Article Source: Daily Journal
TUPELO – Five years ago, Josie Strain began incorporating long walks into her daily routine. Because she lives near Veterans Park in east Tupelo, the park became her go-to trail.
"But the summers were brutal with almost no shade," Strain said. "I mentioned this one day to someone and he said, 'Honey, you know there's a nature trail right across the street.'"
Even though Strain has lived in east Tupelo since 2006, she was unfamiliar with the Music Bend Nature Trail, which the city opened in August 2012. The 2.5-mile trail snakes through a wooded area along Mud Creek, where a young Elvis Presley used to swim with his friends.
The next day, Strain laced up her walking shoes and headed to the trail for the first time.
"I fell in love with it immediately," said Strain, a paralegal at Waide and Associates. "It's a beautiful little slice of heaven and nature right in the middle of town and within walking distance of my house."
That first day on the trail, Strain came upon a fork and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to find her way out, so she took a photograph for orientation.
That photo is one of almost 350 pictures Strain has shot with her iPhone in the three years she's been walking the Music Bend Nature Trail.
"I'm not a photographer and I've had no training," said Strain, a Tupelo native. "Every now and then, I luck up and get a good shot, but that's just because of the natural beauty of the place."
Strain has two dogs, Chuffy and Doozy, but both are older, so she usually walks the trail alone after work.
"It's very safe," she said. "I've never felt the least bit afraid. It's never crowded, but there are a good number who walk it. It's a sweet community of people."
Sometimes if she's feeling like company, Strain will walk with her artist friend, Nancy Davis, or with floral designer Tracy Proctor, who also lives in east Tupelo.
"I didn't realize I'd taken so many photographs until I put them into a digital album and shared them with Tracy," she said. "I'm so grateful for this trail."
Proctor walks the trail daily with his dog, Jasper, who sometimes allows Proctor to stop and enjoy the scenery.
"This place is so very special to me," Proctor said. "It's a simple walk in the woods. No waterfalls, no mountain views or acts of drama. The paths are generous in width, but also allow tangible views of our quiet native beauty."
Strain began capturing that beauty with her camera from her first day on the trail. Her photographs range from landscapes to wildlife to closeups of native plants, flowers and trees. The trail was built when Jack Reed Jr. was mayor of Tupelo. He and his wife, Lisa, made a donation of 40 crape myrtle trees for the park, and the Tupelo Garden Club donated several native plants to the trail in 2013.
"It's always changing, changing with the seasons," Strain said. "Of course, everything changes with the seasons, but the trail changes in a million ways. There are different flowers, different leaves, different birds."
Strain and Proctor have named different parts of the trail so they have reference points when they talk about it. One area reminds Strain of a place she visited in California, so they call that part California. The darkest part of the trail reminds Proctor of the children's story "Hansel and Gretel" so they call that stretch Hansel and Gretel.
When Strain first walked the trail in July 2017, she had no idea that the following spring, a long, straight path would be awash in daffodils.
"I went around that corner one day in spring and it took my breath away," she said. "All the daffodils were in bloom. It was so amazing. I've learned so much about nature and native plants just from here. I love this trail with all my heart and am grateful to every person who has made it – and continues to make it – available to the public."
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