Because of an injury I got about 20 years ago when I fell off my bike, I can’t do a lot of walking. I get spasms in my back if I walk further than a block… and even less, sometimes.
I started to at the end of the winter but have been sidetracked, working to make up the hours I took off to leave early and come back late from London (Ontario) in order to see my friend Carol before she died.
I have to start up again.
When I walk, I spend a lot of time looking down. People have said that I need to “look up and see the world”. Hell, NO! Looking down helps me find money and odds and ends to use in my sculptures and artwork. Looking down allows me to see flowers and fauna I would have missed otherwise.
I decided to put in a few photos of things I have found while walking… and looking down.
"Three Little Angels"
The little angels were found one by one in different locations, each one shortly after each of my miscarriages. The first, I found while walking along a street in New York City. I had just been looking at one in a store but decided they were too expensive. Later that day, I found one on the street. Like the others that were to follow, they had been trodden on and mangled and, in a way, that seemed appropriate.
Serendipity….
"Blood Root"
Almost hidden in the leaf litter on a late Spring day.
Found the same day….
Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)
and…
Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
Of course, in times gone by, walking was the only way of getting around, on land at least. Located on the edge of Pinecrest Cemetery, in Nepean (where my father is buried), are the last remnants of an Indian trail which led from a long-used stopping point down the Ottawa River, on Britannia Bay (Lake Deschaines), to Black Rapids. There is a cairn to mark one end of it but you can easily see the trail up from what is now a busy city road, through the stand of trees and up the rise into what is now the cemetery. The few people who might wander up the well-worn trail, don’t even know that they are following a trail perhaps 200 or more years old.
"Indian Trail between Lake Deschaines and Black Rapids"
Part of the trail
Looking down one end of the trail to Baseline Road
Mudpuddle 
Bella said,
May 4, 2009 at 8:47 am
Oh my! The circumstances in which you found your angels is very moving. Absolutely wonderful…
xxx
Rambling Woods said,
May 3, 2009 at 9:33 pm
I’m sorry that you have difficulty with walking…I do too and I miss the ability to just be able to take a long walk…But I love the idea that you have found so many interesting things that you showed in this post and the post above..
Marites said,
May 3, 2009 at 8:21 am
Imagine that, a friend did say that she’d rather look down when walking because she sees a lot of things other people don’t see. You have found quite lovely finds. I’d like to try that trail for a walk:) quite a historical one.
My PH is up too.
Aileni said,
May 2, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Rather more than just a theme post. It is many years since I walked for pleasure – cycled, yes; and on the island it was usually walking to find cows or goats on very bad ground. I wore steel toecap wellies for twelve years and that had done my feet in.
Thanks for looking by.
azahar said,
May 2, 2009 at 11:11 am
Nice.
Love those Blood Root flowers. Have never seen those before.
srp said,
May 2, 2009 at 11:08 am
The picture of that trail with the tall tree trunks on either side is stunning… as are the flowers. I would love to walk in the preserve woods behind our house but it is swampy and I don’t have wader boots… give me a trail like yours… sigh. Thanks for stopping by.
mudhooks said,
May 2, 2009 at 11:49 am
The ones of the Indian Trail are deceiving. The trail once ran for something like 12 miles but has long been lost when the land was cleared for farming before the mid – late 1800s. Now, housing developments and suburbs have completely obliterated the trail.
The last vestiges are a few hundred feet long as they come up the rise along the edge of the cemetery. There is one long-ish section and two smaller paths that come up from the east side of the cemetery edge to meet the one that comes up the west side of the edge. Then there is a steep section coming straight up from where you see the bus shelter.
I would never have known about it unless I read an old local history book I found at a jumble sale. Sadly, I seem to have lost to book.
The beach on the edge of Lac Deshaines was a staging area for the long annual migrations up and down the Ottawa River. The trail would have led south east towards the Rideau River, bypassing the rapids and falls that the Rideau Canal mow bypasses.
To the East of Ottawa, on the Quebec side of the river are a number of “carrying places” where the Natives and later Samuel de Champlain then the Voyageurs had to portage around the many rapids and falls in the middle of the Ottawa River, as well as the Gatineau River.
Anyone who wanted to travel up to Hudson’s Bay, South to the St, Lawrence, North into Northern Quebec, East to Quebec and the Maritimes, or West to Georgian Bay would have travelled along one of the three main water routes – The Ottawa River, The Rideau, or the Gatineau.
Anna said,
May 2, 2009 at 10:37 am
I’m sorry to hear about your accident, but you seem to handle it the right way 🙂
You take gorgeous pictures and find beutiful things!
Mine is up too!
Have a great weekend 🙂
Anna
mudhooks said,
May 2, 2009 at 10:47 am
Thank you!
kissedalotatoads said,
May 2, 2009 at 9:13 am
Interesting finds! Love walking!
RJ Flamingo said,
May 2, 2009 at 7:55 am
Neat post today! Oddly enough, this isn’t much of a “walking town”, and I’ve gotten lazy about it, but I like your advice about looking down – you just never know what you’ll spot, do you? 🙂
mudhooks said,
May 2, 2009 at 8:45 am
Malls are a great place to walk if your intention is just to walk, rather than getting from point A to Point B. Most malls have walking clubs, if you feel inclined and they often meet before the mall is open to the public. Plus, they are climate controlled.
I picked a mall that has an uncomplicated three tiered oval shape and picked a time on weekdays when it wasn’t too crowded. Twice around each level at a brisk pace, including stairs is a half hour walk in the mall I chose.
Mrs. Mecomber said,
May 2, 2009 at 7:26 am
Pretty photos! I love the last one.
Mine is up. I hope you have time to check it out.
http://newyorktraveler.net/
Happy weekend!
JC said,
May 2, 2009 at 6:05 am
I’ve been thinking all morning how walking is such a taken for granted activity we mostly overlook. I am counting blessings.
Your three little angels are inspiring and thought provoking (I am sorry for your loss).
Lynn said,
May 2, 2009 at 3:40 am
Your pictures are very interesting as well as the post that goes with them.
Cindy O said,
May 2, 2009 at 3:28 am
Aloha from Maui, Hawaii…
Interesting post for this week’s PH theme. Nicely done:)
Mines is up..http://upcountrysmiles.com. Stop by & visit:)
Thank you,
Cindy O
magiceye said,
May 2, 2009 at 2:33 am
such an interesting post!
Tara R. said,
May 2, 2009 at 2:29 am
I love that you found your angels out on your walks. The flowers are lovely.
jams O'Donnell said,
May 2, 2009 at 2:21 am
I am so glad you looked down instead of up – otherwise we woul not ahve gotten to see such beautiful plants! Happy weekend
YTSL said,
May 2, 2009 at 2:07 am
Sorry to hear that you can’t walk much. Ironically, hiking is what my physical therapist said would be good for *my* bad back.
In any case, for someone who doesn’t walk much, you seem to have found a lot of wonderful things to look at and keep while doing so!
julie said,
May 2, 2009 at 1:59 am
Awww, those are lovely finds. i think I have photo similar to the small white flower called blood root.
be well!