Horicon Marsh Road Trip

A couple months ago I wrote a blog about not putting things off. Recently I was reminded of it again. I am reading a book called The Measure by Nikki Erlick. It begins with everyone in the world receiving a box. Inside the box is a red string. The strings come in various lengths. It is divulged that the length of the string coincides with the time each individual has left in their life. To be truthful I haven't quite finished the book, but it sparks a question. What would you do if you got a short string? Would you live it up or would you curl up and wait for the end? Some people didn't open the box because they didn't want to know. I'm not sure, I might not open the box. It goes even further by asking what if you got a long string and your partner, parent, sibling or friend got a short string. How would it affect your relationships? It is an interesting premise for a book. 

As I was thinking of the book and my life, I know my string is pretty short considering my age but I refuse to give up. Young people won't understand, but my peers will. I say Get Up or Give Up. So today I got up.

My daughters have two files on me. Not actual files (I don't think) but mental files. One is my incompetence file. This file consists of stupid things I do like leaving the stove on or leaving the water running in the sink and leaving the room. I did that once, but got extra credit points for fixing my own garage door and brushing out a whole section of buckthorn in the woods. I was told recently that my file is almost empty for now. The second is an independence file. It contains things I do without asking for help like getting oil changes, calling for help when I need something repaired in the house, paying taxes and banking. I think I have kept up with that quite well. Where I come up short is getting in the car and having adventures by myself. 

Today was a nice day. I saw people posting interesting photos on one of my Facebook nature groups. Although I live on a marsh, the Horicon Marsh near Waupun, Wisconsin is huge and has many varieties of birds, ducks and marshland creatures that I don't see. I have wanted to go there, but I usually talk myself out of it. I did go there once. I saw whooping cranes and ducks, but not alone. I went with some friends. Although I have gotten a lot better at doing things by myself, I haven't gotten there yet. I have shared my experiences and adventures with someone my whole life. It is foreign to me to have experiences alone with no one to talk about it with or make decisions on where to go. One particular post was my kick in the pants to just go. There is a certain bird that doesn't live in very many locations. I have seen several pictures recently from Horicon of this bird so it was a good time to leave my comfort zone. Today I just decided to go. I ate lunch, filled up my gas tank, set the GPS and left town. My gosh, it only took 45-50 minutes to get there. I thought it was a lot further, and it was an easy drive. It was a bit cold and windy but when I got there the weather warmed up. 

I had one of the best days I have had in a long time. Horicon Marsh has a three mile loop auto tour. It has pull off areas with information as well as walking trails. I parked at the Egret Trail Boardwalk. I left my camera in the car and walked a ways down the boardwalk. Almost immediately I knew I should have the camera. I walked back for the camera. It wasn't busy today so I could take my time.

The first thing I saw was a tree full of Tree Swallows. There were hundreds of them (maybe thousands). I have them too, but not in these numbers.

This boardwalk is called Egret Trail for a reason. This area of the marsh is home to a lot of Great Egrets. They are a beautiful white bird. I watched for several minutes at a resting area. 

Nesting Canadian Geese were everywhere. I should say Canadian Geese ARE everywhere in the state but these seem to belong here. The babies are beginning to hatch so I was careful not to get too close to the parents. They squawked at me if I got too close. I wasn't going to tangle with them. The goslings were adorable.

I enjoyed the walk and the view as I walked back to my car.

 

 As I left the area, I saw Terns, Ring necked ducks, American Coots, and a Swan. 

 

 

As I left the Marsh I knew I would come back again. I drove and parked the car in different locations but didn't see the bird I had come to see. It is an even better reason to return soon.

 

As I returned home, I drove through Waupun. I was a little bit hungry but I wasn't in the mood for fast food. As it turned out, I found even faster food, Chocolate. Waupun has a chocolate shop named Guth's. They make delicious chocolates, and I am always in the mood for chocolate. I didn't know what to buy so I got a plain white paper grab bag. It contained a variety of what they sell.

 

 

It was a good day. Today just felt like a good day for an adventure, plus I got points in my independence file. Life has a way of teaching us the lessons we need to learn, even when we didn't know we needed them. All is well.