Monday, November 23, 2009

LETS GO FOR A WALK (part 2)

For those who like to drive to their local health club or gym for their "physical fits," (or fitness), this will probably be of little interest. While I do, from time to time, stop to take pictures of my world, by time Sadie and I get home from our walk, both my heart rate and respiration rate are up. Is that an aerobic work out? You tell me. I simply draw my inspiration in this matter from Exmoore Jane. You can take it up with her.

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Once we're past the turret house (described in the first part of this adventure tale), it's a simple walk along the trail until we reach the water treatment plant. At that point the trail is closed, and has been for about four years, while there have been renovations to the plant.



Here's the Water Treatment Plant. Buried deep within this complex is the city's old "Filtration Plant." It is made from the same Tyndall stone of which many of our city's major old buildings were constructed. Sadly, many of them have been torn down. The remaining examples are buildings on our university campus.


At the Water treatment plant, we turn left and head west.

Across the street from the water treatment plant is the water department's maintenance building. It used to be a simple garage for housing water department vehicles. Many homes, some dating from the early part of the last century, were expropriated for this maintenance building. As you can see, much of the expropriate land is vacant, or filled with piles of dirt and rubble, Very sad!


As we continue along our walk, we pass by older houses with beautiful gardens and trees.


At the end of this block, we turn left again, and go two block south, until we reach home.


§ * § * §

The one other piece in this story was a question from "Chesrhire Wife," and a very reasonable question: "Do you walk the same route all the time or do you vary it?"


The answer is "usually." Sometimes, for the sake of variety, I take a slightly different route. When there is road construction, I avoid it.

And in the evenings, I stay away from the San Site. There are no lights there, and the path is within 100 yards/metres of dense bush. Teenagers like to party there. But they're not really the problem. The bush is home to skunks (the primary carriers of rabies). And Porcupines (the North American equivalent of hedgehogs or echidnas). And racoons. And deer. And cougars (also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther, depending on the region).


During the last few years, there have been several Cougar sitings well within the city limits. In fact, last year, a cougar was shot (dead) within two block of our grandchildrens' home. Just a bit unnerving, considering that a small child, or dog, would stand no chance if attacked by a mature cougar -- and an adult's chances would be not much better. So Sadie and I tend to be fairly circumspect in terms of where we go in the evnings.


10 comments:

The Blog Fodder said...

You never mention the other dog anymore. Why?

Natalie said...

Cool bear house, Bear. Cougars eh? That is certainly very unnerving...wouldn't catch me out there!

Thanks for the lovely words, I have featured them on my blog.

arosebyanyothername said...

Love the house, Bear. Roughly what is the length of your walk and do you do this three times a day?

Gutsy Living said...

Thanks for giving us a tour of your walk. I love the old bending trees photo. As far as driving to my gym, yes, I do. But I also walk the dog, twice a day, probably not as far as you do though.

Rosaria Williams said...

Great workout, indeed. I change my walks based on wind situation. Walking is a great walkout.

Withy Brook said...

Sometimes you walk to the river to see the geese? Yes, what happened to the other dog? Sorry to ask.

Rob-bear said...

® BF: Nuala is still around, and Momma Bear is busy looking after her. But when the two pups get together, they "play" pretty rough and get dirty sometimes. This does not amuse Momma, so the puppies don't get to play together.

® Natalie: The chances of actually seeing a cougar here are roughly the same as seeing a boomer on the loose in beautiful downtown Newcastle. It's just that the consequences of the encounter might be different, boomer vs. cougar.

® Rose: We walk about 2 kilometres at a time (unless I'm having problems walking), three times a day. Sidewalks in front of houses are straight and fairly level. But in the San Site and along the river, there are twists and tuns, ups and downs. My goal is to get up to 10 kilometres a day, but I don't expect that to happen any time soon.

® GW: I have to confess I never understood the virtue of a gym. But if it works for you, great. I stated at one kilometre a couple of times a day when Sadie was little. Now, we routinely cover 6 ks. spread over three walks. (Sometimes we go for a fourth walk late in the evening.)

® Lakeviewer: Glad you enjoy your walking. It is a good workout. Most of the ground we travel is at least partly sheltered, so we're pretty much good to go. Except when the temperature gets down to -40°, At that temperature, even your words freeze when you speak.

Tattieweasle said...

Cougars! The most my poor dogs have to put up with are deer, foxes and rabbits! Wouldn't want to mee a Cougar on a dark night. Take care.

Rob-bear said...

® Withy: As I mentioned to the Blog Fodder, Nuala is doing fine. The geese are just there, and we see them in passing as we follow our accustomed route. Same stuff; different day.

® Tattie: Now you know why we are careful about where we go. Still, a cougar within two blocks of our grandchildrens' place is worrisome. But this was the cougars' territory long before it was ours, so we are the intruders. We need to work out some "accommodations." Often we don't do that very well.

cheshire wife said...

Thank you for answering my question and I have also learnt that a porcupine is a hedgehog which I was not aware of.