Running into the Partridge Family on the Way to Work

Despite living pretty much all my life in what many people refer to as “the middle of nowhere,” for the most part, I’ve always been able to walk to work. Like any rule, there are exceptions. When I was in London, I took the Tube to work and during my winter in the Twin Cities, I took the bus. Oddly enough, this winter was the first time I had to drive to work consistently. Granted, I do a lot of my work from home now, but I am officially back to walking to work again. Any commute, walking, tubing, driving, or what have you, can get grow stale with time, but I have a feeling my new commute will have plenty of pleasant surprises for a while.

This afternoon I decided to run over to work to drop off some stuff that was just taking up space in my home office and to get myself a little better oriented with the museum’s exhibits and trails when no one else was around.

When I got to the front gate, I decided to take one of the hiking trails in. No sooner did I step on the path, then I saw a partridge walking about confidently in the undergrowth. And heard a “peep, peep, peep.” Two little partridge chicks came scurrying out. One hung close to Mama next to a fallen log. The other chick ran across the path. So little! So fluffy! So cute! I know Mama Partridge isn’t really into having human “peeps” being all up in her nest, so I hung back and waited until the family had reunited and moved on. Which is why I only have a picture of Mama.

So I wandered down the trail. There’s a wildflower trail on the grounds specifically focused on pink stemless moccasin flowers, an orchid. I wasn’t on that trail so I was surprised when I spotted a pink moccasin in full glory right in the middle of the path. For some reason I thought it was too early for these guys, but I suppose it is almost June.

There are a lot of other wildflowers out too: star flower (below), Labrador tea, and false lily of the valley.

I did my thing at work, waited out a rainstorm and headed back home. It wasn’t until I stopped at the side of the road to let a car go by that I realized I’d walked straight past a turtle. I’m not sure why turtles insist that roads are great places to hang out. Last week, during one trip to town, I had to swerve around three of them. I’ll refrain from making the “why did the turtle cross the road?” cliché, but really, what’s going on here? This guy looked pretty spooked, but he was pointed toward the ditch, so I think he was headed in the right direction.

It felt like a treasure hunt. Everywhere I looked, something I hadn’t expected popped up. Who knows what’ll be out there tomorrow?!