I started walking at Havener Park and Deer Haven Preserve regularly about a year ago. It was initially just a pleasant way to exercise in the fall: the weather was cooler, and my youngest son was in preschool three times a week. And on those rare days, being outside was much more appealing than grinding away another hour on the elliptical machine at the gym.While those walks were initially about speed and mileage and calories burned, they developed into something closer to a walking meditation: time to let my thoughts gently unknot themselves; time to observe the changes in trees, in plants, in wildlife; time to breathe deeply and feel the sun warming my skin and everything around me.
I came to treasure my time in the woods.
Over the summer, I spent time with my sons and (to a lesser degree, since somebody has to earn some money) my husband -- we went swimming, traveled to Chicago and Indianapolis and Lake Erie, visited museums, played at parks, went camping, and screamed our way through Cedar Point (twice!). It was a good summer.
But I missed my time in the woods.
Last week, when my youngest son started pre-k, I returned to Deer Creek. I logged four brisk, sweaty miles in an hour, and my tender toes, which had become unaccustomed to being enclosed in actual shoes over the long summer, ached and complained for the next four days.
Sorry, toes.
Today I returned, for a shorter, and more leisurely, walk. As I walked Bent Tree Ridge, the idea that had so often demanded attention last year surfaced again. Why not write about these walks? Take pictures. Note the changes that happen with the plants and the trees and the animals.
My usual rebuttals surfaced, too.
Me: It would be easier when <the youngest> is in kindergarten.
Inner Voice: No, it won't. He'll only be in kindergarten two or three days a week.
Me: Okay, then, when he's in first grade.
Inner Voice: That's two years away!
Me: True....
Inner Voice: You may be doing something else entirely by then. Do it now.
Me: Well.... Maybe this isn't the best time to start. Maybe I should wait for Spring. Or January 1.
Voice: Those are arbitrary dates. Stop hedging. This is the perfect time of year. You should do it. Just do it.And while I was trying to think of one more reason why now wasn't the best time, I saw a young deer, not 30 feet from the path. He startled quickly and bounded away just moments after I saw him, but that decided the issue.
While the preserve's name is "Deer Haven," actual deer encounters are somewhat rare. In all my walks, I think this was perhaps my fourth or fifth. So it was special that it happened just then -- a gentle urge in this direction.
From that moment on, I noticed what was around me. Goldenrod and white and yellow daisies adorned the meadow; the grass was tall with seeds, looking more like wheat. White and yellow butterflies fluttered among the flowers. Crickets were scattered across the sunny paths; every step I took sent a half dozen of them hop-flapping into the flora for shelter. And they were so very loud today -- desperately intent, I would guess, on successfully attracting a mate. A startled squirrel crashed through the mat of fallen leaves into the safe branches of a tree. The sun was warm, the breeze was light, the sky was bright blue.
Yes, it was a perfect day for a walk in the woods.
Here's to many more in the next year.
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Time: 12:50 to 1:30 p.m.
Temperature: 68F
Paths: Bent Tree Ridge, the Nature Center loop
Distance: 2.3 miles
Wildlife: Young deer, squirrel, butterflies, crickets
Noticable flora: Goldenrod, daisies; trees are (already!) starting to drop leaves
