Gloria

@rideintothesunset.bsky.social

1855 Followers 1306 Following

Retired to ride horses in Shawnee National Forest, Illinois. All photos (and a lifetime of memories) are mine. Alt text is my friend now. Please no DMs.

Lots of red beefsteak tomatoes, a few cucumbers, and one small yellow tomato. Fresh pasta sauce cooking up this afternoon. Yum!
Squeaky, American English Coonhound, bluetick coloring, poses majestically in green grass staring straight at the camera/phone. Surgery for a lump on her tail is scheduled for next week.
9:00 am sun peeks through tree canopy and reflects off computer screen. A rainbow of colors ensues.
Blue Lilyturf (Liriope muscari) flowers emerge from grass-like leaves. Evergreen bush and house behind. August 4, 2026 at home in southern Indiana.
Giant Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea) growing tall and bright purple in the sun August 3, 2026 in a wildflower patch between pastures in southern Indiana.
Three horses enjoy pasture time 7:16 pm August 2, 2026. Gema, Georgie, Dulce. The sun has finally come out after a mostly rainy, cloudy day.
Red and gray barn cupola with a horse topped weather vane outlined against mostly cloudy sky with just a tiny spot of blue showing through.
Gema the pinto Paso Fino mare looks at me through a forelock so long and full that you have to take my word for it she even has eyes as I walk to the barn for evening chores. Red and gray metal barn exterior is nearly 20 years old now and showing it.
Squeaky, 14-year-old American English Coonhound, guards green tractor on right and red and gray barn on left.
A small weathered brass sundial sits on an upturned terracotta pot saucer on top of a tall blue glazed ceramic pot behind Big Blue Lilyturf (Liriope muscari) with their grass-like leaves and purple-blue flowers. The star of the show, in the spotlight, is self-seeded red plumed cockscomb catching the setting sun and turning to fire.
A small yellow, green, and black bird flew into the glass door to the deck, stunning itself for a few minutes. I went out and grabbed the cat who noticed it and held her until the bird recovered and flew off.
Black cat, Lady Day, inspects the best cucumbers picked yesterday morning. Cucumber vines that escaped the garden box while I was away for nearly two weeks grow under the flatbed trailer.
Morning glory vines staged a takeover of one of my garden boxes while I was away from home nearly two weeks. Morning sun backlights the white flower, creating glowing colors against a wild green background.
Cucumbers and tomatoes. Fresh picked.
An oak cabinet with sturdy oak shelves and brass hardware and leading in the glass door. Bargain: yes. Useful: yes. Attractive: could be better?
Yellow mushroom with grass and fallen tree leaves and twigs.
Evening shadows highlight freshly raked campsite front. The camper will hopefully soon go, leaving the carport for Georgie and the truck and horse trailer. Quiet and secluded end of campground lot.
Fresh green and white turkey tail mushrooms adorn a tree in front of the camper at Hayes Canyon Horse Campground. Gravel road and trees behind melt into Shawnee National Forest.
I have seen at least one deer every day on the trails. They have all been does. And they have all been exceptionally unafraid of horses and riders. This doe stood a few feet off trail and just stared as two horses and riders went down the trail.
Dulce Dama looks at a creek crossing after having just passed a very scary rock right beside the trail. The three year old horse mind stays busy classifying what is safe and what will eat a small horse. Water and rocks in the creek with trees lining the banks and trail signs on the other side of the crossing.
Pineweed (Hypericum gentianoides) with slender green leaves sporting tiny but perfect yellow flowers grows alongside green moss on the solid rock on top of Crow Knob.
Chanterelle mushrooms have faded in color from their bright orange debut last week, but they have gained in frilly texture making them look like flowers opening among the leaf litter and greenery on the forest floor. Shawnee National Forest July 22, 2026.
Moss, lichen, and green plants grow on and around a rock formation beside a trail in southern Illinois. The rock is pitted in a lace-like pattern. Nature outdoes manmade statues and structures for pure beauty and variety while exuding a peaceful vibe.
Hayes Canyon in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois, 8:30am July 22, 2026. Water collects in solid rock pools surrounded by moss and lichen. Trees grow atop more rock bordering the canyon. Blue sky over all.
A deep red, soft and velvety textured mushroom, outlined in tan, with a little nibble taken out of the side. It appeared after a rain on a 94F day next to the horse pens at Hayes Canyon Campground July 21, 2026.
Dulce Dama, three year old bay Paso Fino filly, was my ride around the campground yesterday. Two miles and she was done and it was time for me to help finish the trim work inside the cabin. Gema, the pinto Paso eating her hay off the floor behind Dulce, got the day off.
Orange chanterelle mushrooms share the forest floor with a spiky white mushroom, tree, log, and greenery.
Bowed Tree Crossing of Lusk Creek in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. July 19, 2026.
A small white-tailed doe stares as horse and rider passes her a few feet away on a trail in Shawnee National Forest.
Rocky creek crossing in Shawnee National Forest. July 18, 2026. Trees line the banks and blue sky peeks through overhead. Enjoy.
Water drips from the rocks behind into a quiet pool of water in Shawnee National Forest. Sun filters through trees to reflect a bit of blue sky on the rippled surface of the water. Moss and plants cover rocks. The forest breathes here.
