Walking softly

Recently, at one of our most familiar wild spots, Toucie and I discovered an unfamiliar path. We looked at each other in silent agreement and without a word veered away from our regular trail to explore this new, strange one.

The day was grey and drizzly, and we were all alone in the forest, but the vivid greens of springtime illuminated the woods and the air was fragrant and crisp. We were both awed into hushed whispers as we walked along, eyes wide.

Everywhere we looked we saw brilliant green moss, ferns, and the earliest of the native wildflowers.

  






















Toucie found a spring bubbling out of the hillside...she bathed her face like a little racoon.

Our trail followed the curve of the river and lead to an inlet of sorts, with a rocky beach where Toucie tossed pebbles and searched for fossils.
I almost always find one of these when I'm on the banks of the Harpeth river:

They say if you look through a holey-stone you can see the "little people"....we looked for them on our hike back through the woods. We didn't see any wee folk, but we imagined that they might live in places like these:

I'm feeling very grateful for this corner of the world where my family's made it's home. I hope your surroundings are bringing you great joy as well this season!