Woodland Walk

I take occasional walks to get a little exercise and get out of the house. I go about 2 miles. We have endless paved walking trails in our neighborhood that weave among houses, opening to views of the mountains, and centering on a pleasant open park.

But I get tired of the same routes, so one day this fall I went to the botanical garden for a walk and fresh views.

They've opened a new area, the piñon juniper bosque and it's nice -- a wandering path along a gentle rise on 3 acres behind the garden.

It's an easy walk and the day was lovely. It's not like a walk in the tall woods back east. It's a very different look and feel, with short shrubby greenery all around, fragrance of juniper in the air, and long views in the distance.

I saw two deer awkwardly trotting along very nearby. One was a young stag with a small set of antlers. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture. (I never am.) Except for the deer, I had the place to myself.

The woodland walk is very short, less than half a mile. I wanted to get 2 miles in, so I walked it twice, then walked the rest of the botanical garden, which is always a treat, then finished across the street at Museum Hill.

I record my walks on Strava, a phone app I share with my son who posts his 60 mile bike rides and 10,000 foot mountain ascents. My little two mile walks are my contribution, and he's always sweet about "liking" them with  a thumbs up 👍.

But the walk at the botanical garden went seriously awry on Strava.

That is not how my walk at the garden went! The internet misfired and produced this scrambled route as I walked, claiming my pace was over 6 miles an hour, covering a lot of ground back and forth at a deranged clip.

I blame this guy.

My walk ended across the street from the botanical garden at the museum complex. In the middle of the wide plaza there stands a 20 ft tall bronze sculpture that never fails to awe me each time I visit.

He is Apache Mountain Spirit Dancer, sculpted by Craig Dan Goseyun. Spirit dancers summon medicines and invoke blessings for the Apache, and are powerful forces in keeping the people on a virtuous path. 

I don't think he tolerates the internet, so he messed with my phone. My walk was supposed to be a half hour communing with nature and thanking the spirits for juniper and pine and deer and sunshine, all blessings. 

Not recording my every step on the internet for thumbs-up kudos. 

I am chastened.