Turtles and Persimmons

One of our friends, Patty who used to be a neighbor, belongs to a hiking group.  Ever since we moved up here, I’ve been looking at the photos she posts of their hikes and wished I could go.  The group hikes on Tuesday mornings — and is made up of retirees.  The minute I retired, I sent Patty an email and asked for details on the next hike.

Today we hiked from the north end of Folsom Lake up to Avery’s Pond.  There were buckeye seeds (huge!) littering the path, wild blackberries clinging to the vines already golden leaved, and turtles sunning themselves on the banks.

There were also wild persimmon trees.  A few of us scrambled down the bank and picked some, enjoying the sweet pucker of their orange flesh.

On the way back to the main road, we stopped and bought a bag of mandarin oranges from a local farm.  As we drove home, dusty and fingers sticky with mandarin juice, I smiled.  This retirement gig is the bomb.