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Friday, April 18, 2014

Back To The Forest

I took a little unplanned break. I originally planned to come right back after my buffalo post, but I got kind of distracted with day to day things around here. My house is a little bit run down, and it needed a few repairs. There's still some work to do, but the rest isn't too urgent.

Anyway, I've been saying over and over that I needed to get back out to the forest for quite some time now. Some of you remember that this is what this blog used to be pretty much about. There's just so much to see around here that I keep getting sidetracked.

And then there's the fact that I had to wait for hunting season to end before I went back out. Obviously I didn't think that I would be among the hunted. I'm a human after all, just to confirm it to those of you who might not be sure. Hey, you never know on the faceless internet. I just didn't want there to be any unnecessary accidents, and there were plenty of hunters out there.

So on the first warm day after hunting season had ended, I went out to my favorite nature park around here, Five Ridge Prairie Preserve. The name can fool you, the first section of this park is all forest. It also has another section of woods past the first of a series of giant hills, which also includes a nice little creek running through it.

I stuck to the first section of the park this time, mainly because I never did get the time last winter to keep myself in good enough shape to go several miles into any park. I spent most of the winter sitting in the house or in my truck. I'll have to work my way up to long hikes, which I'll get to eventually.

The good thing is that there's plenty to see here in the first section of the park. That consists mostly of trees and more trees, but that's the way I like it. There are more trees back in Michigan, but I lived in a more urban area, so in my case there really wasn't.

Even in the small nature parks that I visited there, I experienced a peace of mind that is hard for me to fully describe whenever I was in the middle of all those trees. I feel that even more in the huge wild places here like this one. This place is so big that you could get lost without ever being found again. With that in mind, I stick close to the trails.

At the end of the forest there is a huge open valley that I like to visit. It's mostly tall grass, with a few trees here and there. Birds just love it down there. There's a nice river that runs through that section of the park. One of these times I'll get back down there, but for now I'm enjoying the sanctuary of the forest.

There were several other people here because of the unusually warm weather, so I didn't stay too long. I really like to be alone out here, which I am on most days. Once I begin going deep into the place, it won't matter how many people come here anyway, because most others don't go very far. I guess all of that makes me kind of a loner, but that's the way I like it, so it's okay.

So with my first trip to the woods this year out of the way, I'll talk to you later.

16 comments:

  1. Love visiting the woods with you. Show us more!

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    1. I will definitely show you more. I've been visiting the woods a lot.

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  2. It looks like spring still hasn't made its way to you yet!

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    1. It hadn't really at the time I took these pictures, but it's looking quite a bit better now.

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  3. You are a hunter, rather than to be hunted.

    You hunt the beauties in the forest.

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  4. I love the forest.

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  5. I love to be alone with nature and I am a bit like you when I go places...if there are many people I don't stay as long. Next time you visit maybe there will be less people and much more greenery!!

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    1. I'm pretty sure there will be a lot less people next time. It's unusual to see even one other person at this place. That's why I like it.

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  6. Back to the forest Ratty! The way you write about the woods tells us that is really where you are meant to be, at least some of the time anyways. I never feel alone in the woods. I am surrounded by a million "friends". Although not human they comprise of what I like to refer to as "home"!

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    1. The forest is the one place I always feel truly relaxed. I feel the same as you about it, but a bit less experienced. If I had my way, I would build a little cabin deep in the forest and live there for the rest of my life. That seems like heaven.

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  7. i love looking at trails lined with trees, or walking at forested trails, the presence of trees gives that strong sense of serenity

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    1. The trees are what do it for me every time. I could spend my life walking forest trails.

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