Hi, everyone!
The weather last week and through Labor Day was very hot — the hottest days of the summer. Then on Wednesday we finally got some rain and now it feels like fall. On Tuesday, Grandma and I went to another park. Tinker Nature Center is in Henrietta, where Moose-san and Tilly live. We went at lunchtime and there was nobody else there! We didn’t know which path to take first, so we chose the Boardwalk Trail. That goes around the pond and through some wetlands. I like boardwalks! Some of the trees were starting to turn color and the cattails and marsh grasses were so tall we couldn’t see over them! When we got to the end of the Boardwalk Trail, we were in a meadow with milkweed and thistles!
The next trail we took was the Nature Trail. That was a good choice because it was shaded and cooler. There are signs and boxes all along the path that tell about the animals in the park. I got to feel opossum fur and look at a deer antler. I was careful to stay on the path, mostly! When we finished the loop of the Nature Trail, we went into the Hanson Center and looked at the animal displays there. I made friends with a red fox!
Grandma and I had heard about the fairy houses somewhere in the park, but so far we hadn’t found any! We found a tree stump with a friendly face cut into it, and I looked in a hollow log. Then Grandma got a flyer at the Hanson Center that said to look for them near the playground. That was the only path we hadn’t been on yet! When we walked in that direction, we started seeing them! The first one was easy to find because it was facing the path! After that, we looked for places where the leaves next to the path had been disturbed by other walkers and followed those tracks. That’s when I didn’t stay on the path! Grandma knows what poison ivy looks like and made sure I didn’t get into any! It was fun to find the fairy houses!
Since we were near the playground anyway, I tried out the climber and the slide. There was purple color on this climber, too!
On Thursday, it was cooler! Grandma and I went to Thousand Acre Swamp in Penfield at lunch time. We were the only ones there, too! Thousand Acre swamp has paths through wetlands and meadows and forests. The path farthest from the entrance goes to a pond. We started on Founders Way and then took the Boardwalk Loop through the swampiest part of the park. There were lots of boardwalks, even in the forest! Some of the leaves are starting to turn color here, too! I made friends with some berries and cattails and a log that had lots of different shades of brown and gray.
We walked the Hermit Trail through the woods, then took the Way Pond Trail. There were lots of little frogs jumping around in the meadow along that trail! Way Pond is very pretty, and I made a green heron friend there!
On the way back, we took the Trillium Trail. This isn’t the time of year to see trillium flowers or plants, so I don’t know whether they bloom along this trail. I did see yellow boxes painted on the trees. I thought they might be the start of fairy houses, but Grandma told me they are trail blazes — a way to identify a path without putting up signs. There were places on Trillium Trail where the plants were pretty much covering the boardwalk! I found a tree with a hole through the trunk that I thought could be a nice Lion-san house if I made a door like the ones at Tinker Nature Center! When we got back to the park entrance, we saw signs about a garden to help out migrating butterflies by planting their favorite plants. There was a Monarch butterfly resting near the garden, so I think it’s working!
I’ve had another tree adventure recently! A big branch broke off the oak tree in Grandma and Grandpa’s back yard and landed on the power lines! After the power company cut it off the lines, Grandpa still had to take care of the rest of the branch. It was a BIG branch to cut up! I was a good helper! We got all the pieces stacked up out of the way. Now Grandma and Grandpa are looking for somebody who wants the wood!
Guess what? Grandma’s Peace rose just bloomed, and this year the deer didn’t eat the flower bud! Grandma says that’s the first and last rose of summer!
Love,
Lion-san
Tinker Park is a nice place. We have cross-country skied there in the winter but have never been there in the summer. We have never been there to see the fairy houses either. Since they know we live in Henrietta Moose-san and Tilly will look for some in our back yard.