The Dark Forest

A Magic Door

I looked outside…it was pouring down rain. My hope that it might let up by the time I had finished the housework waned. Oh well, I said to myself as I rushed downstairs to dress my three year old for the hike, that’s what boots are for!

We take our hikes on a network of biking trails that extend for miles on land located directly east of our house. The trail head is less than 3 blocks away from our front step. I like to think of it as a magic door to another world…because in many ways that is how it feels. Before I’ve gone half a mile down the trail, I’ve left suburbia behind. Nothing but trees, ferns, leaves, rocks, creeks and elk await me…it is a sanctuary in a place where cookie-cutter housing developments are going in by the fistfuls and Costco is not far behind.

Choices at the “Y”

Everyday the trail we take is the same until we come to the “Y”. At this point we have to make a choice…to the right lies what I fondly refer to as the trail of light and to the left…is the path of darkness. As we approach the “Y” I slow down and pause to take a look down each direction. My three year old looks at me, rain splatters her face and she sticks out her tongue to catch the water droplets. She follows my line of sight down the trail of light…this way…I ask hopefully. NO…she says forcefully and points her finger toward the trail on the left…THIS WAY.

The Beginning of the Path

I sigh…lately she has been really fascinated with this trail. Well…at least we’re outside and walking , my thoughts continue, like you should be complaining, the part of me that observes my mind piped up. I wasn’t complaining…I said to my inner watchdog…I merely sighed. The inner observer snooted, and turned her head in disdain as if to say…yeah and WE all KNOW what THAT means!

Pretending to ignore that last comment, I proceeded, knowing the observer was right and busied myself with opening up…so that I could enjoy the ride. I started a breathing meditation as we walked and began to notice just how beautiful the beginning segment of this trail really is.

Ahead of us is one of the loveliest stretches we’ve come across on this network of paths that weave in and out of this vast acreage we love to explore. The trail goes before us like a wave… weaving its serpentine tail through two hills and a valley up a steady incline. As we crest the top of the hill, cheery piles of stones (trail markers) greet us, the greens of the conifers contrast the yellow grass and the deep brown-reds of the dead foliage and awakening berry bushes. I turn to look behind me and think of just how wonderfully spaced and balanced this segment of the trail is…overlooking the valley with a view of the next hill everything has room and space to be. The evergreens are gorgeously poised…eternal, they seem impervious to change, while everything around them is responding to spring. Up ahead through the next grove of trees is the entrance.

A Change of Scene

We walk with purposeful steps through mud, our boots finding the rock underneath to firm our steps. Ahead is the entrance to the dark part of the forest. Walking in is like going back through time to a cretaceous wood. There are only the bare brown trunks of very thin and extremely tall conifers. So thick are the trees that you have to crane your neck skyward to see the green at their very tops. The light changes greatly as we enter and my three year old asks…Is the sun going down Mama? I hold her hand and answer, No Baby…the trees block its light…the sun is still up. The trail in this part of the wood is dirt and rock only…nothing grows in the limited light except some hardy dark green moss clinging to the trees. The bare forest ground is stark and I find myself noticing tire tracks, paw prints and other characteristics of the trail itself. As we round a bend something interesting happens though. A handful of trees have fallen. As we enter the light left in their wake we are surrounded by lush ferns on either side of the trail. A bright green, jolly moss has sprung to life on the trunks of the fallen trees and on the living trees that border the site as well. This small portion of the forest was full of life and had a wonderful bright feel to it. As we traveled further in we found many amazing little pockets like this…each one erupting from a place of decay causing my thoughts to turn again toward balance.

The Way Home

As we headed home I experienced a great contentment and realized that this forest I often resisted had taught me something on this day. Where there is much old growth things decline and the overall health and balance of an ecosystem, organism or any structure suffers. Nature has a solution to that in the form of change, the unhealthy parts must fall away to make room for something new…out of which comes a balance. New life always springs forth from all endings, apparent deaths and decay…this is the renewal process, the creative force of change which breathes transformation into all that fades away.

Walking home I delighted in the water droplets glistening on the bright, baby-green new growth of the pine needles, enjoying the feeling of being at one with and connected to nature. Our German Shepherd, having found a stick she deemed worthy of the trip home, was smiling happily as the rain cascaded down her nose while my three year old, who was clinging to my hand for support, walked next to me with her face skyward…in perfect joy and trust.

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