Pardon Gray

I could have gone trout fishing today. Fishing might have been pretty good. Yesterday it rained and the temperature was above fifty. The warm rain counter acted the effects of the snow melt the day before. I had yesterday off. I contemplated fishing yesterday. It is an old wives tale that being in cold damp conditions will make you sick. However, it is true that you can get sick from being cold and wet.  I decided to stay in yesterday. It killed me to be smart, I was bored out of my mind. I did not want to get sick again. I'm still coughing up my chest cold, so I went to a movie instead of playing outside.

Today, I could have gone fishing. Instead, I wanted to stretch my legs. I went to a place owned by Tiverton Land Trust called Pardon Gray. Pardon Gray is huge. I'm not sure the exact size of the place but it has to be a few thousand acres. There are many miles of trails.  I needed to take a day to just...walk. For some reason, walking until my heart was content, made more sense today, than fishing until my heart was content.

Tree Swallows pointing the way to the
historic cemetery

I hiked for four hours. I don't know how many miles, I guess, at least five miles. I took my binoculars. I saw two new species of birds today. I saw a raven and black vultures. I stopped when I heard a bird, but for the most part, I hiked.

The landscape is a combination of very large fields and woodlands. The fields are some of the largest in southern New England. That was the main reason I wanted to hike there today. It is not often, one can walk a meadow landscape for over a half mile. I was hoping to see some birds of meadows such as meadowlarks. I didn't see much other than tree swallows and robins. It was still nice  to walk in wide open spaces.

All in all, I had a nice day hiking. Maybe next week, I'll go trout fishing.