Leaving Footprints

Among those who walk, the day after Thanksgiving is typically reserved for a "Turkey Trot." Ideally, this should be a brisk walk in cold weather to help the body burn off all the fat grams consumed the preceding day. In our case this year, it was a slow meander on a warm November afternoon.

I'm also ashamed to say that the walk was followed by a pint of beer and some Mexican food. So much for the good intentions.

As we did two years ago, we met our friend Dick Bolton and about a dozen others up at Deerfield Nature Park in Isabella County. This scenic park is laced with twisty trails, some of which follow or catch glimpses of the Chippewa River.

I don't think Julie and I were the only one's feeling a little lazy after the previous day's holiday feast, as most of the hiking boots in our group shuffled and plodded rather slowly down the trail.

With such a big crowd and the leaves all off the trees, there wasn't much for wildlife watching. Instead, we enjoyed some low-impact exercise in the company of good friends.

At the end of the hike, we came upon two curiosities. First was the bridge pictured here. It is a wire suspension bridge, so it bounces actively with every footstep and sways a bit in the breeze. Abbey had a great deal of fun trip-tropping across this bridge again and again.

The second curiosity is the burnished steel sculpture of a hiker that implores visitors to take only memories and leave only footprints. It was nice to see this ethic promoted in a fun, non-preachy way in a rather urbane park that introduces a fairly large number of people each year to the natural mid-Michigan landscape.

We followed the advice of the burnished hiker and took home some memories of good friends, warm November skies, and a lazy walk in the woods.