A Woods Walk is Good!

A woods walk in December provides a nice reminder to make time for the quieter side of the season–to enjoy stillness and absorb the calm.  Below, three poets–Longfellow, Malloch, and O’Connel George–create an addendum to the Story Walk at Dodge Woods Preserve.

Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
 When birds sang out their mellow lay,  And winds were soft, and woods were green, And the song ceased not with the day!

I sometimes think that thus was born the world—Not like a blinding sun from chaos hurled To blaze and burn for ages—that it woke As wakes the forest, wakes the verdant oak, Breathing soft breezes, wreathed in lacy mist Through which there burst the gleam of amethyst.

I’m practicing my I-belong-here no-twig-snap no-leaf-rustle no-branch-crack see-all, know-all float-like-fog like-smoke pine-needle-soft forest walk.