Art of Walking Too

Look closely at the above picture. You can barely see the trail slant uphill and make a curve to the left. At first it looks like the trail just goes straight but as you advance you see around the bend. I absolutely believe that you have to train yourself to see everything that is on/off the trail and look around every bend. I have a tendency to walk along not seeing what I am looking at. My mind wanders and soon I am thinking about everyday problems and worries. I have to bring myself back to the moment and be not only an observer, but an interpeter...see the slant of the sun light, smell the damp forrest floor, see the slight movement of a bird in the trees and not miss a thing. That takes a lot of patience (of which I have always been short).

Jack-in-the pulpit berries

There is so much to see and feel around you. I love the end of this poem by Thoreau:

If with fancy unfurled

You leave your abode,

You may go round the world

By the old Marlborough Road.

There is a whole world out there, insects. birds, animals, plants, trees all going about the business of living and if you look at it all closely you can see the miniture world around you.

The Perfect Walk

I set out for a walk on a "perfect day". The sun is shining the temperatures are moderate and I am hoping for the "perfect" photograph of a bird or butterfly. But, in reality, some of my best walks have been on cloudy, rainy days, or cold autumn mornings or best of all winter walks in newly fallen snow. Just a glimpse of a heron flying over the river, of seeing the little Jack-in-the-pulpit berries on the forrest floor is a rewarding walk at the end of the day.

Autumn is coming...my favorite time of the year and the best time for birding. The trees have lost some of their leaves making it easier to see the birds and there are birds migrating that you won't see at other times of the year. The smell of the woods, the brilliant colors and the crisp, cool temperatures all make walking most pleasant. Again Thoreau puts it better than I....

As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year nears its setting.
October is it's sunset sky; November it's later twilights.