Walking in the Woods

~ oneletterup

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Sand or Dirt
Which Way photo challenge

I escaped out the back door last week and headed to my favorite sanctuary of sorts. Which way to go? Down the path into “my woods” of course. At this time of year, I am blessed with a soft carpet of leaves to welcome me. The CFFC “sand or dirt” would obviously easily be found somewhere along the way.

First I checked in on my crooked tree – phew – still hanging on after all these (3) years.

As I walked deeper into the woods, I looked down and spotted a section of the path where many leaves had blown away. Aha! Sand and/or dirt! Plus a few of nature’s odds and ends.

At the end of the path, where it eventually ends near the parking lot of a local business, I came upon a pile of dirt. A huge pile. But it was more than dirt, it was a repository of refuse that had been pushed into a pile – widening the path to allow for a truck to pass through. Knocking down small trees in the process. I had seen it there before over the past several years, but it’s gotten much bigger – at least 4 feet high now. Yard waste, construction debris and who knows what else. A mountain of a stain on this beautiful landscape. I stepped into this mess for a few photos.

One showed life. One not so much.

Published by oneletterup

39 thoughts on “Walking in the Woods”

  5. Ahh, so this would involve a real investigation! I have 1 suggestion – call your local or state Parks Dep’t. They should know whether or not it’s a park, and may even know whose land it is. Anyway,
    I’m glad there’s still so much of it still so wild and beautiful! Because I moved to the city at age 16,
    all my memories of woods walking, of which I did a lot, are stirred from their long sleep by your photos.

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    1. My early childhood was spent in a neighborhood that had a patch of woods at the end of the street – still undeveloped land. Lots of happy memories spent exploring those woods. Last time I was back there (many years ago) it was all houses.
      About the woods here – it isn’t a park. That much I know. It’s either privately owned or owned by the utility company.

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      1. Me too — now the woods has been mostly taken over by some kind of housing. Probably only 1/2 of it remains. Still, through Google maps, I can trace the trail through the trees my brother and I used to sled and hike.

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      2. Hopefully the half that is left will remain as woods. It is cool how you can trace the old trail on Google maps.
        I recognize that the condo development where I live now was once…woods. Originally part of the woods that I walk through. Strange thinking of it that way.

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  6. The woods I walked in with my neighbor’s collie now has an official name, and is an “official” dog-walking park. Leashed dogs only. Duchess and I roamed through it on old native American trails overlooking the Hudson River, she as free as a breeze and always returning when called — and never another human in sight! It’s still pretty wild and scrappy, but now …

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    2. May I just say I think fear plays such a huge role in people’s behaviors – and these days there’s really what to be afraid of! The pandemic upended our lives in so many ways, and global warming has the potential to end life as we know it! I think fear can make us act in ways that defy logic … think of a mother whose child runs out in the street. First thing she wants to do is get really angry! And the reality is the government – ours and others – don’t seem to be able to make either one go away, so why not nurse a hatred of the government?

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      1. I totally agree with you. I believe – especially now – fear is what is driving a lot of behavior. When people are constantly afraid and don’t feel safe, they revert to the coping mechanisms inherent in fight or flight. Anger and deflecting blame is probably more of a basic survival tactic when we don’t know what else to do. It’s overwhelming.

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  8. Finding some answers in biology often helps me get some distance. It does not, however, keep me from becoming angry myself when I encounter the kind of craziness that can’t make room for kindness, selflessness, empathy, and my anger is definitely the fight or flight kind in that it feels as if there’s too much a stake to back off. — when there isn’t!

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  10. Pingback: CFFC: Future Nostalgic – Cee's Photo Challenges

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