We were lucky enough to live opposite some bushland, big enough where you can do a 30 minute loop and enjoy a mostly native tree/scrub area. There are obvious trails that are no problem for a pram, but still give plenty of bumps for the young one to practice her vocals.
Through the right combination of events - since coincidence has such amazing potential, I decided to walk down a dead end trail I rarely walk through and enjoyed it so much I had to share.
We recently had some short but hard rain - a nearby corridor of suburbia experienced some freakish hail. This made the ground a little firmer, and soon after some maintenance vehicles travelled this particular trail. That left it ripe to preserve footprints in such a way that I'm sure left a tale that I'm far from being able to fully interpret.
It made me think back to our ancestors and their reliance on the ability to interpret such information in a way to live longer. To know how long since predators passed by, and how long ago; follow prey in the right direction; recognise footsteps from strangers.
All I could do was recognise big dogs, small dogs, kangaroos - though it's been a while since I've seen them. I saw smaller prints that could be rabbits, cats, or both. A few bike tracks, human shoe prints over the tyre tracks - all in a variety of orders.
The dog tracks were erratic, kangaroos had an obvious direction - and where very far apart! I also considered what I couldn't see - any snake trails. I know plenty of other reptiles live in there, there's no reason to think I couldn't find any dugites or maybe even tiger snakes if I know where to look.
Earlier today as I left work the first thing I saw in the sky was a contrail that split the sky. The tropospheric winds must have been relatively still because the start of the trail was still quite defined. I enjoyed a little giggle at the chemtrail conspiracy theorists that think it must be poisoning day - they don't happen very often in Perth thanks to local conditions.
As I arrived home the perspective had changed, and by the time I was on my walk the vapour dissipated into such an amazing pattern, covering the setting sun.
I thought it best to try describe the nature I enjoyed this afternoon rather than post a few cool pictures. Partially because I thought my writing skills might benefit, and more profoundly - I think contemporary society needs to remember to take time out from technology and let the brain do it's work behind the scenes. Process the information of the day, enjoy the current surroundings, think about the most bizarre succession of thoughts that take you some place far from the present - or one of the favourite things I heard a former martial arts teacher say: find your thoughts, then lose them.
If you enjoy occasional ramblings like this that might provoke a few related thoughts in your own noggin, you might also enjoy Steven Feuerstein's personal blog -> feuerthoughts.blogspot.com, though he seems to have another major project on the go since I drafted this post.
You can also try using the Thursday Thought, Science and/or the Friday Fun labels on my blog.
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