A Walk in the Woods

A draft from a year ago that I never posted for some reason.

 

I walked a wooded trail where late afternoon cold whispered along the tops of my ears. I wrapped my shaking fingers around my camera to still them, lingering behind the other three members of the party to breathe in the damp smell of the forest. There's something perfect about the smell of a damp forest, rich and earthy, when fresh air mingles with the scent of fallen leaves. I'm closing my eyes and inhaling lukewarm indoor air trying to imagine it again, but it doesn't help.

I climbed a mountain. It wasn't a hard walk. We drove most of the way up before we even reached the base of the trail. That's how mountains are around here. We're surrounded by them all the time, so when I start climbing one, it sneaks up on me, masking itself with trees and rocks and creeks to cross, and I don't realize how far up I've come until I'm staring out over the valley and the tops of the trees.

Views like this never get old.

Although I've never tried, I think I could spend hours looking at the clouds on the horizon. While I was up there, the sun was starting to set, which sucked any warmth from the wind, but lit up the sky so beautifully.

On the trees around me hung leaves in vibrant reds and pine needles in vibrant greens. The wind blew and tossed them through the air. There's something magnetic about watching them spin and flutter to the earth.

We didn't finish the trail because it started to get dark. We turned back down the mountain, stumbling down steep paths and over rocks and through slick patches of leaves. We climbed back down the narrow trail behind the mill and jumped over the creek before our shoes could sink too deep into the mud on the bank.

A note from 2020 Lanie: I don't know why I never published this. I guess I read through it and decided that it wasn't good enough. I was trying to re-create the style that I used in Missing the Stars (still one of my favorite posts on this blog). This post isn't quite the same, but I think it's worthy of sharing. 

Go for a walk in the woods. It'll be worth it.