A walk in the woods

On a whim I took a walk into the woods above my house this afternoon. Quite literally a whim: I had not planned to take a walk and had no premonition I'd be in the woods today. I haven't walked the pathway in several years mainly for fear of walking alone after having witnessed bear, moose, big cats, coyotes, and fox on my property. But I bought a personal tear gas canister a few months ago and had it with me; it eased my mind.

It's so very beautiful a walk, super quiet solitude in a multi-hundred acre conservation forest. I did not go as far as the waterfall, going only as far the clearing in the path. It was a bit of a shock to see how much logging was done on the way to the clearing a few years ago. The lumberjacks were out there all of one season and they cleared a quite large area. I did not explore the cleared area but will do so in a future walk.

The space above this knoll was logged a few years ago. 

The clearing in the path. Great location for a picnic.

The clearing in the path would make a great place for a picnic and I think I'll plan one for September. Maybe Labor Day with friends and neighbors. I was thrilled to find milkweed gowing there; I haven't seen them in the wild since I was a child. The distinctive bird body-like pods that will open up soon to release thousands of feather weight fluff with seeds attached. A miracle.

Milkweed

A spring on the way to the clearing.

The walk came after some hours working in the downstairs bathroom remodel (a post about that soon) and switching the license plates from my old car to the new (a post of that to come soon as well).

I almost felt drawn to the woods today. Hard to explain how it was such a spontaneous impulse with no forethought. I had been doing some observation meditation in the morning which put me in touch with some very deep feelings and perhaps that was the driving force. I hope to soon have a post or two about what music I'm working on at the minute and what projects are in the works--there are a few of them.