| October 4, 1998 In the Forest
Today Marty and I went out walking in the woods at one of
our favorite parks, J.B. Williams park in Glastonbury. It's just a little park in
the woods, with ponds and streams and paths. We go there sometimes on the way home
from work, just to walk around the main path through the trees for a little exercise and
fresh air. We always see people out walking their dogs, riding their bikes, but it's
never crowded.
This time we walked up along a stream we like, climbing the
banks and crossing the stream from time to time on the rocks in the water -- just because
we could, you know. Then we struck off into the woods on a path we'd never taken
before, found a dry creekbed and a bunch of fallen-down trees and ended up walking a big
circuit through the park. Got a little lost, but that was fun, too.
It always surprises me when I go someplace like that, how I
can be a half-mile from the highway and feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere.
This park is located in a very civilized area, sort of a fifty-year-old subdivision right
outside Glastonbury, just a couple of minutes off Route 2, but when I'm in there among the
trees it seems secluded and faraway. I like that.
Today it was beautiful with the sunlight and bright blue
sky filtering through the trees and lighting up the forest floor in a pattern like lace.
There are both pine trees and leafy trees in the park (or should I say both
gymnosperms and angiosperms? I did get an A in botany). So it's neat in the
fall, because the pines stay deep green while the leaves are changing on the other trees.
They're getting a little red and yellow up in the tops right now, and the paths are
carpeted with pinestraw and leaves in some spots.
We saw two dogs chasing each other down the creek today,
through the water, barking like crazy and having a good time. I guess if I had a dog
I'd take it out there, too. It's just a great place. And in the winter there's
ice skating on the ponds, and I'm looking forward to going out and walking in the snow,
looking at the trees shivering with the ice on their branches. |
