Not long after we enjoyed watching this handsome Red-winged Blackbird at the Wetlands, Mike convinced me to follow him onto a rough offshoot of the easy loop trail. No stranger to hiking, I know unprepared when I see it; and I saw it on my feet in the form of my cute blue slip-ons. Reluctantly, I followed; and before I knew it, the beautiful sights and sounds of spring in the woods drew us further along — with me only occasionally complaining about the stupidity of the idea considering my cute shoes, lack of tick repellent, and experience as a former hike leader and environmental educator.
We managed to cross a creek miraculously unscathed by stepping on a well-positioned log; but climbing the muddy hill on the other side? Not pretty. With knees trembling from several slips and cute blue shoes now caked with thick brown mud, I passed my new Nikon D850 behind to Mike as I groped for the aid of an exposed tree root. He pushed me up as I pulled on the root, and all seemed promising until I heard the scuffle.
Looking back, I found Mike, my camera, and our Zeiss binoculars planted in the mud. Admittedly, my occasional complaining escalated to near constant as we made our way back to the Blackbird; but before long, we laughed. We even laughed when we got home and brushed dried mud out of all the Nikon's crevices — oh, and the Zeiss’ crevices, too. Thankfully, both still perform perfectly, Mike was only mildly sore, all the mud washed out of our clothes, and neither of us got a tick; however, my cute blue slip-ons will never be the same.
I praise you, Lord, for the ability to laugh at our own stupidity. :)
Much better to lose a pair of cute blue slip-ons than a camera or pair of binoculars! Fun story and so good you were able to laugh about it! I love the song of these birds. Great shot!
You got a beautiful image despite all the mud. Nature's beauty is so alluring, it's easy to be lured into an adventure not properly prepared. But how can we resist God's creation!
