New Day 60 – Lost and Found

It’s been a long time since I blogged. But today I got the bug again, and headed out into the woods in search of mushrooms. I did not take Oliver with me as the last time I headed into the woods with him, I got lost, and we walked for several hours before I found the road again. We’d gone in a U-turn.

I did think briefly of taking my compass, but decided since I was taking a route I’d taken many times, there was no need. (You know what’s coming, don’t you.)

It’s a grey and damp day, but warm, with no real rain.

Heading out into the woods at the back of my property.

Some beautiful dead trees on the way to the stream.

I’ve found the stream, and will now follow this to the pond. No mushrooms yet.

Look at those lovely velvet rocks.

With the stream at my right, I know the pond is up ahead. Still no mushrooms—at least not the edible kind.

Here We are at Hodge Pond. It is a reassuring and beautiful sight.

Another view of the pond. This pond is in the middle of the woods, with no houses, and no people except the rare person like me and the occasional hunter.

One more view of the pond before I head off for the old logging road that will take me back home.

I’ve decided, rather than heading straight ahead to where I know the road is, I will cut through the woods at an angle. I’ll either hit the logging road, or the road it runs into. I can’t get lost because I’m surrounded by roads on three sides, and the pond on the other. Here I have run into a stone wall that is typical of NH woods—they are scattered throughout all the woods here, as this was all pasture land once.

Okay…so I’m lost. I’ve been walking for some time now—don’t recognize anything. Here’s a hunter’s old ladder. The tree platform has gone—probably rotted away along time ago. But I’m encouraged—if a hunter got in here, I can get out.

At this point I’ve stopped looking for mushrooms. I’m looking for anything that might lead me out of here. I come across boundary markers, so I start following them. But then I notice they are all over the place, and not in a straight line. Which way to go? I don’t know. Then I hear gun shots. It’s hunting season. At least I was smart enough to wear my red and yellow reflective vest. I decide to head towards the sounds of the gun.

But then I come across a straight stone wall. I think this will help me stay in a straight line. I follow it. I tell myself that even if I have to sleep in the woods for the night, I’ll be okay. But then the wall just ends. So I say a little prayer and head off in what I think might be the right direction. Then suddenly I can see what looks like an open area, in the distance. I head for that.

As I approach, I can see that it’s a body of water, but I’m so confused. I cannot think of another body of water in the direction I believed I was heading. As I draw near, I see that it’s Hodge Pond. I have been going in a big circle (or circles—for all I know.)

I decide not to be stupid this time, and I walk keeping as close to the pond as I can without getting my feet wet.

As I walk, and remember how large the pond is, I realize I’d taken my “short cut” way too soon. But I’m taking no chances this time.

After taking that last pond photo, I turned around and saw at my feet, the mushrooms I’d been hoping to find. These are Oyster mushrooms and they are delicious. I took this cluster. A little gift from Mother Earth.

These I left, to seed themselves for next year.

At the bottom of the tree was this little fairy house. I knocked, but no one seemed to be home.

And there’s the road—between those two stone walls.

I’m heading home.

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New Day 14 – Outside with Friends

Yesterday a friend and I set out for places unknown. Over the years I’ve collected many articles from the local paper about great places to hike. My friend and I glanced through some of the articles and decided upon Goose Pond. The sky was overcast but with the temperature around 40 degrees, and no snow on the ground, it was perfect for a winter hike.

This boulder seems almost fluid. It seems to be morphing into a frog like being. This boulder greets you as you begin the climb up to the pond.

As we neared the top we came upon a gorge lined with unusual stones (probably quarried). Notice the sculpted star on one of the rocks. If you look close, it actually looks natural, not man made.

The lake sits up high. The trail takes you up through the woods where suddenly you find yourself at a beautiful, quiet, pond completely surrounded by woods. The pond was frozen over and as we walked we heard the whump whump of the ice. It is an eerie, magical sound.

There are islands on the pond and inlets. It is a photographer’s dream. Unfortunately the weather was poor for spectacular photographs, but nevertheless, I captured the essence of the day. Bo followed along without roaming off, and with no other people or dogs around, he could run free (though he would have preferred Buddy to be there too, no doubt).

 Here are some of the photographs from our hike. I will surely return to this lovely place.

