Woodland Observations

I am sitting out in the middle of some woods back in my hometown, Clanton, Alabama. It is a very dark day. There is not much sun, as it is overcast. The lack of sun makes it very ominous. The sky is nothing but a sheet of dark clouds. Shortly into my visit, it begins to sprinkle, making the air hot, muggy, and humid. I can hear the raindrops hitting the leaves. It sounds like the pitter-pattering of rain drops hitting a tin roof. The treetops keep me from getting wet.

The entire scene is green and brown. The floor of the forest is covered by dead leaves and twigs. They crunch beneath my feet as I walk through the woods. It is impossible to move without being heard. Old, rotten gumballs also litter the ground. The remnants of a decomposing tree form a pile in the middle of the woods. There is a path cut through the woods right to the spot where I am sitting. Whether this came from animals or humans, I will never know. Rocks are randomly placed around the floor. They are brownish-red and no two are alike in shape. Tree trunks have fallen around the forest. They are now decaying and are obviously used by animals for protection and food. The trunks almost look alive, since they are covered in vivid, green vines and leaves. There are remnants of an old fence located about three-hundred yards away from me. It shows obvious evidence of wear from time and nature. There is a random, white cinderblock. It is covered by vines and weeds. Several of the smaller trees in this particular area are bent over. It is obvious that something big came through here, forcing the trees to lie down, almost like they are trying to stretch out to take a nap. The only spot of color in the entire forest is some purple berries on a tree. They are round and very petite. The purple of the berries really pops against all the green.

I am surrounded by trees. There are huge trees that tower over me like giants. They are extremely intimidating. There are also little, short trees that allow for easy vegetation for small animals. I am sitting by one particular tree. It is a pine seedling. The tree is only around four feet tall. Its branches are green and pointy. The treetops form a canopy over the floor of the forest. There are only a few small holes available to look through to see the sky. The bark on the trees is rough. It feels like sandpaper. The way it looks reminds me of the scales of a fish. One particular tree stands out. It is in the middle of a large group of trees. This one tree has no bark. The tree is smooth to the touch. This was probably caused by some animal rubbing the bark off, or disease. The branches of all the trees put together, look like a giant spider web. There is a dead tree trunk that is covered in a mysterious orange powder.

A cricket started chirping as soon as I got settled in. It continued on until after I left. For all I know, he could still be going. The birds are constantly singing back and forth. One bird chirps and many others answer him back. It is almost like they are trying to talk to each other. For a moment, there is complete silence. Then, a bird lands close and starts singing. It scares me. I can hear a woodpecker every once in awhile, as it beats on a tree. It sounds like someone knocking on a door. There is a continuous noise from acorns and leaves falling from the trees and plummeting to the ground, with a loud thud. I can hear tons of movement coming from far away. It sounds like large animals running through the forest, but I cannot be sure, since I could not see anything through the dense underbrush.

My place is not far from the highway. I can constantly hear cars traveling up and down the roads. The drivers rev up their engines, getting ready for the lights to change to green. I can hear a truck and trailer go rattling over a large bump in the road. Not far off, there are people yelling and banging stuff around. Someone shot off a rifle. Just down the road, someone is clearing the timber off of their land. I can hear the equipment trucks. There are dump trucks emptying their loads. I can hear the constant beep of the machines as they back up. There is a saw going to work by cutting up some timber. I can hear a tractor off in the distance rev up its engine.

As I settle in, a granddaddy long leg joins me. He is huge. His body is only about the size of a pencil eraser, while his legs are about fours inches long each. His body is disproportional to his legs. He is fascinated by me. He patiently sat by me through my whole time in the forest. The spider was the only object in the whole forest that was calm and still. A little green and yellow bug takes interest in my paper. He crawls back and forth across my paper and the rings of my notebook. He stays for a long time. He is trying to decipher this new contraption. Gnats gradually start to come out and land on me. I have a black and yellow sweat bee come within buzzing range of me. He left, but soon returned to check me out. A mosquito decides he wants to take up residence on my leg. He is black and stealthy. He is on my leg for quite away before I finally realize he is there. Not far from me, there is an intense spider web. It is very intricate. It is composed of millions of tiny pieces of silk. The spider had to have worked for days to get it to be this big. There are tiny particles caught in the web. They look like snow, when there has been a light dusting.

By the time I am ready to leave, it is dusk. The air is cool and moist. Dew is about to set in. The air smells of wet grass, because of the rain. It also smells like sap and mildew. As I get up to leave, there is a lot of noise. Several small creatures had come up while I was sitting there, and they take of running as I begin to move. Several squirrels jump from tree to tree, rattling the branches in the process. A cool breeze blows in. The trees sway in the breeze. It rustles the leaves. As I leave, I notice a random pulley that was not visible to me at first. It is a metal pulley that is suspended by a tree. The pulley is rusted over, giving signs that it has been there for awhile. It makes me wonder why it is there.