Recent Articles from FoBR Newsletters

Trail Talk

Our son Elias turned one in October, and he likes to hike -- well, I hike and clear windfall, and he rides on my back. When we first started going, there were only hints of leaves on the trees and there were still patches of snow on the ground. Now, he can say "tree" and "water," along with various other noises that to him (and to me, truth be told) connote a walk in the woods.

A few days ago, we went up the ridge, to observe the start of the color change. As we came down to Old Quarry Road and Catlett's Branch we saw a deer above and to the right of the trail. I stopped and I whispered to Eli to look. He was looking, but looking at the water puddles.

The deer turned out to be a six point buck -- the biggest rack I have seen on the trails. It was standing still. I kept whispering, "Eli, baby, look over here." I felt his head turn toward the deer, but I knew the deer was hard to see and that he probably did not see it. A minute later the buck took a few steps forward. Eli saw it. He pointed at it suddenly, and he whispered to me, surely saying what a sight it was.

There are things on these trails that you see and have seen, but that you never really experience until someone else has seen them with you, especially for the first time.