September 18, 2007

My woods

Woods

The rhythm of the household has shifted now that fall semester is underway. Teaching gives my life a structure: one day I get a quiet morning at home to work, the next day is filled with classes and meetings, the next day, another quiet morning at home. Because I'm an extrovert, I enjoy the busy days on campus. Teaching energizes me, forces me to think about issues larger than my personal life. But I also value the days when I'm at home, working at my desk, exchanging emails with friends, and eating lunch by myself at the round wooden table that looks out the big glass windows to the woods beyond the house.

I don't go into my own woods much during the summer because the mosquitoes are fierce. But now that it's September, the bugs are gone, and I can walk amongst the trees behind my house without slapping at my arms constantly. I live in the sticks: a flat, wet landscape of young trees that grew up after some of the land had been logged or farmed, and groves of scotch pines planted by the CCC. There aren't any spectacular vistas or gorgeous lakes: just acres and acres of trees. Some of my trails follow old logging roads, others follow trails made by white-tailed deer. In a few more weeks, the foliage will turn spectacular shades of red and orange, but for now, the trees are mostly green and yellow and gold, the soft shades of early fall.

12 comments:

purpleteardropsofhappilymarriedness said...

Beautiful photo, I don't think it matters whether you have "spectacular vistas or gorgeous lakes" or not, I mean, their not required to be a place where you can connect to. I'm jealous of your backyard, all I've got is some grass and houses upon more houses. The way you took the shot makes it seem really inviting, like once it gets more into the fall season a great place to sit in and read or write. You have to post pictures of when the leaves change, I'm looking forward to seeing them :). Acres and acres of trees would be enough to make me happy, most of my life has been the suburban setting, and I prefer the wilderness form of nature to the urban kind, as concrete doesn't do much for my soul.

Silver Creek Mom said...

I have the same problem here, Blackflies...but now we can walk thorugh to the field and out into open spaces. No lakes, maybe a ditch with some running water.
But it is peacful and centers one.

NOW I know what to blog about next..maybe...

listie said...

Beautiful

I miss having easy access to my own woods.

YourFireAnt said...

Glad you're back to normal. Did you brush your teeth this morning?

;-D

FA

susan said...

I can't wait until our mosquitos go away!

And I so want to live where you do.

argon(one) said...

Great post . . . as usual. I always enjoy reading your posts daily. I live in a suburban area, but there are woods and trails only minutes from my house, so my family and I are able to enjoy the pleasures of nature often. I miss the days of my youth though. In those days my backyard was thousands of acres of forestland and mountains. My brothers and I would romp around and play in the forest until dark every day. If there were mosquitoes, we didn't pay any attention to them . . . unlike today. We grilled out last night and the local mosquitoes must have enjoyed it immensely. I have six new bites to prove they were in attendence.

Michael Campbell said...

Your photos make me want to follow you around and see everything you see. (Okay, maybe not so much the toothbrushing.)

Yankee T said...

classic jo(e), both post and photo.

duopastorale said...

I think I have a similar routine to yours, but I don't live in such a beautiful place. I look forward to the fall photos!

Ampersand said...

So many different greens. Beautiful.

Overeducated Twit said...

Those woods look lovely. How nice it must be to have them to explore and and collect your thoughts.

Katie said...

Gosh. Sounds so lovely. Wish I lived somewhere like that.