Yesterday afternoon I took myself out to Steinke Basin for a walk. It is open for deer hunting, which begins today in Wisconsin, so it will be my last time there for a while.
The last hike of the season is always bittersweet. I carry all the good memories of other walks from the year. The day one of my guides was singing “Do a deer, a female deer, re, a drop of golden sun…” in my ear on repeat and then a deer ran out from some brush in front of me. Connecting with the warm, gentle energy of bottle gentian. Finding a pileated woodpecker cavity nest. Having the health and stamina to walk in nature again. The beautiful afternoon of exploring a portion of the Ice Age Trail that overlaps with Steinke Basin and walking into a cathedral of yellow leaves. Enjoying a foggy, mystical, magical morning.
All the leaves have fallen, and the trees are barren. It is still beautiful.
There were glimpses of rock outcroppings hidden in the woods that are normally not visible. I recently talked to a landscape architect who designed segments of the Ice Age Trail, and she said that fall was the best time to walk the area and plan the path because you could see the natural contours better. She felt this was the best way to tell a story of the land with the trail. I appreciated the poetry and the beauty of this.
And on the Uplands Trail I enjoyed the whimsical nature of a tree stump. Every time I notice it, I think that it’s the perfect throne for a fairy king to sit and survey his realm.
These memories of a place that is written in my soul will carry me until the next time I’m able to walk at Steinke Basin.
This work is real, and it matters.
November 20, 2021