Walk with Me

My doctor tells me that I should get 30 minutes of exercise at least 3 times a week.  That doesn't sound like much, only an hour and a half out of a whole week.  But it sure is difficult for me to do.  I have a membership at the OSU Wellness Center and I try to go by there 3 times a week after work, but I rarely make it that often.  It seems like I always have errands to run or need to get home for some reason. 

When I go to the Wellness Center, I usually try to walk a mile and a half on the treadmill.  My pace is about 20 minutes per mile.  So, it takes me 30 minutes to walk 1.5 miles.  I decided  I'd see if I could map out a path around our farm that was roughly 1.5 miles.  Then, on days I didn't go to the Wellness Center, I could still get in my 30 minutes of exercise at home.

Tom drove the truck around the perimeter of our 5 acres and it is just about half a mile.  So, if I walk around the perimeter 3 times, then I will have walked 1.5 miles.  I thought it would be fun to take pictures as I went and share them with my blog friends.  So, here goes.

I start my walk just south of the house at our metal outbuilding.  This is where we store lawn mowers and various other pieces of equipment.

From there I walk east along the south fence line.  To the left you can see a pile of dirt.  Tom had it brought in to fill some holes around the yard and to put around one corner of the metal outbuilding where the dirt has washed away.

At the southeast corner is our pet cemetery.  This is where Kelsey Dog is buried.  (See A Tribute to Kelsey Dog - March 13, 2011).  She is buried there along with 3 other dogs and a cat.  I planted some irises and daffodils here which bloom in the spring. 

At this point I turn north and walk along the east fence line (above) to the northeast corner where Tom has an area plowed up and planted with a winter cover crop (below).

Then I turn west along the north fence line.  When I took the picture below, it was in the late afternoon and there is some glare on the camera lense from the sun. 

Along this stretch of my walk I pass a row of sand plum bushes that we planted last year.  Sand plums are native to Oklahoma and make the best jelly.  I'm hoping in a couple of years they will be mature enough to produce fruit.  Also along this stretch of our property, we have allowed the native grasses to grow and didn't mow it this past summer.  The picture below shows what it looks like.

At this point I turn south and walk along beside a field where our neighbor's sheep graze.  Here they are.

At this point, I have walked about 3/4 of the way around our property and I turn east again after passing the sheep.   In quick succession I then pass a bluebird house that Tom built and our deer feeding station.

A few more paces and I'm back where I started.  Now, I just need to do this 2 more times and I'll have walked my 1.5 miles.