by kimqi | May 23, 2023 | Big Rock, Hiking, Nature, Spring Hiking
LOOK AT THE FISH! If you ignore the ripples and the dazzling acrobat, this picture is just like the one I shared two weeks ago. Even as I leaned over the railing and lined up the shot, I wondered why I was interested in this subject. Again. So soon. I was...
by kimqi | May 7, 2023 | Illinois, Spring Hiking, YinYang, Seasons
Melancholy seeps in. Sometimes I try to reason it away or wrestle it to the ground. This time I decide to take it for a walk at a local forest preserve. A place that lends perspective as crushed gravel crunches rhythmically under my boots. I note nests high in the...
by kimqi | Mar 27, 2023 | Lasalle Canyon, Starved Rock
Sometimes hiking is like a dream. Yesterday was one of those days. Few people were on the trail; that alone was surreal, especially on a warm spring day. Beauty and surprise were abundant. I was walking along the River Trail near LaSalle Canyon. The mighty Illinois...
by kimqi | Mar 20, 2023 | Hiking, Illinois, Taoism, Winter, Winter Hiking, YinYang
It was cold but sunny, the perfect morning to wander around Matthiessen. Tonight is the Equinox, the beginning of Spring. A time of balance, night and day are the same length; Yin equals Yang. This hike is a quest to find Spring, I thought. I laughed and shivered....
by kimqi | Mar 11, 2023 | Hiking, Illinois
Recent hikes in the Shawnee National Forest inspired me to research critters I was unfamiliar with; bobcats, rattlesnakes and copperheads. The process led me to consider fear in general. We are afraid of things we don’t understand, right? In theory, education will...
