An Autumn morning, cool, but not crisp. The leaves were probably at their peak color and a lot of them were on the ground, having been brought down by overnight rain, so we walked upon a muted rainbow. Bright red maple leaves, yellow birches, multi-colored oak leaves, and brown cherry leaves. Canada geese were honking on the lake. We saw two Great Blue herons. The ferns were an amazing feast for the eyes - an array of textures and colors. We had a goal to make it farther around the bog than we did last week and we did. Not the whole way, but newly 7 year-old legs aren't quite ready for that distance yet. We had the trail to ourselves, passing just one other group of college kids earning a credit while hiking in the woods. I did things like that in college too. Now I was hiking with my family, much happier than I was in college, with myself and with life as a whole. The sun started to come out as we were on the homestretch. We saw bizarre fungus and an intimidating neon spider, but he was just minding his own business. I have seen one of these spiders twice before, both times on the forest floor in the Autumn. I am thankful for my bright and curious now seven year old daughter who spotted it.
