Trying to consistently exercise way out here in the boonies is a bit of a challenge. While I am not afraid of dogs, I find the packs of loose running growling dogs that approach me here to be disconcerting (I don’t think they have leash laws out here in the Bayou). As the weather continues to warm, alligators and snakes are beginning to join me on the road. Most snakes are happy to retreat at the sound of footsteps, but the water moccasins that abandon the roadside sloughs to lie on the pavement sunbathing do not give ground when approached. Combine these reptiles with the clouds of mosquitoes in a light breeze and I think I need to learn to run, not walk!
As I march into a 20 knot headwind I realize that there may be one upside to walking here. I imagine that with this resistance, I am getting twice the workout I usually get on a wind free walk. So determined to stay in shape, I try to walk somewhere each day even if I have to walk circles in the fish pier parking lot down the street from our camp. When I leave the house today hoping for an uneventful stroll near the RV, I am faced with deteriorating weather:
I flee back inside, stick the GoPro on the side of the Jeep and record the passing storm in time lapse for your enjoyment (bump up the quality and watch full screen for best experience):
Here are animals that I was lucky and unlucky enough to see while walking at the refuge yesterday:
OMG!!?? How much longer are you staying??!
Hahaha – not too much longer. Kind of a love/hate place. Naturally beautiful, but a little too harsh an environment for a southern girl like me. Sure have learned a lot though. Yesterday spent all day working in a lab with a bug expert and 4th grade kids looking through microscopes at water bugs. Saw a male water beetle with eggs on his back and I can now identify a damselfly when I see one – who would of thought? 🙂