Finding the Picnic Table

 
You need to understand that sometimes one finds things that weren't exactly being looked for!

I took a nice walk today. It was pretty cold, but the sky was blue and it wasn't muddy. Thought it was going to be my 3-mile road loop, but part way around, I felt the call of a tree line. Evergreens across a field. Always been there since I've lived here. Certainly private property. But a half mile across that space and I could cut back to my house off the road. Had to try it. The beginning was so ordinary and easy I didn't even take a picture.

But once I crossed a power line, well. Then I had to decide if I was serious about this project. Why not? Although I hoped to get home with dry feet since it was so cold.



After struggling through the autumn olive and honeysuckle for a bit I had to turn back east to skirt a wetland with a lot of water with only skim ice. I found some directions on a log, but couldn't read the script.



Thanks to the frozen ground I managed to get across this wet meadow clearing without getting wet. The matted grass was frozen solid enough to hold my weight, and I carefully avoided holes between the hummocks.



The teeth on the edge of this mushroom looked ready to eat my ankle, but I avoided that hazard, too.



Entered another clearing, and now I was home free because I could see the highway ahead. And there it was to my right. The picnic table. Not exactly where I'd expected one. Not exactly handy for using. I was reminded of a couple experiences on long hikes when we stumbled on a picnic table in the middle of nowhere. Not in a park, or a campsite, or anything indicated on a map. Generally, this prompts at least a rest and snack, if not lunch if the timing is anything close to right. But today I was not encumbered with a backpack, or in need of a munchie. I didn't even have one with me. So I felt no need to use it as intended.



It sort of looks like something that might have been in the area surrounding Sleeping Beauty's castle. Here's the best picture. There is beauty to be found anywhere, if you only look.

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