Life During a Pandemic, part 4: Seek Beauty, Choose Joy

One of the things that brings normalcy to my life is my daily walks with my buddy Chris.  We haven't walked in over a week and we're both going nuts.  It was a beautiful day today, a bit chilly being in the 40s but clear and sunny so we decided that we would meet down at Carroll Baldwin Hall and walk social distancing style-- i.e. 6 feet apart.  Today was the therapy I needed.  As such,  I'm writing very little but posting a little photo tour of our walking route today.  Enjoy

We started our walk going up Baltimore Street 1 long block to the end where the Savage Mill Manor House.  I've always loved this house.  It was on the market when we bought our house but it was a handyman special at that point and it was a bit out of our price range.  That was 1982.  The Mill uses it for various events and it's a lovely place.  If you turn right, you will come to Savage Park.  We turned left which took us one short block to the upper parking lot at Savage Mill.

As we expected--the parking lot was pretty empty!

We walked along the walkway where you can see the historic stone walls along the Little Patuxent River.

Here is one of the back entrances to Savage Mill.

Seeing all the daffodils makes me happy.  Bulb flowers always represent the start of spring to me.

The gates were closed to the parking lot but we noticed that the same artist who hung a dreamcatcher at the post office, hung one there--along with another artist.  These small public displays of art simply brighten my day like nothing else can.

We continued down Foundry Street by the lower parking lot which did have a few cars in it.  Several had stickers for Horse Spirit Gallery so I suspect they may have been employees filling mailing orders.  We also encountered a couple coming out of the French Bakery with take out.

We continued down Foundry street to find more art!

When I got home, I looked the artist up.  She's local.  I pm'd her and thanked her for lifting my spirits and making my outing like a little treasure hunt.  She said she plans on leaving more hearts around the community!

Another beaded dreamcatcher!

We crossed the loading dock going toward Bollman Bridge.  This house sits above the Little Patuxent across the street.

Here we see the main building of Savage Mill.

I love the textures you see in old structures.

You can see the elevated back deck of the Rams Head which sits above the river.  It's one of our favorite Happy Hour spots.

The old wheel house which is fenced off.  My kids told me that they used to go in there after dark with flashlights when they were in high school.  They swear there are ghosts there.  There are holes in the floor that go down to the river.  Good thing they told me after the fact or their asses would've been grounded. LOL

More views of the Little Patuxent with a low water level.

Bollman Bridge--the last remaining iron truss railroad bridge of its kind in the US.

We then walked up the lower end of Foundry Street.

We were reminded of a fairly new business that opened at the mill and we vowed to walk down and patronize them once things open up again.

We crossed Foundry Street and walked a few blocks down Washington Street.

Another heart!  This one at the far end of the yard to Carroll Baldwin Hall.

I walked around to see what it said.

I couldn't help but think of how 3 weeks ago Carroll Baldwin Hall was full of ladies--women supporting women--learning about 18th century tradeswomen and sewing beautiful things.

We turned on Woodward Street and walked back up Baltimore Street.

Back to our starting point.  So odd to see it so empty as they normally have church services on Sunday morning.  

Getting out and about was what I needed today.  After our walk, I went home and used up some fresh veggies that needed to be cooked:  spinach, peppers, scallions and cherry tomatoes--sautéd and put in omelettes with a little cheddar then topped with Sriracha!  Good stuff.  

I also found out that you can watch Outlander on demand early on the day it airs.  We enjoyed our omelettes as we watched.  

3/22/2020 10 am

3/22/2020 5 pm