When nature whispers to our souls.

You ever feel the urge to do something and until you do whatever that is...the whispers won't go away? (I think this is really some sort of inner wisdom talking to us...telling us what we need in a particular time in our lives).

This is what walking in the woods and absorbing the abundance of nature does for me.  I get this urge to get outside and "play" and until I do...it just won't let up.

So here's the results of my recent romp-through-the-woods-experience. (I brought the dogs along too, since they too needed a good romp in the woods.)

I ended up on a trail that runs along the north side of the Maumee River between Grand Rapids and Waterville, OH and is flanked by the remaining portion of the Miami-Erie Canal. The Maumee river bluff trail is part of the Providence Metropark system and stretches for 9 miles...although I walked about 2 miles of it this time around.

There's some pretty cool history wrapped up in this area because of the Miami and Erie Canal. Home to a one-mile stretch of canal with a functioning reproduction of a mule-drawn canal boat, the Isaac Ludwig Mill (a working water-powered saw and gristmill) and lock number 44.  If you visit this area from May to October you'll see the park staff dressed in period attire welcoming visitors to a time gone by.

You can read up on this history and what all this entails here at the Toledo Metroparks website.

Watch a youtube video about the Canal experience at Providence Metropark.

While none of the canal boat activities were actively going on (since it's December) it is still so peaceful to walk along flowing water and to listen to the wind blow through the trees and watch the squirrels flit about gathering last minute nuts for their winter stash.  There are very few songbirds left in the area right now because most have migrated south for the winter...although I have seen bluejays and the red-bellied woodpecker and of course sparrows.

I've found in the past few years it's hard for me to walk in the woods now and not reach out and touch the trees that line the trail I'm walking along.  I can't explain it. Just something about touching trees and saying hi. As if you're sharing in their life's wisdom somehow. I don't know what it is...but a comforting exchange occurs.  While I seriously doubt I do much for the trees...they do a LOT for me.

There were some HUGE trees stretching high into the sky in this area (I think they are black walnut trees but I'm not really a tree identity guru...so I'm not sure).  The one in this picture probably would take 4-5 people standing hand to hand to reach around it's trunk.  A magnificent tree!

I often wonder if these trees could talk (like treebeard in Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers) what would they tell us?  Oh the stories they could tell, I'm sure!!  Maybe this is actually why I feel the need to touch them...in an effort to glean some of their years and years of wisdom.

What's your latest adventures?  Life is full of them if we seek them out.

More to come....
Rachel