A Little Bit of May

May started off very cool and rainy and not at all "May-like".  Then, last weekend, it warmed up!  YIPPEE!  Benjamin and I took a hike on our regular path to the railroad tracks...but it is VERY different.  Last year, when Nashville had the floods, the path changed, which was expected.  While we had a lot of rain and some wild windy storms this spring, I did not expect to see even more drastic changes to our beloved path.  It's not smooth at all anymore - you really have to watch where you are walking so you don't misstep and twist your ankle.  We were lucky enough to see some wildlife on our hike this time...take a look:

This is a Tennessee Box Turtle and I estimate it to be at least 40 years old, if not older.

Isn't she pretty?

 The turtle just sat very still as if posing for pictures.  She didn't move at all while we were hanging out snapping pictures.  When we came back by on our way home, she had moved on.

Can you find the hidden creature?

Here's a closer look....

There...do you see the toad now?

Benjamin saw this toad...it really was small and jumped right about the time we came up on him, but he sat still for a few pictures.

Further down the hill, we encountered a very large fallen tree across the path.  We had to go under some branches and over the trunk in order to get to the other side and make our way down to the railroad tracks. 

This next pictures is where the trunk split when the wind blew it over.  Not sure if the picture does it justice, but it is a very large tree that split and fell. The brown inner section is where the part of the trunk used to be attached!

Oh, yeah, this isn't from the hike.  This is my birthday brownies that Jim made for me!  YUMMY!