Meandering on a Saturday morn.

I was up bright and early this morning. It was too bad the sun did not follow the same schedule. In fact, Ol’ Sol did not bother to shine until about 4:00 p.m. today.

At least the oppressive heat is gone for a while and chilly air is in its place. What a contrast to this past week, when I was in sleeveless tops and shorts. Before I left, I heard the weather report and looked online at the Weather Channel. I layered up because the weatherman said “maybe wear a light jacket this morning” but, just before I left I decided I’d rather be chilly than too warm, so I removed the tee-shirt and just wore a heavy, long-sleeved shirt and pants.

By the time I walked the boardwalk once, I knew that leaving that tee-shirt behind was a big mistake, because a northeast wind was humming along at 12 mph and the sky was dark and cloudy and sunless. I shivered and wished I had that extra layer back on my body.

I was not the only one who was feeling that chilly air. The fishermen were lined up along the pier that juts out into the Detroit River and they were bundled up in jackets or hoodies pulled up snug over their head. Weren’t we just sweating a mere 24 hours ago?

You could see how choppy the water was as it lapped against the shoreline. I guess the gulls had goosebumps and stayed away from the pier and boardwalk because I saw no seagulls, just a bunch of starlings who kept landing on the water and buzzing around the fishermen. On my many trips to Bishop Park, I’ve never seen so many starlings hanging around the pier.

I saw a three-dimensional decorated rock on the base of one of the post lamps but left it there for someone else to find or keep.

I walked the boardwalk twice and decided it was time to head to Dingell Park, not that it was any warmer there. I got into the car and put the heat on to warm up.

Enroute to Dingell Park I pulled off Biddle Avenue to pay a visit to Oakwood Cemetery, a fixture in Wyandotte since 1869. I spent about a half-hour there taking in all the sights, from old trees to tombstones, in this historic landmark. I’ve decided to do a separate post tomorrow on this portion of my journey.

At Dingell Park, the sky had lightened up a tad, but it was still windy and rather dismal out. A few fisherman were lined up along the boardwalk, and, as I strolled along I peered into their buckets to see how many fish they had and wished them “good morning” through chilly lips.

I went to the pavilion, always a haven for ducks and geese, plus those pesky seagulls once they see you with food. I threw out some stale bread for any takers, and soon I had some ducks and geese in the alcove circling around and waiting for more yeasty tidbits. The seagulls must have been sleeping in at this venue also.

I always wish I have more treats to offer them as they gobble it up quickly, then look at me expectantly for more handouts. A shrug of the shoulders and a shake of my head “no” is incomprehensible to them, so they usually continue swimming in circles in the alcove near the pavilion.

My final pit stop in my morning meanderings was at my favorite nature nook, Council Point Park. I was later than my usual time. I saw only one walker I knew and there were just a few walkers.

I saw this guy looking for treasures. I didn’t ask him if he had any luck since he was wearing earbuds and moving to the music, so likely he didn’t even know I was there.

The grass is very long at Council Point Park, and the squirrels can’t just run through it. Instead they have to jump through the tall blades of grass or clover. I fed a couple of squirrels and both of them took one of their peanuts and dug a hole to hide it right away. Hmm - did this chilly morning make them think Fall was on the way and it was nut-gathering time?

Goose family #3 was grazing on grass, just one parent and three goslings. As I neared them, they gravitated over to the perimeter path and would have been in my way, so I got off the path and traipsed through the wet grass (while gritting my teeth at them for being so obstinate). As I walked past the geese, the big one started hissing at me for no apparent reason. I kept walking and a squirrel came out on the path, so I stopped to feed it. The geese were still far away, but I noticed the middle goslings had a little attitude going with his head down and staring at me. It looked like the goslings were perfecting that goose strut.

Then, all of a sudden I heard a “smacking” sound and turned around, and the big goose (likely a gander) was running after me, his still-wet feet smacking the asphalt path with every step he took. I’ve seen ducks waddle or walk fast, but not a goose, and he was gaining speed so I dipped behind a bush and he lost track of me. Whew! I don’t know what caused this crazed action, but I finished my trek without returning to the first loop where all the critters are, and walked my remaining three miles at Council Point Park on the boring side instead.

It was not a picture-perfect day, but I still got nearly five miles on the pedometer and my car odometer shows I am at nearly 5,000 miles on my car!

Oh ... did I mention my car will be nine years old this September?

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/