Walking at the wildlife reserve: June 11 2025

Hubby and I walked around an area called Purgatory Creek, although I think of it as a wildlife reserve because there’s a large body of water that is home to geese, ducks, blackbirds, egrets, great blue herons and swans, not to mention turtles, frogs, butterflies and more.

There were a few families of Canada geese with lots of adolescent goslings sitting along the water.

We gave them a wide berth, as gosling parents can be very protective. In fact my husband was once attacked by a goose as he was walking along a trail.

This particular trail makes a full circle around the reserve. It’s quite pretty along the entire course, sometimes winding through wooded areas and then back out into clearings where you can see the water and all the water birds. Today I didn’t see any egrets, herons or swans.

This area is beautiful any time of year. I’ve walked it in gorgeous fall weather, in the snow, in springtime (like now) and in late summer when there are flowers along the waterfront full of bumblebees and monarch butterflies.

In fact, one Autumn day a few years ago I was out with my dog and walked out on a long boardwalk through a marshy area when I had a fateful accident. The area where I was walking is accessible from a side trail that takes you out to an overlook where you can watch the water birds. I never made it to the overlook.

What I didn’t realize as I stood there gazing at the golden trees all around and taking photos, was that my left foot was positioned half on and half off of the edge of the boardwalk. I must have shifted just a bit, and then lost my balance — torquing my foot as I fell into the marsh (which was fortunately dry that time of year), and causing several bones in my left foot to snap.

My husband had to drive his car out onto the walking trail to rescue me. He got me back to my car, and I was actually able to drive myself to urgent care, where they took an x-ray and informed me I would need foot surgery.

That launched a long recovery period requiring two surgeries a year apart. Fortunately I’m fully recovered now!

This is the entrance to that side path off the trail that goes out to the wildlife viewing area.

And here’s a picture of the boardwalk I fell from, though this was from a different walk.

And last but not least, here’s a picture of me clowning around on that same boardwalk one snowy winter day after my foot healedk and I was able to go walking again. My friend thought it was hilarious when I re-enacted my fateful fall!

Okay that’s enough rambling. Thank you for visiting!

p.s. This post was delayed by a day, as there was a temporary Actifit outage. But how perfect! Now it’s Wednesday and I can jump on the #wednesdaywalk train hosted by @tattoodjay!

Photo credits: All of the photos in this post were taken by me and belong to me, unless otherwise noted.

My bio: I am a fiction writer and photographer based in Minnesota. I have had a lifelong love of fiction writing. I am earned my MFA in writing from the University of New Hampshire. My short stories go de have appeared in a range of literary journals and anthologies, and my first short story collection, Somewhere in Minnesota is available on Amazon US as well as international Amazon sites., Barnes & Noble or from the publisher.

Want to know what I'm publishing and where? Visit my website, www.jaynalocke.com, or follow me on X, aka Twitter, at www.twitter.com/@jaynatweets or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/authorjaynalocke.

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This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io

Walking