Autumn Adventure

This was one of the nicest weekends ever! The weather was beautiful. It seems like things just came together perfectly late Friday afternoon - the fog lifted and the sun came out, and everything sparkled for the next two days! I'm sure lots of people reacted the same as I did and got outside to either work or walk in the sunshine. I worked on Saturday - wrapped up outside work except for the picnic table and Adirondack chairs. I'm hoping they will overwinter ok - being composit, I expect they will be fine left in the elements. I covered the porch chairs and got everything lined up so the wind won't move things around (I hope!), and although the porch looks pretty desolate right now, I'm telling myself it's better to have it done now rather than waiting until it's bitterly cold.

Sunday was totally different! I did a few things inside in the morning, but only what was absolutely necessary, and in the afternoon, carefully planned a walk in the woods. I'll explain. Fred and I frequently walked in our woods, as many of you who have been reading my blog posts over the years will remember. The trails we used were kept more or less open because we were on them regularly. However, when Fred wasn't feeling well, we mostly walked the open lawn space around our home, and the trails became completely overgrown within a year or two. The last time I was up in the woods, I had decided to transplant some of the excess flowers from our perennial beds along the trench we'd had Luke Persons dig for us to divert water off the lawn. It was very pleasant up there then - a trickle in the ditch from the spring above, and marshy woods beyond the trench. The spring house my father built was visible through the trees and I cleared a nice path - with stone steps in one spot, I remember - from our lawn to the bank above. I could still make out the path Fred and I always used to climb the steep hill in back of our house, and there was a lovely big boulder next to the little brook where I spent some time sitting in the sun. I planted irises and planned to keep that area open and accessible as a secluded niche within a few feet of our back lawn. I went there several times that summer and it was a lovely spot.

When I decided yesterday to head into the woods, I knew the trails were probably gone and it would be rough going. I had some things to take to Jamie and Marie, so I loaded them into my backpack, tucked my cell phone in one of the pockets, grabbed the walking stick a friend had given me about a year ago, donned sunglasses, a cap, and proper boots, and struck out to go through the woods to Jamie and Marie's house. It isn't far, much shorter than going on the road, but mainly I wanted to see what it was like in our woods - and I figured I'd check the water level in the spring while I was up there.

At the beginning, it didn't go well. I couldn't find a good place to even enter the woods from my lawn. I had decided not to take any tools to cut a path as I went - I knew I'd need both hands to keep my balance on unstable ground and didn't want the extra weight. The weeds were shoulder high, and it was a tangle of goldenrod, small bushes and broad-leafed grass underfoot. Every step sent a puff of pollen and dust from dead leaves and grasses swirling around me. In places it was steep and there were roots to trip me and tree branches swatted my face. I had to backtrack several times, defeated by the tangle of undergrowth in my chosen direction. I finally found the drainage ditch - hardly any water in it, but that's probably because the ground has been so dry there isn't much excess. I knew where the spring was located, but after twenty minutes or so of inching my way through the tangle of weeds and gaining only a few rods, I decided I'd take the easiest route I could find and explore the spring  another time.

A few years ago, it would have been a five minute hike, but I was younger and the woods wasn't overgrown. Also, I was being extra careful - I did not want to fall and injure myself. I purposely had waited until a weekend when Jamie and Marie were home  so I could either call them on my cell or probably even shout and they'd hear me and get me out of whatever pickle I was in. As it was, I followed the drainage ditch a short distance until got away from the undergrowth tangle, and from there it was comparatively easy going under big cedar and spruce trees, with only roots and fallen logs to contend with. I worked my way back up the hill to Jamie and Marie's parking area and emerged covered with leaves and pollen, hot and ready to sit for a spell. But it was exhilarating  to have done what I have been wanting to do for a while but never had the nerve to give it a try. It actually went better than I had anticipated - frustrating as it was at times, and I thoroughly enjoyed being in the woods again. Now I chuckle to myself thinking about what a short distance I actually covered. But at my age, and not having been in the woods on rough ground for literally years, I am elated at my achievement! Like the saying goes, "there's no fool like an old fool," and that's me!

I remember scolding my father for doing foolish things - his adventures were mostly getting into his car and heading off someplace when the roads were icy or slippery with snow. He was in his late 80s and wasn't supposed to be driving at that point, but I later learned he sometimes sneaked off to visit neighbors, or even ventured to the Joe's Pond Country Store for coffee with his cronies. He got into trouble a few times and got his grandsons to pull him out of snow banks or get him up the hill back into his garage so I wouldn't know. He had helped them many times when they were youngsters, and I'm just learning about some of those escapades now, so it was quid pro quo.  

Here is a photo I took this afternoon - the sun was out again this morning, and then we had a rain shower, mid-afternoon. The leaves are still pretty around my house, but they will all be gone soon. Our world is beautiful in the autumn - a final flourish before the quiet blanket of snow comes.