My Half Hour At Coldsprings Park

Anyone who has ever read this idiotic blog would know I am a nature-loving, outdoors person. I do not spend as much time in the outdoors when the weather turns chilly, but in a lot of ways I like being out there just as much.

There is much less for me to see this time of the year when compared to the summer months. Most of the birds have migrated south. The amphibians have all disappeared too. It has been a month since I have found a colorful beetle clinging to a leaf, waiting to be examined. But the quietness of the late autumn forest can be wonderfully surreal. There are no crickets chirping. No trilling tree frogs. The songbirds are few, and the ones still around are mostly quiet for unless there is danger lurking, they have no reason to sound-off. Even the trees themselves seem more peaceful what with no leaves to be shaken by the breeze.

Yesterday I took an impromptu detour on my way home from work and stopped by Coldsprings Park. I strolled away from the parking lot and went out on a walking trail that meandered through the trees. At one point I stopped and gazed about in every direction. The underbrush is now gone, ravaged by cold temperatures. Looking up, there is no longer a forest canopy. This time of year the sky is easily visible through the near-desolate branches overhead, and will remain visible until May. It was not a beautiful day for a hike, but I found it enjoyable, if only for a half hour or so, just standing among the eerily silent trees.