“When we lose these woods, we lose our soul. Not simply as individuals, but as a people.”
The humidity is gone and has left behind a wonderful summer day. I have no plans for today except to do a few things around the house. The errand or two I have I’ll save for tomorrow. I love these quiet mornings when all I can hear are the sweet songs of birds.
When I was a kid, I noticed bugs more than I noticed birds. Grasshoppers were one of my favorites. I loved watching them leap into the air as I walked through the field. In my mind’s eye I can still see it all. The houses were clustered around a small roundabout in a cul-de-sac. A path led from the street behind the houses to the field which stretched across from one group of trees to another. On one side of the field the trees were beside the road while on the other side the trees were thicker and we thought of them as the woods. The boundary of the field was an old tree trunk with one branch still attached and lying on the ground like an extended arm. We never went around the branch. We always climbed over though there was a path which went right around the old tree. Beyond the tree were a few other paths. One led up a grassy hill with blueberry bushes all along the side. The hill led to the water tower at the top. Another path from the tree went straight ahead to the swamp and continued to a street where the path ended. I always thought of that path as a shortcut to my friend who lived on that street. We played in the woods, hunted grasshoppers in the field, watch polliwogs grow into frogs at the swamp and ate our fill of blueberries. We’d race each other up the hill to the water tower. The winner was king of the hill, at least for that day. We could be gone the whole day and still be close to home.
When the town decided to build elderly housing, they took down all the trees and bulldozed the field. Even the swamp was gone. We were devastated.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: grasshoppers, old tree trunk, paths, polliwogs
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
July 29, 2014 at 12:16 pm
The morning wasn’t as cool as it looked so lots of mosquitoes flew around but thankfully very few flies.We had thick fog for a few hours and after that we had high humidity and hot weather. This evening is quite nice though, slightly cooler and very low humidity. I’ll do my errands early tomorrow morning before the heat becomes to much. They say it will turn towards cooler on Thursday.
It was much the same for me when I grew up but I had the entire park that is more or less a real forest just near my home. Back then I never saw any katydids but I do now days. I found one big at my patio yesterday and have a photo of it in my blog today. I would never have dared to try to catch one of those since they are pretty big 🙂
My neighbor has started his grill and I could by the smell say that he uses way to much lighter fluid, and now he’s burning what ever he has put on it 🙂 .-) .-) Even I would do that better and I’m quite useless by the grill 🙂 I had to fry some pork I had because it was getting a bit old by now, it isn’t nice to stand by a hot stove on a hot day 🙂 I used a bit too much Ethiopian pepper but otherwise it turned out quite well.
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 29, 2014 at 3:57 pm
Hi Christer,
I swear mosquitos know how to find the ears of anyone. They make it a habit to be annoying buzzing around to let you know they’re there. Low humidity is the key to a beautiful summer’s day. We have it now and the day is gorgeous.
They built even more apartments for the elderly. My grandmother lived there not far from where we buried our turtle. I think about it when I drive by them.
I hate it when the food tastes like charcoal fluid. My father used too much of it all the time. I used real wood charcoal before I got the gas drill. I had pork tenderloin the other night on the grill and it was great.
Have a great evening!
July 29, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Hi Kat,
Most of my “play grounds” are underneath houses now.
The woods have become the Catholic church and its parking lot. The fairy tree that was within got cut down along with the rest. Only a perimeter of old oaks remains.
The baseball field is under a house. My neighbor thinks it’s cool that her house used to be the ballfield. 🙂
Indian Rock/The Piggery with its rattlesnake den and deep dark woods is mostly blasted away. What is left sports McMansions on picturesque rocks. The foxes abide, though.
All that remains is the swamp that is my backyard. Even that has changed a lot over time. There aren’t any snakes or toads and only spring peepers. No pheasants but lots of turkeys, chipmunks, deer and coyotes. And mosquitoes. Can’t forget those little buggers.
I’m not a kid anymore so I am content with the memory of these places but feel a bit sad that the neighborhood kids don’t have the same opportunity to get covered in muck and dirt and grasshopper molasses. 🙂
It’s beautiful up here. Lovely breeze. The windows are open and the AC is off. My only errand was a doctor’s appointment. I’m off one medication. Yay! But I have to be responsible food-wise or I’ll be back on it. Boo! 🙂
Enjoy the day.
July 29, 2014 at 4:10 pm
Hi Caryn,
That’s too bad how your childhood playground is covered by houses. I know how you feel as I feel that way every time I go by where the tracks used to be. I play my that used to be game when I travel to the town where I used to live.
It’s true about kids today though they can still see the turkeys, coyotes and foxes. In Colorado Ryder goes hiking with his grandfather and uncle but they are standard trails, no dirt and mud, no fields to run through chasing grasshoppers. Kids live sanitized lives now.
Beautiful here too. Congrats on the medication!
Have a great evening!