a walk in the woods

There can be no very black melancholy to him who lives in the midst of Nature and has his senses still.

--Henry David Thoreau, Walden

saturday morning, i got up, made some tea, talked to my mother for a long time, made breakfast for myself and the hippie, and then went up to umstead park, which is the oasis of woods here in the middle of the urban sprawl of raleigh and durham. it was beautiful and quiet and being inthe woods, all alone, filled me with a sense of peace i haven't felt in years. it's not like i went on some major jaunt--just under 3 miles is all i thought i could manage--but it was enough to set the proper tone for my whole weekend. i took nothing with me but a bottle of water and a camera, and i was glad i had the camera so i could capture a few things, like these perfect toadstools, a beautiful doe in my path, a VERY creepy spider (whose picture i took while praying--please don't be a jumping kind of spider!), and this little passenger who rode on my shirt for a bit until i off-loaded him onto a convenient sapling. i passed a few people along the way--enough that i felt safe hiking alone, but not so many that i felt like the woods were crowded. it was amazing to me how quickly the noise of the city just fell away. it was really a fantastic walk, and one i think i am going to try to make a saturday morning ritual. when i was a child, i spent some time in the woods every single day--i think i need to get back to those roots a little bit!

in other news, my present from aimee turned out to be some beautiful stationery and some invitations that have made me want to throw a little cocktail party--might have to fit that in over the coming holidays... i finished a baby hat at lunch today, but haven't taken a picture yet. tonight, my friend amy is coming over for a knitting lesson, and perhaps a martini or two--should be fun!