Morning Walk

This morning, Jeff and I woke up at his place (oooh, a sleepover!) and had a simple breakfast of orange juice, banana, and donuts. It was such a bright, sunny morning that we decided to grab some Dunn Bros. coffee and take Annika around Lake Harriet.

I would say that Lake Harriet is my 2nd favorite lake here in Minneapolis. In the summer it is swamped with people, like all of the lakes here in the city. Today, probably because it was early on a Wednesday, it was populated mostly by other dog walkers like us. Living in between Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet, it's very easy to walk to the Linden Hills business district for some coffee and continue on to the lake. I love being able to do that, because Annika and fabric seat covers in my car are not the best combination.

On our walk, we saw a lot of ducks, and a couple geese. I managed to get some pictures before Annika jumped in the water for a swim (or a hunt). Jeff is studying urban forestry and we talked about a lot of the ecological problems affecting the ducks and other wildlife that make the lakes their home. Of course, when he saw a bottle floating in the water, he picked it up and discarded it. By the way...buy a reusable bottle folks! It was sad to see so much trash in the water when we looked closely. It really damages the "natural" habitat of these beautiful birds. I say that because it's hardly natural for a bird to live next to a busy street. Still, the original efforts to make the area more appealing for residents do provide a great home to wildlife. So, yeah, pick up your trash. Pick up any trash you see. Protect birds like the ones you see below and other wildlife too!








Speaking of wildlife... what kind of creature lives in here? It's either the entrance to Wonderland or Piglet's house. Either way, it's pretty spectacular, don't you think?