Richard Robertson Noland Trial

Words cannot do full justice to the experience of walking through nature. Although, this trail had been modified by human hands to be more accessible it still created a sense of wonder and amazement. All of my senses were active as I walked down the trail. I began to notice, with some explanation, the subtle differences in plant variety. How nature and disease have changed the shapes of tree. I was amazed at the weaving of spiral lines left on trees by vines and ivy that had once tightened around their trunks. I began to appreciate the presence of wild plants that I had previously only thought of as domesticated. I began to see that it doesn’t take a landscaper to carefully plan and create a beautiful web of difference plant species. The forest acts in response to the uprooting of trees, changes in topography, and changes in the availability water. The devastating forces of nature are counter acted by new growth. The uprooting of trees allows for new fields of sapling. The changes in topography limit or enable for the growth of new types of plant.  The pure beauty of foliage is added to by the creatures that call the trail home. The sounds of birds filled the air as we calmly strolled through the winding tail. The stillness of the water was only broken by the small wakes of turtles or surfacing of bubbles making their way slowly from the bottom of the pond. These unexplained bubbles invoked a sense of wonder and mystery. Where these bubbles the result of decomposition or the exhale of some animal watching from the bottom of the pond? I may never find the answer to this question, but I will always have a sense of mystery and appreciation for a place that I once thought mundane.