nature &whatnot || Chisholm Trail

Josh and I went for a walk the other day. According to Kevin Hart, you have to be pretty fucking happy to just go out for a walk. What can I say, it was a nice day! Right away we saw a bunch of squirrels. Bouncing away when I approached. This little guy let me get pretty darn close! Eventually this one, too, fled, only to peek out at us from behind a tree! So cute~ Near one of the little bridges spanning Spring Creek was a tree that looked like it's been falling downhill very slowly over a number of years, hahah. It seems to have a pretty decent grip on another tree near it, so perhaps it's done falling, after all. It also has a pretty good grip on the ground, actually! hahah Down by the creek. He doesn't normally look this grumpy (; It's a pretty little creek... aside from all the trash. Maybe next time I'll bring a bag and a trash-poker (or whatever those are called, hahah). I nearly missed this little guy; Josh pointed it out to me. It looks like the back half of something, but beyond that I have no idea! I have never attempted to identify mummified animal carcasses before, to be quite honest. Josh finally dragged me away, and we continued on our walk. Josh and I agreed that these steps looked a little down. This stump was so big! All the other stumps around were painted bright pink, presumably for the city workers who mow the grass, but this one wasn't, because really, how could you miss it?? I wish I could have seen it when it was still a tree. There were mushrooms growing at the base! I seriously know basically nothing about mushrooms. I'm seriously not even going to attempt to identify it, because I have no clue! I would have collected one or two to take home for examination but I didn't have anything to carry them in. Maybe next time I'll be more prepared! You guys, this is someone's backyard. For reals. I am sooooooo jealous. I hope they didn't mind me taking pictures of the back of their house! hahah This was across from the yard. Looks like someone's been sliding down it! I wanted to try but Josh was like "no." and also I had nothing to slide on except my legging-clad butt, which would have hurt. This is the underside of one of the major streets the trail passes under. I have a secret to confess! A few days later, I went back with gloves and a jar and retrieved those mysterious back limbs near the leaning tree. They've been macerating for a while, and I am excited/nervous to attempt to reassemble/identify the critter! For all I know identification will be impossible with how much of the little guy was missing- plus, this is my first time trying anything like this, so I could easily fuck it up... Wish me luck!
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