Forest walks

I haven't posted many pictures of our weekly forest walks this year, mainly because they are a bit repetitious.  How many photos of a small group of walkers do we need to see?  Tuesday morning walks started in June, and there are only two weeks left before I hang up my boots for another year.  We have two new "regulars" this year - Nancy and Bruce - and some drop outs from previous years.  I especially miss Lois who moved to NC to be closer to family.  She especially loved the walk to the Empire Lookout, mainly because six years ago we could still see her old house from up there.  Now the trees have grown and hidden it.  At any rate, I always think of that route as "Lois' walk."

Last week I led a small group of college kids and two adults on a short walk.  It was a beautiful day.  Two of the kids were from out of state (CT and NJ) while the other five were from Vermont.  Before lunch at the forest, they had toured the active Rock of Ages quarry, but they had not had time to watch the video at the Visitor's Center.  

Starting at the kiosk with its map, I told a little about the history of granite quarrying in Barre (I do take horrendous pictures!).  They were very attentive and seemed to enjoy themselves.  Their instructor said that they came to explore “what is the ‘social imagination’” — i.e. what are the things we (humans) do to evolve our ideas to fruition? Friday, September 6, we found ourselves immersed in nature and it felt like a trance — even students who were reluctant to hike were snapping great group photos and taking selfies.  The walk was persuasive and put us all in a good mood. 

After the walk, they were heading to Bragg Farm by way of Hope Cemetery.  The VT kids told the out-of-staters that they had not really experienced Vermont until they had had a maple creemee (soft ice cream).