September 12, 2011

Walk softly and carry a big stick... or something to that effect!

 So my birthday dawned with a glorious fall day and after getting my tender tootsies pampered at the nail salon, we decided to give them in all their newly lacquered glory a good work out.  We parked the car at the top of the Escarpment Rail Trail near Bernie Arbour stadium and walked all the way to just past Wentworth Street.  Quite a hike as my blistered feet can attest to.  But we were in search of a Hamilton curiousity. See, a few weeks ago in the Streetbeat column of the Hamilton Spectator, there was an article about a little mini-golf course found in the woods just off the rail trail.  My interest was peaked to be sure and i had the article hanging on my fridge just waiting for the right opportunity to check it out.  Well, Timothy was a real gentleman and seeing as he just "happened" to have the day off, we spent the afternoon wandering down the rail trail armed with golf balls, peppermints and a putter.  A rather odd combination to be sure and we did get some funny looks - what are those people doing with a golf club in the middle of the woods?   Accompanied while we walked by our serenading each other with songs about railroads (it wasn't a super long list - i was stuck after singing several kids songs, a few spirituals and the Gambler by Kenny Rogers), we enjoyed the afternoon looking over the city and seeing the fall colours starting ever so slowly.

 The "Uli" steps - an ingeniously crafted set of stairs leading up and down the mountain brow - beautifully made and super functional!

Some of nature's beauty in contrast and shadow...

A little selfie... with the course in the background - we were pretty intrigued by the idea of playing golf in the woods and i said later on that it felt like we were part of a piece of nostalgia and culture somehow..

Proof that i actually was there - getting ready for my shot - this might have been the one i got a hole in one on!  Kinda fun!  But then i muffed up the following holes and gave up my commanding lead!

Sometimes odd angles are fun right?  Check out the huge hazard in the middle of the hole!

A hole in one?  Nah, just a close up of the 6th hole - our scores were neatly tied at 16 (on a 6 hole course!)

And the day was capped off by another neat sunset... we seem to be blessed with a plethora of beautiful sky scapes lately - i'm in constant awe.  Tonight's sky was like a Claude Monet painting - simply beautiful!