Oh, the Places We Used to Go . . .

It was a beautiful spring day, and my husband and I headed into the woods. We had just the afternoon, so we went for a hike in nearby Moshannon State Forest and followed it up with a short visit to Black Moshannon State Park. A highlight of my day was spotting my first butterfly, an orange comma with black dots, which was too quick for photos.

This is a view of the afternoon light through trees along a favorite hiking trail in the state forest. A bit further up this same trail is a stand of tamaracks that are outstanding when they turn bright yellow each November.

We used to do a lot of backpacking in Moshannon State Forest. Before Dexter, there was Gremlin, my big orange kitty who developed diabetes and required two insulin shots per day. This limited our travel (especially mine) during the six years that we lived with diabetes.

My husband and I developed three different campsites in Moshannon so that we could still get outdoors, even on a restricted schedule. The road that runs along the top is called Rattlesnake Pike, and so our campsites were named Rattlesnake #1 (the closest), Rattlesnake #2 (in the middle), and Rattlesnake #3 (furthest away, a much more ambitious backpack).

Rattlesnake #1 was a pretty short, easy walk in, and we would camp among the trees on the hill. We went there often. Wild turkeys and deer would sometimes hang out there, as well. I believe I've posted just one picture on Blip that was taken from that campsite. In it, you can see another view of these green trees, from the top of the hill looking down.

Alas, a few years ago, much of the top of the hillside above this was cleared. Quite a few trees were removed, a mess was made of the hill itself, and a muddy road was put in that went right past the spot where we used to camp. This is all to say that Rattlesnake #1 was destroyed. As a consequence, we don't go back to this section much anymore.

As we approached this part of the trail, the feeling of familiarity and history was strong within me. It was like walking into the past. I felt like I was inside both the Me-Now, as well as the Me-Then, my younger self, newly in love with this wild man of the woods. Wherever he went, I followed. Including here.

My husband and I began playing the Remembering game. Remember when we hiked this trail after we first met? Remember how little the trees were back then? Remember those first winters, and how we made angels in the snow? Remember that time we awoke to the sounds of wild turkeys? Remember watching the moon rise over these trees?

Oh yes, we have lots of great places where we go now, and we try to find new ones all the time. We realize that very few things stay the same, and many things will change. But we have sweet memories too, of the places we used to go . . .

These are not redwoods, but this is a song about trees, so I thought it appropriate: Van Morrison, with Redwood Tree.


P.S. This day was also our dear Dexter's ninth birthday, and I've included a photo of the birthday boy rolling around in a morning sunbeam. Solar cat, status: recharging!  Happy birthday to Dexter!  :-)