As the day grows darker in the forest that edges my home every thing seems to become spooky. In the shadow of the trees you look off into the dense distance. There in the distance the wind blows and you see the deer feeding, always alert and in between periods of eating they look for danger. One odd smell, one sound of a twig break, or any sight of danger they run off as fast as possible to look back every once in a while.
Looking past the deer and into the trees the birds sing and play. Seeing the birds flying south or getting ready for the winter is the most saddening feeling. The songs of the many birds will not fill the mornings as they did during the summer months. It is now up to the birds that stay for the winter to fill the mornings with their songs. While watching the birds you see as they dick or fly behind the thinning, and yet colorful foliage. From time to time I watch as leaves fall to the ground, twirling and zig zagging to the ground. The leaves have fallen in masses along the ground creating a beautiful carpet of different colors.
The beauty of the leaves spread ever so far between the trees and hide the critters that burry underneath to keep warm from the winter months. It is quite profound to see the changes in color and thickness in their fur during the winter so that they can blend in. It is as if they put on camouflaged winter clothes in their preparation for hungry predators and the cold of winter. At times these critters will search under rocks for either food or shelter from the many unknown weather changes.

While the animals and other creatures of the woods meander about in the forest they must move past rocks that lay on the ground. These giant rocks that have the most unimaginable size were brought by the glaciers so long ago. Some rocks are above the ground and some are below.
Large rocks, big rocks they are none the same, and yet they are, because they’re rocks and that may sound sort of lame, but rocks they are and ever shall be. From out between rocks the strongest seeds survive, between weeds and animals picking or sucking the life out of them. These magnificent and strong willed seeds become trees and plants, That can grow to be eaten, used as paper, or to just live as long as possible. The trees that make it they stay together as if to keep warm in the upcoming cold and the grasses and ferns start to turn brown.
In amongst the trees the animals move in-between, outside, in, and around. The deer have made trails with in the forest and for years they follow, to know where to go and find food. These trails may get covered by the snow but they always know where the trails are and which ones to take. At times you see them traveling through the forest with relative ease because they follow the paths that have been cleared. At other times it seems as if they don’t even exist, especially during the hunting season when you sit for hours and nothing comes.
The trails seem never ending but are quiet and tranquil. These trails seem to be there as if the wildlife wants us to walk in as understanding organisms and not to destroy their habitat but to enjoy it. Some people look into the woods with glee and delight and others look in with dismay and fright. It is at times hard to understand what goes on with in, where, and when, the unknowing, the unslowing, and every thing we see.
It is as if they want to share the beauty of the woods with us, or… maybe just a little present along the way.