a new year in the woods

On this, the foggy, misty first day of the year, we took advantage of the warmer temperatures to head out to one of our favorite local wooded trails for a short hike. We didn't want to get too far into the woods with the thick fog and threat of imminent downpour, but we did have a refreshing short hike through the soggy woods.

As always, we found many things to observe and collect in the woods. Finn and I counted so many sweet gum tree balls lying in the path, and he found a few twigs with small pinecones attached to bring home to our nature table.

We spied some unmelted snow in the valleys, like a white valley path marking the way between hills.

Finn observed some interesting fungus on a huge fallen log, and I was amazed at how soft and feathery it felt to the touch.

We walked and walked in the cool, damp air, our noses thanking us for relieving them of the dry heat they've been forced to endure for the last weeks.

Eventually, we heard a more frequent pitter patter in the woods and we knew that the foggy mist was beginning to make way into soft rain.

On the way out of the woods, we found another tall skinny tree covered in both moss and fungus. Such a stark contrast, the snow white fungus against the mossy green bark.

Thank you, woods, for giving us a brief respite from the indoors on this first day of the new year.

Welcome, rain! We look forward to the life and growth you'll bring this year!