Over The New Gulley Bridge And Into The Woods

The animals are fed and I walk to the back pasture to close the gate for the night.  Fate bounces hopefully in front of me only wanting to go to the sheep.  Zinnia runs ahead to swim in the pond even though a thin layer of ice covers half of it.

I have more work to do, but the new Gulley bridge beckons and I can’t resist.

That was yesterday when the bright yellow sun was streaming though the trees and turning what little  green there is in the woods florescent.

The ferns and moss glowed making me pay special attention to them.

Almost every moss covered rock and tree stump was littered with nut shells and pine cones.  I could just picture the squirrels and chipmunks, sitting on the soft green carpet of moss enjoying  a meal.

There is a windfall of pinecones this year.  They’re scattered throughout the woods, piled up under pine trees and caught hanging in bare branches.   The tips crusted in sap like a Pine Cone Christmas ornament.

It’s been so warm this tree stump is sprouting plants.  I can see why this seed was able to grow protected by the cliff of dead wood and nourished by the afternoon sun.

But the sun couldn’t reach into the hole of this elm tree to melt the frozen water that pools there.

This afternoon when the woods called again,  yesterday’s bright greens had turned to sage, the trees silhouetted black against the gray sky, the pond too cold even for Zinnia.

As if in preparation for tomorrow’s snow.