POND AND WOODS

Today was overcast and promised rain later on in the afternoon and it was one of those days that screamed "get out of town" loudly in my head.  It was a long time since I visited the bird park over toward Strawberry Plains and that's where we, Clarissa and I headed.  The wonderful thing about this birding park is the solitude and quietness of the place.  Its amazing how peaceful one can feel when things are quiet.

 The first thing that caught my attention was the sound of bees.  They were bumble bees chasing after nectar.  I wish there were honey bees here but alas there were none.  Not one honey bee could be seen all day.  That is amazing!  It also is pretty frightening if you think about it for awhile.

 These guys had the entire birding acreage to themselves and they were making the most of it.

 We crossed a field or meadow if you will and noticed a body of water below us at the edge of the woods.  Ah ha!  A pond.  The pond was surrounded by forest that provided shade and helped to keep the water plants healthy.  The place was beautiful.

Everything was quiet, serene and highlighted with nature's color.

The narrow trail lead downhill toward the water and the views and scenes along the way were beautiful.

And finally it was there in front of us.  Although impossible, it appeared untouched by the human hand.  No litter, clean and obviously owned by someone, it was a natural pond.  But, to me it appeared undiscovered, the beauty of the place a mental vision of perfection.

Outrageously beautiful!

T

The surrounding forest is no less beautiful.  Above illustrates what I say.  Below is a closeup of the cardinal in the above shot.

The vine twists around the tree when the tree is very young.  The vine tightens as it grows.  The tree also grows and pushes out against the vine that is encircling it causing the tree to eventually envelope the vine until it, if nature affords the opportunity of long life to the tree, grows over and covers the vine and nothing is left of the vine but smooths humps running evenly up the tree.

There are so many sights that I assign the term unique to.  What a really nice, wonderful day!

The forest is thick and extends far in a northerly direction

Like humans, the individual plants collectively make up a community that serves the greater order that is the forest.  

I rested upon the bench you see below while I looked out upon the mountains and meadows that lay before me, the French Broad River directly below and wondered if Clarissa would be along soon.

She came strolling along with two four leafed clovers between her lips - one for each of us to signify how lucky we both are to be who we are and where we both live.  The end of a nice day.....

Hope you enjoyed the post.