 

Bo with an abandoned beaver lodge up ahead.

Elizabeth posing. I'm sure we are not the only ones who've had their photo taken here.

 

Aren't these lovely!

 

I just loved the mix of shapes here.

 

Where's the 'drink me' bottle?

 

An interesting hemlock.

 

Overcast skies on the pond.

 

We should have brought our skates.

 

A frozen waterfall.

 

This could be almost any pond or lake in New Hampshire.

 

Red cedar forest.

 

A glacier.

 

We came upon the stone with moss growing in its cracks.

 

Bo and my friend as we near the end of the trail. I love these wide pine covered spaces. And yes, I love these friends too!

 

 

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Day 1 – Commitment

Today is Buddy’s birthday. Buddy is a white toy poodle and he is eleven today. I’ve been telling people for a year or so now that he’s twelve going on thirteen. Thanks to starting this blog and my desire to be accurate, I discover that he’s younger than I thought. This pleases me very much since he developed a heart problem this year and is on medication. He also developed asthma which made breathing difficult for him (and nearly gave me a heart condition every time he had a gasping-for-breath episode). Thanks to various drugs, everything seems to be under control. And now that I find he’s only eleven, I can shed my fear that he’s about to expire, and start manifesting some good years ahead for the two of us.

Actually there are quite a few more than two of us. I live with seven cats, and in addition to Buddy, I adopted another toy poodle about 16 months ago – Bo. Bo’s owners moved to a  no-dog-allowed apartment (it was the only one they could find), and with that plus other dog-incompatible issues, Mr. Bones found his way to my house, and is as happy as an old dog can be. I’m his forth owner, and according to our local pet psychic, I’m ‘his person.’ He certainly acts as if I am. He makes no attempt to leave despite numerous opportunities to run off (as I was warned he would do). I abandoned the dog run I set up on day two of his arrival. It was clear he wanted to stay. I live in the woods and his first time running completely free was a joy to watch. 

Yesterday dawned with a distinctly autumn feel. Buddy, Bo [I couldn’t hack the name Mr. Bones, so Bo he has become], and I headed down to the edge of the stream at the north end of my property to continue sawing up a fallen Ash tree before winter sets in. A year ago I bought a wood stove. I have oil heat, but when the ice storm of 2008 hit and I was without heat, electricity, and telephone, for three weeks, I was determined to avoid a reoccurrence. So I got myself a Jøtul. Thanks to the huge maple tree that came down on the house, I had enough insurance money for the stove, and plenty of wood for several years.

Every hardwood tree is potential heat, so I salvage what I can myself. The ice storm brought down dozens of trees in my yard. I’ve been cutting up the hardwoods ever since. I use a hand saw I bought from Lee Valley in Canada years ago. It’s a portable wood saw, and it works like a charm. I’m afraid to use a chain saw. The obvious reason being – I’d probably cut my leg off.

I spent some time clearing away debris and undergrowth around the fallen tree, and then started cutting off 18” lengths. Most of this summer I have spent outdoors. The weather has been hot, but glorious. Between tending the vegetable garden, cutting the lawn (a.k.a. weeds), and piling up ice storm debris to allow negotiating the property again, I have barely been indoors. My passion for being out in the open has become an obsession. So much so that I’ve taken to getting up at all hours of the night and early morning just to stand out under the stars. A few days ago I awoke to a cacophony of crows out by the pond across the road, so I raced out in my pajamas and slippers to see what the hullabaloo was about. I didn’t discover the reason, but I was bathed in the deliciousness of having the freedom to run outside at a whim with no neighbors to see or care. I am so lucky.

While sawing away at the fallen tree, the idea for a blog came to me. Ideas often come to me when I am doing hard physical labor, or asleep. I suspect they are related, but with no ability to turn on whatever happens that brings up the ideas, I simply take them as they come with gratitude. In any event, I was mulling over how passionate I had become about being outside, and was already bemoaning the fact that winter was coming and my days outside were numbered. Then it hit me – why stop? There was no reason winter should slow down the drive to be outdoors, or the ability. All that was needed were some warm clothes and boots, and a commitment.

So…I begin today as day 1 of my commitment to heading outside every day for a restorative recharging and balancing. Tune in tomorrow for more.

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