With the return of what Houston considers “more moderate temperatures,” meaning not quite 70 degrees by 7am, we found another chance to get out into one of the few, nearby patches of nature, this morning.
This greeted us as we climbed out of the car at the trailhead. Great view through the nearby trees…
The American Beautyberries seemed to have gotten a bit farther along, since the last walk in these woods, and were joined by this little flowering vine. Farther down, the trail, the relatively low angle of the morning sun was playing off the spiderwebs quite nicely, as well.
In fact, a few more opportunities to view those presented themselves, in the course of the (I think) 1.5 mile walk.
Continuing on the trail, and passing through some areas where a previous undergrowth burn-out was conducted, the landscape shifted. Gone were the open understory as we entered more tightly closed-in growth, with the streaming sunlight struggling more to find its pathway to the leaf-strewn forest floor.
This, of course, prompts the spread of flora that prefers a greater degree of shade, in the moist and rich offering of soil and trees that have given up this world.
A fair mix, though, of those that look for just about anywhere to assert their right to grow.
Eventually, the path that branches off…
then, having stayed our course and made the bend that takes one along the pond (lake, the locals insist), you come to this relic of the forest’s history.
I can still conjure up the stories I would have imagined, as a child finding such a place in the depth of old woods.
From the final leg, back along the aforementioned pond, and the dragonflies begin to make their appearance.
Shyly, at first, but then a bold one decides to grace us with its presence.
Then, a first in all the times we have walked that path, another outdoor enthusiast we are about to pass mentions a creature, close to the edge of the water.
Beautiful…to be sure.
One last look along the line between forest and the murky depths.
While it does recharge us…it also, as usual, reminds us of the feeling we miss, in the mountains, the clear rivers, and the sighing forests of the northern mountain ranges.
Some day, we know, we will have to return.
Until then,
Tight Lines…