Moss-covered Memories

  On the north side of the Little Bayou House, there is a trail that leads into the woods.  It meanders under the magnolia trees, between huge clumps of palmettos and down the hill to the chinkapin (chinquapin) trees. Once you make the final turn back toward the house, you happen upon a rather interesting sight.  Beneath the briers, you can find the most lovely, moss-covered log that you ever want to see!  The thing is a good fifteen feet long and has most of the bark missing.  All that is left is the heart of the tree and mounds of rotted wood.  What once was a majestic pine tree now is a delightfully interesting moss bed.

  No matter how often I hike this path, the log is always a stopping point.  It fascinates me.  I admit that this fascination comes from as far back as my childhood.  It was then that I was taught to see things a bit differently than most folks.  A moss-covered log is not some discard of nature but is a habitat for a multitude of new species of flora and fauna.  It is not some ugly trash in the forest but is a thing of natural beauty.  

  As a child, the discovery of such a log would have thrown me into a fantasy land of make believe. Hours upon hours would have been spent clearing the brambles from the area.  My small hands would have been scratched by the briers, arms bitten by ants and mosquitoes and I would have been dirty beyond belief but...my log would have become a play area,  More oft than not, my folks could find me in the edge of the woods playing in my own little world.
  
  This afternoon as Mark and I walked the back path, that log took me way back to those happy times.  I mentioned to Mark that I wanted to clear the pathways again and maybe cut the brambles away from the old log.  I am not sure he understood what was going through my head but he simply nodded in agreement and let me wallow in the possibilities of a new happy place.

Hiking Forgotten Paths

  Sometimes, my hikes with the old dog get to be a bit repetitive since he is not able to do a lot of strenuous climbing over downed logs or worming his way through underbrush.  I have to stick to the clear trails which makes for seeing the same things over and over again.  However since he is feeling poorly from the bronchitis, I left him inside today.  Son and I headed out to the back woods to get firewood.  I have not been on this part of the property in months so it was an adventure...almost.  There were so many new things to see!

  One of the things that impressed me was the variety of turkey tail mushrooms that were on most of the felled trees.  The colors were so varied!  One log had a cluster of the mushrooms that scaled the cut end of the log.  It was actually beautiful!  I was hesitant to let Son cut the fallen trees merely because it would mean a loss of habitat for these mushrooms.  I had to do some heavy weighing here...warmth. mushrooms...warmth, mushrooms.  Warmth won so he cut and I hauled.

  Being able to expand my hiking trail was like finding a long lost friend.  Although, I recall every step of the path from previous hikes, the area was filled with new and exciting things.  The change of seasons does remarkable things to woods.  Being away for just a few months, made the changes jump out at me.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!  It was all I could do to stop exploring and start hauling firewood.  Hopefully, I can slip out again tomorrow and explore a bit more before the bad weather sets in on the weekend.