Going Into The Winter Woods.....

"Go to the winter woods: listen there, look, watch, and “the dead months” will give you a subtler
secret than any you have yet found in the forest."   ~    Fiona Macleod, Where the Forest Murmurs

For me, going into the woods this weekend meant going to Bays Mountain (see yesterday's post ).  So when I happened upon this quote today, I marveled at the fact that even without Fiona MacLeod's words, I somehow knew that looking, watching and listening in the winter woods would prove to be full of revelations.  I had already been to church before heading to the mountain but being there was an opportunity to worship in an entirely different way -- and at a very different and soulful level.

 Never have I thought of this beautiful slice of Nature as experiencing "dead months."  Far from it!  In fact, yesterday the critters and birds were more active than I think I've ever seen them.  A family of three wild raccoons played "hide-and-seek" as they scampered in the snow. I wondered if they knew that they had relatives in one of the nearby habitats.  Birds called to one another from atop barren tree branches.  As if in an attempt to sing in unison, the raptors and owls in their habitats perked up, cocked their heads to one side and opened their beaks although I didn't hear them utter a sound. Squirrels and chipmunks perched themselves on fallen tree trunks and watched as I passed by... as if they were silently daring me to step over them (which I would never do because I believe in enjoying Nature without disturbing those who call it home.)  And, in every habitat the animals basked in sunlight as they spent a lazy January Sunday afternoon in peaceful harmony with their environment.  Wolves romped, deer rested in the sunshine, and the bobcats stood on their back legs while stretching and reaching far up the trunk of the nearest tree.

It appears as though some woodland creature found this otherwise pristine area of snow on the forest floor before I did!  I can't say for sure but I think I stood there for at least 10 minutes wondering how the scene might have differed had I been a few minutes sooner.  Would the owner of these little footprints have posed long enough for me to snap a picture or would it have scampered off before I could do so?

As I stood at the edge of Bays Mountain's lake, I marveled at the stillness and soothing quiet.  The barren trees fascinate me.  My daughters have told their friends "My mom is weird, she thinks dead trees are pretty - in  a different way than the fall trees are."  And, they would be right about that.  When I take in the sight of these barren trees (which we all - including the girls - know are not really dead) I marvel at the stark contrast to how I envision they will look in Spring, Summer and Fall.

For as far as the human eye or a camera lens can see, the sun glistened on the frozen lake while tree branches painted wispy shadows on the snow.  The beauty of this image beckons me to come again soon -- this time with pen and paper in hand instead of (or perhaps along with) camera.  This sanctuary-within-a-sanctuary is the perfect spot to stop and listen for the whispers of my muse.  And so, I watched... I listened... and I looked. And everywhere I turned there were the truths of Mother Nature reinforcing that all is right at that place and in that moment...