Walking in the woods

What is it about being in the woods that makes you feel good?  Maybe it is the crunch of the leaves, or the sounds of the squirrel scolding you from the branches above your head.  Maybe its the peace and quiet.  I think for me, its all of those things and the fact that it takes me back to when I was a kid and spent many many hours in the trees above my house.  I didn't grow up with a computer and a phone that played games.  We never even had cable television until I was much older.  Being outside is what occupied my time.  Running off into the woods, walking up to the train tracks, finding railroad spikes that somehow ended up in the yard.  I broke my arm falling off of a rope swing tied into the biggest tree I could find.

I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that I enjoy being out in the woods.  Even more so now because I look at the trees with the eyes of a woodworker.  That makes me laugh.  That doesn't even sound right when I read it back.  In reality I look at every tree and think "How many spoons would that make?"

I have gone walking in the woods three of the last five days.  I think I am going to head out there again tomorrow.  I can't wait for the leaves to start coming in.  For the browns to turn to greens and for everything to come alive.  I can't wait to see the Crappie spawning in the shallow end of the resevoir.  It won't be long now.

One of these days I am going to come home with some wood to carve spoons out of.  There is some holly growing down there that I have been wanting to cut down.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep walking in the woods.  I hope it is something that I can do for a long long time.