Fall Colors mix with Vivid Greens
It’s been a great month for me. I’m feeling better than I have in several years and I’m able to get out and hike more. Just being able to hike for an hour to hour and a half opens up so many trails I’ve not visited for so long, at some of my favorite parks.
Today I went out to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and walked the Wood Duck Trail. As you start out on the trail, a hillside of tall sugar maples is on one side of the trail and a small pond and marsh on the other side.
While not especially photogenic or picturesque, I loved hiking this secluded trail and recognizing those little glimpses of “spirit slipping out” through the cracks. From spots of color, to shapes of trees, to creatures I met along the way, I felt wonder and gratitude for every step.
I've learned that everything that matters goes the way of the dolphin; drifting most of the time out of view, breaking surface when we least expect it. And our job—in finding God, in being God; in finding truth, in being truth; in finding love, in being love—is to meet the world at the surface where Spirit slips out through every cut. — Mark Nepo Excerpted from Reduced to Joy by Mark Nepo.
Despite the large number of people who visit the Landscape Arboretum daily, I find that I usually have the woodland trails to myself. Today I was passed by a single jogger, but otherwise saw no other human being on my walk.
Glimpses of fall color through the trees
I saw lots of squirrels, chipmunks, and birds, 1 snake and 1 white tail deer, and heard wood ducks quacking and geese honking during my hike. What a gift!
Part of the trail (the Wood Duck Trail Loop) went through the middle of a marshy area. The trail narrowed with tall cattails taller than the top of my head on both sides and in places felt like a quaking bog—a little unnerving to feel the ground moving up and down under my feet with each step I took. I just kept hoping that my feet wouldn’t break through the bog and land in the water.
While I usually greet garter snakes with calm enjoyment, the one I met on this path in the middle of a “quaking” bog area startled me and had I been on solid ground would have made me jump. I waited for the startled snake to slither away into the reeds and then quick-stepped past the spot where it disappeared.
After I finished hiking the Wood Duck Trail, I headed up a steep hillside set of stairs to see where they went. It felt so good to move, and it’s been so long since it felt good to move, that I almost broke into song. Each step felt like a blessing.
When was the last time that you noticed how good it feels to stride down a path? Take a moment to notice and thank your body for carrying you with such ease. It’s a miracle we often forget to notice.
May you walk in beauty.
Two leaves in a small rock-filled stream
Graceful fallen tree curves
Fall colors appearing
Curling leaves create pattern
This is what I found at the top of the hill
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