A group of trees provide a small puddle of shade in the middle of a former hay field, now gone to wildflowers, along a section of privately owned land connecting horse trails in the Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. Thanks again to the Richardsons for allowing riders and hikers to continue using this trail across their beautiful land.
American Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum) growing in a spot of dappled sunshine beside a horse trail in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. July 18, 2026. Purple-blue flowers stick out their "tongues" at passersby.
Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus), a beautiful native wildflower July 17, 2026 in southern Illinois.
Whitetail deer, a young doe, in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. July 17, 2026. She stands in her leafy home with a large tree and several small and medium deciduous trees behind her and a green mixture of plants covering the forest floor. Attentive, cautious, but not fearful.
The bottom of the 496 North trail in Shawnee National Forest, just before it reaches Hayes Creek in southern Illinois. Early morning sun casts shadows across the forest floor carpeted in leaves. Trees big and small nestle among moss covered rocks. A cool looking place even on a hot summer day in July.
Georgie, the bay Paso Fino mare, wonders why I stopped her and grabbed my phone camera. Like the good girl she is, she posed beautifully, totally unaware of the deer invisibly frozen in front of her. Two startled reactions as we continued on down the trail but all was fine as everyone went on their own way.
Water pools in a solid rock basin at the top of Jackson Falls in southern Illinois. Trees surround (of course as it is Shawnee National Forest).
Pretty red mushroom set like a gemstone on top of dark green moss. Trees behind filter a soft light through to the forest floor. Shawnee National Forest July 16, 2026.
First creek crossing out of camp.
Orange mushrooms July 15, 2026 beside a trail in Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.
Moss and rocks and twigs. Horse camp in Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois. Nature's colors and textures are soothing. City dwellers could maybe trade an occasional anxiety therapy session for a walk in the woods. July 14, 2026.
Red clover (top) and white clover (bottom) blooms in an unmowed patch of grass beside the barn. The horses love this area to graze as a treat after a ride.
Fresh white mushrooms growing in a cozy nook between tightly packed trees in the woods. Green leaves add color.
Blue green lichen provides a nice background for a large group of light colored turkey tail mushrooms growing atop an old log.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). A young male pauses, surrounded by tall grass and wildflowers, to stare towards the house. His little four point antlers are fresh and covered in velvet. This fellow looks healthy. July 11, 2026.
My miniature rose always surprises me with what color it is going to open to be with each bloom. Sometimes the classic pure red and pure white stripes, sometimes mostly red or mostly white. This is a first to have the left side nearly pure red and the right side mostly pink with red highlights.
A small school of approximately three inch long fish swim in the deepest pool of the small creek below the house. One fish popped up and created a circle of ripples in the water. Others appear as dark shadows below and to the left. Sunlight filters through trees to illuminate the rocky creek bottom.
Garlic (Allium sativum) scape (flower) with delicate white blooms ready to open on a purple ball at the top of the stem.
Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) chills under the surface of clear water in a shallow creek. This medium-small (maybe a teenage but probably not mutant ninja) turtle stayed perfectly still, showing off an almost shiny black shell.
Rose Pink (Sabatia angularis) glowing in the morning sun in a spot that missed being mowed between two pastures July 6, 2026.
Black cows stand and lie down in the shade on their side of the fence at the back of our property. Their pasture is bright green in the sun behind them. Blue sky overhead on a hot summer day. They are fixated on the horse I'm riding.
Groundhog (Marmota monax) prowled in the shade of a shelter house in a park in Henderson Kentucky on July 4, 2026.
Light tan, bumpy and shiny and silky smooth all at the same time. A nicely shaped mushroom sits proudly on a bed of old leaves in the shade of trees July 2, 2026.
Three horses graze in the early morning July 2, 2026 around 6:00 am. Heat and flies will make them glad to go to their barn where a fan is turned on over their stalls during the day. Heat warning again today. Ah summer in southern Indiana.
Looking down from on top of a small hill to a small creek running through deciduous woods. Light from the morning sun filters through green tree leaves and silhouettes dark tree trunks. The scene creates a sense of calm.
Ferns and other life fill the woods floor. Dappled sunlight highlights textures and shades of green through deciduous tree canopy. The barer tree covered pasture behind is kept cleared by the neighbor's cows.
Orange day lily bloom fades into evening as the last of its kind for this year at this place behind the barn. Bloom season for 2026: May 23 through June 28.
Bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) nest attached to the side of the house directly under my deckchair. One came up to visit and stung me. We could not co-exist in peace apparently, so now the nest is gone.
A large bird, red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), soars with wings outstretched against a perfectly clear blue June sky. It was keeping an eye on me as I rode a horse below its nest in the tree to the left.