Saturday, September 25, 2010

Walk With Me

So, I will just confess right off that the eating this week was the big giant SUCK. Between HEALTH stress, MONEY stress, JOB stress... EDITING HELL... The eating right just didn't happen. But I thought maybe I'd share with you a piece of what I did RIGHT.


Take my Saturday walk with me...

First, we step out the door and see that in Michigan, Fall has begun... pretty, yes? I like the stuff that goes so extremely—where the green and red cohabitate...

THIS is the largest Bur Oak in North America, or that is the rumor. It really is GIANT. And sort of magical.





Also in Wurster Park is a wall of yellow flowers taller than me. I like them. They make me happy. (any flowers taller than me make me happy.) After that, I walk down Cat Street (where there are lots of cats *shifty* and then I turn past Jefferson Market (of the Cupcake Fairy Fame) and turn up NUT street.


This I just liked...

And then there is EVIDENCE that it is still CONSTRUCTION (the season that falls opposite winter in Michigan... those are the ONLY two seasons...

And turn the corner to a VERY STRANGE phenomenon, which I left large so you could sort of grasp it. There is this... I'm not sure if it is a store, exactly... gallery? There is a building with WIRE art... there is a whole wire PERSON on a bench... wire HEADS atop a... I'm not sure what it is, but it might be an electrical access something or other—a big metal box next to the sidewalk... with WIRE HEADS ON IT... but since I was partially photographing bugs, I took one of the wall of wire insects... Freaky, eh? Freakier even than a WHOLE CITY willing to install fairy doors? Well... only in that the bugs are less attractive...


And there are people with the wherewithal and means to put mosaic tiles into the sidewalk so there is a permanent hopscotch... There is ALSO a sidewalk with beautiful inlaid blue glass... I think this comes about because when the city requires you to replace sidewalk, they let YOU shop around for the contractor, so if cost doesn't matter, then why NOT do something whimsical...



AND THEN WE REACH THE INNUENDO FEST... FOR REALS...

I arrive at Hiscock... follow it a ways...

Pass the pretty, new little townhouses that play host to a woodchuck family (wish they'd been out—they're very cute)

And what do you know... Hiscock reaches SUMMIT...

But when it crosses Summit, it becomes Wildt.

Did you CATCH THAT... I follow Hiscock to Summit, but after that it becomes Wildt... yeah, somebody is innuendo happy... I think Hiscock is a name. I think SUMMIT was probably honestly named... but Wildt, I am pretty darned sure was somebody's idea of a good joke...

I think I will save the rest of the walk for next week, as that is a lot of pictures already, and it is hard to surpass the innuendo climax I just covered, ne?

21 comments:

Mason Canyon said...

Enjoyed the walk. (I really got to get out more.) Road signs can be so funny. Makes you wonder sometimes how the road or street got it's name and why it stuck.

Mason
Thoughts in Progress

CA Heaven said...

Same here; the leaves are getting red and yellow, night temperatures below freezing point when the sky is clear.

Looks like you live in a beautiful place >:)

Cold As Heaven

I Must Be Off said...

Ah, loved this. What's a great walk without a great summit

Will Burke said...

Hey, you're not that far from me (hour north of Toronto). It looks a lot like our landscape :)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the virtual walk. I wish I had really been there. I love seeing leaves change--it's still summer where I am.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Okay that's settled. I AM taking a walk today. This is the best time of the year for it. Thanks for sharing. Sorry the rest of your week didn't go as well as your lovely walk.

M.J. Nicholls said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
M.J. Nicholls said...

Great Mat Hatter bollards. Wildt and Hiscock are suitably Carrollian names, so it's a Wonderland all around.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hart, you know another name for road construction? Orange barrel storage.

Too bad the woodchucks were hiding...

Hart Johnson said...

Hey, thanks everyone for indulging me! It really IS a fabulous time of year for walks. My only issue with this weather is hubby still thinks it is 'windows open all night' weather, so about 2 am every night I have to scrounge for more blankets. It hasn't dropped to freezing by any means, but45 or 50 is plenty cold. Today is about 60 so far, but we should reach high 60s as the sun is out.

lisahgolden said...

Your walk is really interesting. full of cool things to look at. Next week is another week on the food, Scarlet. That's what I tell myself.

Ted Cross said...

I love walking, so it is sad that I currently live in a place that is so hideous that it's just no good for our family to go out walking. I assume things will change for the better once we move next June.

Old Kitty said...

You could always go the other way -from Wildt to Hiscock!!:-)Ahem.

What a lovely walk - thank you! I love the marriage of perfect natural beauty with artistic artificial madness not only in the street names but with the art. Those are some bugs.

Take care
x

Hart Johnson said...

Lisa--YES, next week is a new week!

Ted-that stinks that it is such a bad place to walk. I lived in a neighborhood like that when I was first in Portland--surrounded by busy, bus filled streets that were hard to cross, and crossing led to poor neighborhoods that at the time i didn't feel safe (if I had known Portland better, I would have figured out a route, but this was pre-internet and I didn't have a clue) I hope you can at least GET someplace with good walking.

Jenny--funny enough--I used to GO that way, but I really like the steep hill this route makes me take... burns the buns... the other direction is longer, but not so steep and it just doesn't feel the same. And mad art is a great way to put that!

lettucehead said...

I would love to go on a walk there. It looks so peaceful and beautiful. Very different from where I live. Plus, I'm super jealous you get to experience Fall. We don't really get seasons in Southern California. Thank you for sharing your photos and letting us get a feel in your life :)

Cheeseboy said...

You live in a very cool place. My father-in-law does that wire art and it is actually pretty cool. He does lawn art too.

jenny milchman said...

Ha ha, beautiful walk--for real, those townhouses--MI was one of the most beautiful states we saw driving cross country. I long to see it in winter, though I agree, the tress just starting to be touched with fall are awfully nice.

Missed Periods said...

There's a street near my house named Gothard, which I sometimes snicker at, but Gothard has nothing on Hiscock.

Hart Johnson said...

lettucehead-it is pretty peaceful--though game days, like today, there is periodically a loud cheer heard from EVERYWHERE. I've spent a bit of time in SoCal--and honestly, while I like a little of the seasons, I could happily take San Diego most of the time!

Cheeseboy--does he do CREEPY wire art? I can see where it might be cool, but this is a little freaky.

Jenny--NEXT TIME you drive across the country, take 90 and 94 and stop and say hi! I love the townhouses, too--I think mostly for their sherbet colors, but I like a tall, several storied house--it just appeals to me.

MissedPeriod--BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We need to get the streets together so Hiscock can Gethard! BUWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Kal said...

We have a beautiful fall here in the tundra. I am just amazed that someone hasn't noticed that the street is named Hiscock. I don't care if there was a Hiscock that signed the Declaration of Independance - someone was having fun at the city when they named that street. I am surprised some college kids haven't stolen that for their dorm room already. Too Funny.

Natasha said...

I love the hopscotch sidewalk!