Morning Walks

Since moving to Salt Lake about 3 1/2 years ago, I have missed my morning walks at Jensen Pond.  Although I tried walking the city streets of Salt Lake and later the country road we lived on in Arkansas, I missed Jenson Pond with its walking trails where I didn't have to worry much about traffic or mud puddles or anything--just walk in the outdoors...and there were options so I didn't have to walk the same route every morning.

The Tuesday morning after we got home, I headed out to Jensen Pond.  I was so excited....

and then the road was closed on the Bluff so I had to wander through a neighborhood and then the entrance to the park was closed due to construction so I had to back track to park in a nearby neighborhood.....

and so the whole walk went the same way.  At the moment, you can't walk around the pond, because a small ravine doesn't have a bridge completed yet.  When I backtracked another way, I ran into another closed trail due to construction of a new fire station to the east of the park.  Trying one more trail, I turned to get on it to see a road sweeper followed by two utility trucks coming down the trail with no room for pedestrians.  I gave up and headed home, disappointed.

Part of the reasons for the changes in the trails was the completion of the West Davis Corridor. It is a great piece of road, but it goes right along the southern border of this park and re-routed many of the trails that went further south and around the area.  Once every thing is done, most will be restored or re-routed, but it takes time for that work.

The next time I tried walking at Jensen Pond and headed in another direction, I again ran into blocked paths.  That time I headed back to my car and decided to take a drive past the new Syracuse Temple under construction.  Sometimes when life's little disappointments come (and my Jensen Pond walks being disturbed by construction and the noise of the freeway are very minor ones) a temple is just the right thing to balance things out.  I never expected to live so close to a temple. It will be open sometime next year, we think!

photo while driving

I did have a beautiful walk at the Layton Bird Refuge and have mostly been walking in my neighborhood which is very quiet in the mornings after the school rush and has no construction!

Photos from the bird refuge walk....

This is the bridge we stood on for our family photo in December of 2017

and on the ice that covered this pond is where our photographer stood.

Fall colors in Utah in October.

I was so excited to be back so I could walk at Jensen Pond, but it is not the same at least right now.  And it is OKAY!  I can make adjustments and I can enjoy other spots to walk.  The first few days were so disappointing to me--I was tired and adjusting and all of the other reasons for being over emotional about such a small thing.  But I felt the feels and I made a decision to move forward.  Glad to have safe places to walk and pretty things to enjoy along the way.