Another Walk in the Woods
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| A waist high ant nest |
I would never call myself an outdoorsman or a woodsman. Camping, with the smell of smoke on my
clothes and grit under my nails and the choice between a cold wash-up in the
creek and smelling like an exhausted racehorse is no choice at all. And, sipping burnt coffee from a tin cup can
never replace a dry martini in a well tended bar and a comfortable leather club
chair.
I don’t hunt or fish, although plenty of my friends do.
But, I do enjoy solitude, which is a rarity indoors, with
washing to be done and housecleaning and doorbells and financials that can’t
wait, along with emails pinging and iMessages chirping and someone nearby who
promises “This will only take a minute.”
So what’s an ‘only comfortable with comfort’ person to
do. I say choose both: Outdoor strolls, then back to the comfort of
home. So, I take walks in the woods.
Do I mean hikes with a forty pound backpack, and plodding up
steep, rocky hillsides? No, I do
not. For me, it’s a three quarters of an hour
stroll through the forests, my trusty camera at my side, hearing the music of
the wind rustled leaves, admiring the serene beauty of nature, hearing birds
chirping in the trees and watching wild ducks gliding through the water, the
bright, careless beauty of wild flowers, the mystery of trails leading to other
trails, and most of all, the complete lack of human contact, while only mild
hills tax endurance.
The pleasant silence gives a body time to think and plan and
figure out what’s important. Strangely, washing and mowing the yard doesn’t make
the list. You can mark out those
five-minute jobs and grocery shopping, also.
On this trip through the woods, I got all I asked for and
more.
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| Northern Pintails |
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| A grass snake, about the size of a No 2 Yellow pencil |
Even the beauty of serenity doesn’t last forever. But, now at least I’m rejuvenated. Enjoy the rest of the photos!
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