Friday, January 4, 2008

Walk a thousand miles...



Today was a sunny day, one of three since late October. As you can imagine, I've gotten sick of the grey skies. But, with today's sun I suddenly felt energized. So, I decided to go out and try to get a picture of 'Muntele Mic' (The Little Mountain). With clear skies, you can usually get a pretty good view of it from the town center. So, I grabbed my camera, and a plastic bag (because I had decided to combine this venture with a trip to the grocery store), and made my way out.

When I got to the viewing spot I was very disappointed. The skies immediately overhead were clear, but off in the distance they were still grey, and Muntele Mic was shrouded in clouds. It'd have to wait for another day. From there, I thought briefly about heading over to the grocery store. However, something compelled me to go for a walk. The sun was still shining, the air was cool and crisp, and there was a slight easterly breeze. These are the sort of winter days I like. So, I walked, and kept on walking. I headed due east out of the town, to the spot on the river where I had gone swimming in the summer.

When I got there there were about 5 dogs guarding the spot. One of them was barking at me, but I decided to take my chances and keep on walking. Once I got to a certain point they all started barking at me and began to follow me. I heard their snarls behind me, but I just kept walking-- figuring that if I made any sudden moves they might do more than just bark. My plan seemed to work; they continued to follow me, but after a few minutes their barking died down and they left me alone.

I decided to keep on going east along the river, since I didn't want to go back where the dogs were. The breeze really began to pick up. I don't usually like winter winds, but this I liked; something about it reminded me of winter back in New England. I came across a frozen pond, and at that point I turned around and looked back at the town, which was now well behind me. I snapped a few shots, and headed south. After walking a while longer I came across some kids sledding. They were pretty friendly, so I played with them for a while.

From there I continued south, wondering where my path would lead me. Eventually I came to a road, and it just so happened that I had arrived very near one of the town's supermarkets. So, I stopped in, did some shopping, went home, and made an awesome shepherd's pie. All in all, it turned out to be a good day, even though I never got a shot of the mountain. Now it's time for some tea.

4 comments:

Mackenzie said...

I love the orange jackets picture!

Anonymous said...

Nork! I just got this Internet thing again. I'm glad your keeping your eyes to the sky even though its overcast and grey.

Rachel said...

Those are some determined kids... there's barely any snow on the ground! I like the picasa album captions for this one. Your camera has some crazy awesome zoom capabilities!

Anonymous said...

This blog is great and really illustrates life for a foreigner in Eastern Europe. Improvised cooking, hungry stray dogs, memorable Christmas celebrations . . . your details and positive attitude make this a valuable read for travelers to Romania and Eastern Europe in general. I'll definitely mention it to my readers.