Rambling Man (and Ladies)

When fall comes, it only feels right to tromp off for some quieter adventures. Noisy lakes, beaches, and pools are a perfect fit for summer but autumn feels more pensive, more introspective, more solitary. Last week we trouped out to a wetlands area where I (over) promised we'd find frogs and fishies and who knows what other slithery creatures. In went our binoculars for some bird spotting (Molly loves binoculars), on went our rain boots for some muddy mucking. Well, I was off... I picked the wrong trail, returned us to the beginning only to figure out that I had actually picked the right trail and just hadn't gone far enough for the turn-off I was looking for, turned us around again, now almost dragging Molly and carrying my human paper weight. We got about 1/5 of the way down the trail I actually wanted to be on and everyone was ready to call it quits. I was bummed because the grand sum of our creepy crawlies spotting amounted to four banana slugs. No frogs, no herons, not even a stinking lily pad. You know who wasn't bummed? The two people that found a stream at the beginning of the trail  to splash and jump around in and who had plenty of places to run up and play "Boo Bird". The woods were lovely, the air was cool, and the splashing and tromping were just fine... it didn't matter one whit to these guys that I had other plans and we did indeed enjoy our solitary and rejuvenating walk where we got to witness the beautiful old cedars and big ferns not one time, not two times, but four times on our ins and outs. I feel well versed in what that trail has to offer. Nonetheless, I'd still call our early herald of fall a success, albeit of the slightly unplanned variety. Happy autumn.