Our woods are just a few yards from the pasture, but it is tough to get across to them. There are three obstacles. One was a fast-flowing stream we couldn’t cross. The second was about 50 yards of soggy and muddy wetlands that are sometimes very difficult to cross. The third barrier, all natural, is the very thick underbrush reinforced by thorn bushes, I’ve torn jeans pants just by walking through them.

I never saw that sat on what had once been a path, Ed Gulley, our Natty Bumpo (Leatherstocking Tales) spotted the path between two stone walls and through the brush, he has spent much of his life out doors. Walking with him is an education in nature – he sees nests, identifies trees, reads tracks in the snow. He knows where all of the rabbits are making their nests.

He came to bring us a meditation bench, but he also brought a buzz-saw and waded into what I thought was impenetrable brush. In ten minutes, there was a path that led straight out to the woods. Much easier for us to get out there.

Next, we will be hauling pallets home from the dump to make a walkway over the heavy and wet marsh grass. It’s very exciting to get out there, it’s a sad thing to have beautiful woods you can’t get to.