You know a secret trail in a North Shore woodland. You’ve been coming to this isolated spot for a little alone time since you were quite a bit younger, and you like it still.
MIKE LUBOW ILLUSTRATION BY KIRSTEN ULVE
Leaves are starting to fall. Seems like autumn is inevitable now, both as a time of year and a time of life, to be honest. You stop and lean against a tree, standing still. Feels like you’re hanging out on a street corner, watching the world go by.
Well, you’re hanging out, OK, but instead of watching the world go by, you’re watching the world stand still. There’s a hush on this wooded trail, away from the current batch of woes and worries found in the outside world. It’s like a still photograph in here.
You stand in the trees, and the trees do what they do best. They stand with you. So you stay for a while in this still photo that’s not a photo. But a place you like to visit after all these years, still.
This column was adapted by Mike Lubow from his book: Wild Notes: Observations over time about birds and other fleeting things. Available on amazon.com.
