November 30, 2014
My Instead: I hiked with Annette on the
Mississippi River bluffs at the Fults Hill Prairie Nature Reserve.
We had the day planned. Annette was coming back
my way to help me prepare for Christmas. I was having it on December
20th this year, so the countdown was less than 3 weeks. While she was
on her way, I wrote a blog from my “instead” the day before. As usual
though, I peeked at Facebook periodically. And then I saw it. It was a status
update from the wife (Phyllis) of my ex-husband Gary. She had posted some pictures
of her and Gary’s outing from that morning at the Fults Hill Prairie Nature
Reserve. I had not been to those bluffs in almost forty years when Gary and I
were dating.
The bluffs looking over the Mississippi River valley have
been calling to me since my birthday on June 26th. I had wanted to
go there alone that day as a getaway “instead”. However, Annette had called me
suggesting that if I had nothing planned on my big day,
she would meet me half way between Farmington and Belleville to celebrate with
me. Between work and more work, time kind of ran out for me to venture to the bluffs.
I decided to take Annette up on her offer. At that time, we were still in the friendship
stage, figuring out if we wanted to take it to the next level. That night we
simply went to the movies, got something to eat and called it a night. No big
bluff blowout…just dinner and a movie.
Now here it was, the last day of November and
the temperature was a balmy 72 degrees. The minute Annette pulled into my
driveway, I walked up to her and said there was a change of plans. Her
disappointment about not preparing for Christmas and going to the bluffs
instead was non-existent. We hopped into my car and headed south. We arrived at
the Fults Hill Prairie Nature Reserve around 1 o’clock in the afternoon. The
stairs leading to the top of the bluff resembled the stairway to heaven. We had
to stop several times to take in the view (subliminal message here – to catch
our breath).
When we got to the end of the steps, there was
still an upward path taking us farther into the heavens. Good thing I brought
my camera, right? We enjoyed the warmth of the day, the beauty of the view, the
break from our busyness, the photographic opportunities, and the company of
each other. We even got to witness a change in the weather on our way down the
bluff. The temperature dropped drastically and the wind blew so strongly, I
starting yelling for Auntie Em.
In my 62 years, I have never not been
ready for the Christmas holiday’s arrival. I figured this year would be no different…somehow,
time will allow. And that’s why we allowed time for this.
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| Posing |
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| Pondering |
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| A train crossing the valley |
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| Model material |
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| Fun, free day for us |
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| The gusty wind put the leaves in flight |
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| Stairway to Heaven |
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| Trail Difficulty - Extreme |
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| They didn't go up with us |
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