Just a Girl in the Woods

From the time I was just a young child, I have loved the woods. My sister and I spent many a summer day climbing trees and building trails and forts in the woods behind our house. Furthermore, the whole family enjoyed a trip to Wildwood looking for deer and picking apples, berries, nuts, or mushrooms. (Wildwood is still a favorite spot when I make a trip back to Michigan.)

Nowadays, I find my sanity out in the mountains near my home in Montana. But the forests of Montana are different than the woods of Michigan, and in the fall, I still miss those Michigan trees! 



I recently had a chance to channel that little girl in me while visiting Willow River State Park near Hudson, Wisconsin. This was a beautiful 5.5 mile walk through the woods, highlighted by a waterfall. Unfortunately, the overcast skies muted the autumn leaves, but I still reveled in the reds and oranges that are conspicuously missing in the Montana mountain forests. It was also a treat to spot birds that I have not seen in a long time, like blue jays and nuthatches. (Yes, we do have woodpeckers in Montana, but not in the proliferation that we found throughout Wisconsin and Michigan.) 

After a couple of hours, we had to return to the twenty-first century, the Subaru, and the interstate. But for just a little while, I was just a little girl, happily playing in the woods.

Willow Falls

I don't think I want to eat these...

The meaning of "playing"
might be a little different these days. 

Those woodpeckers have been busy!

There weren't many flowers left. 

Sumac

Stay tuned for the next episode in the Midwest Wanderings Series!