so inviting to a great introduction of your post. It reminds me of my favorite painting of light, Thomas Kinkade, A Walk Down Autumn. So many colorful lovely trees.

    When I saw the first photo of the bird I had to enlarge to identify it. Notice its black wing tips. This is an American White Pelican that are migrants. They winter here along the gulf coast much like the human snowbirds.

    I’m sure Monkey was quite envious when he smelled your shoes! Are his itches getting better?

    And yes I did notice your play on words which was quite clever! 🍂🍂🍂

    • TD, thanks for confirming that my big bird really is a pelican! I thought so, too, but I was stunned to learn we have them here. I thought they were mostly southern birds.

      Oh, and thanks for asking about Monk’s itchies. He’s in fact much better!! His vet said he had a skin infection and prescribed antibiotics for him. Since he can’t (or won’t!) swallow pills, we had to give him an expensive vaccination that does the same thing. She also gave him an injection called Cytopoint for his allergies. Thankfully, he didn’t have a bad reaction to either shot! And, fingers crossed, his hair is starting to grow back, too — woo hoo!

      Give Yorkie a big hug from us!

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