Early morning hiking...

Last evening on my "exercise" walk, I had an especially creative thought about revisiting a goal I had pondered setting about a year ago, which was to select a hike from a handy little guide to hiking trails around Houston, and complete it on some sort of regular basis. Something in my adventuresome spirit liked that idea, and it came flying back to me as I trudged along on the concrete sidewalk.

When I got home, I looked up the Edith Moore Sanctuary, which is an Audubon Society "project," tucked away along a creek in West Houston, surrounded by neighborhoods of somewhat pricey homes. This morning when I arrived, there were a couple of other cars around, but otherwise it was quiet except for the birds and cicadas, and squirrels chasing each other in the dried leaf cover. On sight is a log cabin, complete with a huge porch all the way around. I stopped by the pond across from the cabin to see all the tiny fish and tadpoles busy doing their early morning thing, and then started towards the main bridge that crosses the gully and creek.

It had been years since my last visit, and things were definitely different. More planting, more foliage, and a beautiful clean up and banking of the creek. Almost every bend introduced another board walk to make the paths more accessible. A large slider turtle sat on the side of the path, looking up at me as if to say, "And?", and the birds and cicadas took turns trying to drown out the sounds of the traffic on Memorial Dr., and fairly successfully, if one chose to listen selectively. By the time I had made it all the way around the outer loop, the unseasonable heat was starting to get to me, but I had finished what I came for. A mini-escape into the woods to break the monotony of the work week.

It may not be the Tetons or the Sierras, but it will do!