Walking Salina

A small grove of cottonwood trees. It's the state tree of Kansas
and one of my favorites. You hear them when the wind blows
and it generally does in Kansas. Sleeping under a cottonwood
tree is one of life's great pleasures.

Just up the street from my mother's house is the former
Lowell Elementary school that my sisters and I attended
through sixth grade. The geometric diagram on the side is
a proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. The school was closed
and it now houses some christian academy. Based on the name,
I'm sure it is an institution of ignorance rather than learning.

We've been very busy with the garden projects, but there were just a few things left to plant on Friday, so I took off on a hike Friday morning while my mother had an appointment. She met me at Lowe's after I had covered 8.5 miles and then we made targeted strikes on a couple more garden centers on the way home.

They have developed a trail system encircling the city of Salina using pathways on the levees around town. I just covered one small portion of it, but it felt good to get out and move my legs again after a few days away from walking.

The planting is done, for now, but there are still a few projects to be done, both inside and outside. There have been thunderstorms around every day, and most days it has rained at one time or another, but nothing that has kept us from the steady completion of our goals. The Saturday forecast is the best chance of the worst storms, but there are a few things we can and need to do indoors anyway.

A panorama photo of the trail along the levee.

I spotted this sign near a fenced and
wooded area on the river side of the
levee. It's a nature area with over a mile
of trail running through it along the
river and in the flood plain. I did walk
and enjoyed it very much.

Honeysuckle

A view of the Smoky Hill River.

Gnarled trunks and branches of Burr Oak trees

Green grass on the levee, even greener wheat field down
below, under a gray sky.

Green and growing wheat. 

Parallax view of the levee trail.
Most routes in Kansas run straight,
either east and west or north and south.
The levee follows the meandering river
but this section is as straight as a Kansas
highway.

Goat's beard, or western salsify

Container garden on the east side of the house.

The gardener's version of a beer drinker's
collection of empties.

The brick walk way containers.

Another view

More

Jake on the second of his new rugs. He didn't
go on my walk. I don't think his short little
legs would have kept up for 8.5 miles, but they
get him and my mother around the block twice
a day on most days, which is good for them both.

We went out for a beer to celebrate completion
of the planting.