Five hikes for me anyway. First hike, the usual 0-dark-30 neighborhood thingy. That’s where I get three quarters of my daily 10,000 steps outta the way. Bright and early. Strike the bright because morning in no way approaches bright at this time of year. So no pics.

Second hike was relatively short but it did allow me to hit my 10,000 steps. Mill Creek at Dexter. Mostly boardwalk. Frosty boardwalk at that, which means potentially slippery. It wasn’t really that bad and I only had a minor slip a couple times. I mean that the toe of my Keen sandal slipped a fraction of an inch. I did not come anywhere near falling at any time but I was careful. The beautiful pic below belies the fact that we are within sight of downtown Dexter including the BP station where the GG got gas and picked us up. We had lost track of him at that point. I thought he was wandering around the adjacent cemetery as he is wont to do but then he texted us from the gas station.

Third hike was a short one over to the Plum with Lizard Breath. DIY Turkey leftover wraps for lunch! No pics.

Fourth hike. I walked downtown and the GG picked me up. The pond at West Park had a skim of rather sloppy ice upon it. I was a bit surprised because the temperature was in the upper 30s at this point.

Fifth hike. This was also a very short hike. The GG picked me up with the Frog Hopper on Washington Street between Ashley and Main (a pizza delivery guy behind him was NOT patient but neither was the GG in a couple other situations today) and we headed straight west out to the Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary (google it if you want, I’m too lazy to link) to watch sandhill cranes land for the night. We wanted to get there close to sunset and so we did and here is a pic albeit this is *not* where they land. This a lake on the property and there is way too much water for a sandhill crane here.

The sun set at 5:04 PM today (yes, really) and we hung around at Haehnle watching cranes come in until 5:07 at which time I was kind of done. It is always fun to watch the cranes land but we didn’t see the multitudes that we have sometimes seen at that location. An official Crane Counter happened to be there and he explained how finicky sandhill cranes can be about their environment (water levels, etc.). He also said that the cranes have not left southern lower Michigan for the year yet, that they are *everywhere* in the general area, just not necessarily in the area we could see from the sanctuary.

Such a wonderful end to a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Many many many things to give thanks for. The GG, who can rig up a shower in the Landfill Dungeon out of old parts and adult children who, well, just are who they are. I never have to worry about them (well, except for snow driving and Grizzly Bear trips, etc. but that’s mom stuff…) and they seem to like to spend time with us whenever wherever. And there are our huge, wonderful extended families everywhere. Fin, MacMu, Courtois. Love you all. Truly.

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