Under the bald cypress and into the woods

Under the bald cypress

I love the warm, golden tones of the feathery foliage on the bald cypress trees in the fall.  I would have a whole grove of bald cypress trees if I could get them to grow.  M has planted a few, but we haven’t had much luck with them so far.  They should grow here.  They grow well enough up at the Holden Arboretum.

I ducked under the branches and pointed towards the sun for the first two photos.  In the next one, I looked up so I could capture the sky with it.  It would have been a great place to sit down and write in my journal or have a picnic.

I could have stayed there all day, admiring the golden glow of sunlight and bald cypress leaves.  The days grow shorter and shorter this time of year.  It was best not to linger as I had a full afternoon planned.

So I moved on towards the woods.

Peering into the woods

Bole Woods is a Natural National Landmark.  The Holden Arboretum website describes it as:

…a mature beech-maple forest remnant that is a unique discovery opportunity and visitor destination where horticultural collections and natural areas meet.

I wonder who lives here?

I would describe it as a lovely, peaceful place where you can listen to the trees as they converse with the wind and the forest creatures.   It doesn’t sound as professional as the description on the arboretum’s website, but it’s just as accurate.

The Bole Woods trail is a little off the beaten path.  Most people tend to hang out on the trails near the Visitor’s Center.  There are some lovely sights to see there too, but it’s nice to go off and explore areas where there are fewer or no other people.

In the woods

I know I’ve written a lot already about how wonderful the light is during the autumn months so I’ll spare you too much of that.  Instead, I’ll let the photos do the talking/writing for me.

In some mysterious way woods have never seemed to me to be static things.  In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me.

~ John Fowles

Your mind is your best camera . . . Go out and take some beautiful pictures.

~ Daryl Ryman

Wonderful, amazing, beautiful light, even with lens flare.  Maybe especially with the lens flare.  I like the way light sometimes bounces around in a photograph.

Taking a moment to look up and thank the sky, the sun, and the tall trees.

Day 40/365.  Awakening this morning with lots of energy, I decided to see how long it would take to wear myself out.  I’m kidding.  It wasn’t intentionally done.  I’ve been skipping the weight workouts thinking that the yoga will make up for that.  It turns out that’s not exactly true.  If I were capable of doing some of the balances, particularly arm balances, I might not need the weight training.  The bike rides have obviously strengthened my legs and I found the squats, leg presses, and things of that ilk to be challenging but not impossible.  The yoga push-ups and planks, however, have not strengthened my upper body as much as I thought they would.  I failed on a second set of push-ups, and had to scale down the weight for a few other exercises.  I’m not upset about it.  It’s good to know where I’m at so I will have a good idea as to where I need to go.

Crossing the bridge

That’s about it from the Bogs for today.  Thank you for dropping by and joining me on my ramble through the woods.  Our next stop will be the sugarbush area where we’ll find the Sugar House, the Maple Museum, and the Pancake House.  Sounds sweet, doesn’t it?  😉

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