February 26, 2022 Our Hike in the 100 Acre Wood (Locally known as Sweet Woods)

Over the past two years, I have spent more time with my dogs than I have with anyone else. Today's hike was something special. Maybe it was the warmth of the sun, maybe it was how good Yeti was with other people and their dogs or maybe it just felt good to be walking in the woods that I have visited hundreds of times over the years. When we are hiking, I talk to my dogs as if I expect them to understand and reply to me. Our hike this morning was at Sweet Woods, a Cook County Forest Preserve in Glenwood. I kept calling this "our hike in the Hundred Acre Wood".  So everything written below this is a Winnie the Pooh quote. On the legal side, it is an Alan Alexander Milne quote.

"Life is a journey to be experienced, not a problem to be solved."

"Some people talk to animals. Not many listen, though. That’s the problem."

“I’m not lost for I know where I am. However, where I am may be lost."

"Love Is Taking a couple of steps backward, possibly, even more, to contribute to the joy of the person who you love."

"People today say that nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day."

“I used to believe in forever, but forever’s too good to be true.”

"A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside."

"Can you ever stop to think, and forget to begin again?"

" You can not stay on your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes."

” A bear, however hard he tries, Grows tubby without exercise."

” Think it over, think it under.”

“River understands this; there isn’t any rush. We will get there someday."

The most essential issue is, even if we are apart… I will always be with you.

"I believe we dream, therefore we do not need to be apart for so long. If we are in each other’s dreams, we can be together constantly."

Promise me you will never forget me because if I thought you would, I would never leave.”

"Some people today care too much. I believe that it’s called love."

"If you live to be 100, I wish to live to be 100 minus a day, so I don’t have to live without you."

"How do you spell”love”?- Piglet  ”You don’t spell it…you feel it." - Pooh

"Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

 

January 21, 2022 Our Sunny Winter Day Hike on Kemil Beach and Trail 10 at The Indiana Dunes State Park

Yeti leading the way from the Kemil Beach parking lot to Kemil Beach.

The shelf ice is pretty thick along the shoreline.

There is a brisk wind but the sunshine and blue sky make this a beautiful day for a hike.

We walked along this little ravine in the frozen sand. There is always something new to see on these hikes.

Nola & Yeti prefer to hike between the sand cliff and the shelf ice.

Once again, so many interesting landscape views on the beach in winter.

I love how this mushroom-shaped ice must have formed as the water receded and narrowed the base.

The contrasts can be found all over the beach. Here we have sand, snow, ice and rocks.

The sand-covered ice collapsed along the shore...

...making for interesting pictures along the beach.

We are going to have to climb up that sand-covered ice to get onto the beach...

...or we could walk back to where it would be easier.

Yeti decided we should walk out onto the ice.

We finally decided to climb up the sand dune on Trail 10 in the Indiana Dunes State Park

It was late in the day, so we had good sunlight for a walk in the woods...

...and for taking pictures.

The dogs were really good on this hike. We also had the entire hike to ourselves. I never saw another human until we got back to the parking lot.

I did see a lot of trees just waiting for spring.

I also saw two dog asses the entire hike because I am never the lead dog.

Out of the woods and onto the marram grass-covered sand dunes near the parking lot.

This was a fun hike on a nice day in late January.

January 19, 2022 The Dogs Go To Dunbar Beach Without Me

 

This was one of the rare times I didn't feel like going outside. I was content to relax in my warm house and get some work done at the house. Then Yeti & Nola started to give me that "let's go somewhere" look. After a couple of hours of relentless nudges and stares, they wore me down. So I gave them the car keys and said drive yourselves to the beach. I'm told Yeti drove and Nola took most of the pictures. Amazingly my car made it back in the same condition it left in. 

Nola made Yeti pose on the staircase down to Dunbar  Beach.

Once they were on the beach, they looked east...

...then looked north.

Yeti ignored the warnings about walking on the shelf ice and Nola told him "I'm not saving your dumb ass if you fall into the lake.

Nola loved the contrast between the white ice, brown sand, and dark sky. 

She really seems to love the scenic views along the shoreline.

They walked east toward Lake View Beach past the new steel wall put in to protect the 1933 Chicago World's Fair Century of Progress homes.

I asked Nola why Yeti isn't in any of the pictures?

She said he wasn't as interesting as the dark clouds over the lake.

As they walked East, they passed what is left of the sand dunes along Lake Front Drive in Beverly Shores.

Nola's fascination with ice on the shore and the sky over the lake continues.

She wouldn't let Yeti pee on this sand-covered ice until after she took this picture.

Yeti was getting tired of all the dark cloud pictures...

...and took a picture of Nola on the ice.

Then he posed for this photo that he plans on using for his Doggie Tinder app.

I told Nola I love this picture because it looks like an ice trail along the beach.

The drainage ditch is still flowing into the lake. Nola had to tell Yeti several times not to drink that water.

But Nola still fixated on the wonderful contrast of the sky over the lake and the beach.

They finally got tired and headed back to the car.

But Nola kept finding interesting photo opportunities along the way.

When I asked how she took this selfie...she just said TailCam and timer.

Nola took this one for Christy because she loves black sand beaches.

When I asked about this one. Nola said listen Fat Boy, I'm not telling you all my photography tricks.

Nola took these photos...

...while Yeti warmed up the car for her.