After a delicious breakfast at the new Bojangles in Hendersonville (It's Bo Time!), which I'm so pumped about and will probably blog about later, we ventured out to Bledsoe Creek State Park in Gallatin. Yes...Gallatin has a state park, and it's great! The park was home to various Native American tribes and an abundance of wildlife. It's also one of the few parks in the middle Tennessee area that allows dogs on trails. So, obviously, we love it, because we can take Scout.
We arrived at the park and were welcomed by several deer that were sunbathing as we parked. We've been to Bledsoe Creek several times, and this was our first encounter with any wildlife, which we took as a good omen. If you squint, you may just be able to make out one of the deer....or "wildlifes" or a "wildlife" as we may, or may not refer to random wildlife. For instance, "Hey! Katy, there's a wildlife!" So...here's a wildlife.
We began our hike along the Shoreline Trail. This trail is the main reason that we enjoy hiking at Bledsoe Creek, because it takes you along Old Hickory Lake's shore. The weather had been so cold, recently, that a layer of ice had formed on most of the water near the shore. Sometimes, Katy and I can't help indulging our inner child. We quickly searched some rocks and sticks to see what, if anything, would break the ice. No suitable rocks were found. The first of several pieces of wood merely skidded along the ice. I could only imagine Snoopy skating perfect figure 8's along the ice pulling Katy and myself behind him. We picked up some hulking pieces of wood, tossed them high into the air, and they crashed through the ice. Our curiosity had been satisfied, and we continued our hike. We kept walking through the woods for another 15 minutes or so, and found a bench to sit on, while looking out on the water. Scout was very curious about the bank of the water. We were interested in keeping our over zealous, super hiker dog out of the frigid lake, but it made for a good photo:
We pulled Scout away from the water's edge, and began the return hike to the car. It's these moments that I love hiking with Katy and Scout. We talk about life, God, nature, and laugh at Scout rummaging through the random matter on the forest floor. On this particular hike, we talked about baby names (we've made some progress on this front...no spoilers though), cribs, strollers, whether or not we should learn the gender in a few weeks, and other baby stuff. We have a lot of decisions to make, and much to anticipate in the coming months, but together we will journey onward playing, talking and holding hands or paws.
So....here's some encouragement:
Get outside, breathe some fresh air, revel in the splendor of God's nature, and be refreshed!
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and
give strength to body and soul."
- John Muir
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