Day 3

If yesterday’s theme was water, today it must be mud.  My boot tugs back as I coax it from deep puddles and ruts and it complains with that mud suction sound.  It is cold.  Too cold to just sit.  The thick, gray clouds are blocking, more than filtering light.

I’m lugging my camera but I am not hopeful that I will turn much up.  I decide to challenge myself… to see what I can find to photograph.  I look for small things.  Bits of color or texture.  Exercise for the longest setting on my zoom lens.

Time slips away and my memory card fills up.  The forest is filled with endless subjects to challenge me.  Why did I doubt?

Bergman Park

Day 2

Have you ever walked forest trails that look like dry creekbeds? Today I walked those forest trails and they were  not empty; they were not dry. Water. Water. Water.

It gushed out of the ground and ran down the hills, gathering volume and strength.  Gurgling.  Sputtering.  Gushing.  Water.  Water.  Water.

The air was thick with fog and mist.  Water.  Water.  Water.

We lunched in a Hemlock Grove beside a creek that overflowed it banks.  Water.  Water.  Water.

The skies opened and a gentle rain began to fall; eventually it drenched us.  Water. Water.  Water.

Allegany State Park
North Country Trail

Day 1 – Starting Again…

The top layer of leaves has thawed enough to provide a soft cushion under my feet, but I can feel that the ground below the leaves is still frozen.  The air is warm and misty.  I don’t need gloves or a hat, but I wear both.  I am in no hurry as I pick my way through the woods allowing whatever catches my eye to captivate me.

At the half-way point, I sit on a log in Cavity-Nesters Paradise.  I notice several trees with holes.  Some of these holes appear to have formed naturally – the scar from a lost branch perhaps.  Others were obviously excavated by woodpeckers.

I listen intently trying to identify birds by their songs.  Black-capped Chickadee.  White-breasted Nuthatch.  Tufted Titmouse.  Red-bellied Woodpecker.  I spot most of these, as well as a Downy Woodpecker.  There is another song that I don’t remember ever hearing before.  I strain to find the source, but I am not successful.  I hope I will be able to find this bird another day… before the branches leaf out.

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My hike in the woods today inspires me to do the Sit-Spot Challenge again.  I will do it differently this time…  I won’t use the same Sit-Spot every day.  I will go outside every day to sit, but the location may vary.  Today it was the woods behind Bergman Park.