If you had told me a year ago when I was writing my last Walktober post in Connecticut that a year later I would be writing my next one from a new home far away in North Carolina….. I would not have thought it even remotely possible. But here I am!
This is my contribution to Walktober, this year being hosted by Dawn over at her Change Is Hard blog. See Dawn’s warm invitation to participate here: Walktober 2023.
Chapel Hill & Carrboro, North Carolina
It turns out that 750 acres of woodlands, with numerous trails, belonging to the University of North Carolina, is only about a mile away from our home, as the crow flies. For this, our first visit, we wound up on the deeply shaded Occoneechee Loop. It had plenty of uneven terrain for Tim so it wound up being our longest walk so far this fall.
My camera kept telling me that I needed a flash so I decided to focus on finding pockets of sunlight for my pictures. It wasn’t long before I was feeling more relaxed and mindful, noticing the individual trees and the little things. This forest bath was having a delightfully positive effect on me.
can grow over 100 ft tall and live for 350 years
On such October days as this, we look about us as though in some new and magic land. The mystical draws close behind the luminous veil. We see the things about us and sense larger meanings just beyond our grasp.
~ Edwin Way Teale
(Circle of the Seasons: The Journal of a Naturalist’s Year)
We’re looking forward to our next walk in this wonderful forest. It will be nice to see how it changes with at least three of the seasons, as I know hot and humid summertime walks here will be few and far between.
A lovely walk in a beautiful forest, it’s relaxing just reading about it and seeing your photos!
Thank you, Eliza! I was pleasantly surprised by how good I was feeling by the time we finished this walk.
what a great bunch of photos. Wonderful colors and details as always. SO refreshing, Barbara
Thank you so much for your kind words, Leelah. I think of you often and hope you are doing well. ā”
What a lovely walk, Barbara! I do believe I’d like seeing this forest in the Spring, when things are just beginning to emerge from Winter’s hibernation. Teale’s quote is very appropriate. Thanks for including the sassafras leaves — I’d forgotten how pretty they are, yet I remember putting some in the leaf collection I made back in the day. Isn’t it fun watching how busy the squirrels are at this time of year?!
Thank you, Debbie! I am curious about what spring will be like in this forest, too. I’m trying to imagine the new leaves with that light shade of spring green, and maybe some pretty blossoms on the trees, too. I remember the sassafras leaves from our middle school leaf collecting projects. I always wondered how each leaf decided which shape it was going to take. š The squirrels are indeed very entertaining with their endless activities these days.
LOVE … per usual. š
Thank you, Ren! š
The sunlight penetrating the deep green forest is my favorite of this group, Barbara. Millions of skinny, extremely tall, trees competing to reach the sunlight and breathe above.
That quote is perfect for this walk event! I especially like this part āsense larger meanings just beyond our grasp.ā
Iām happy to see that you were able to get a few photos of those entertaining squirrels! That last one giving you the tail, I see him still eyeing you!
I love that picture, too, TD. I wasn’t sure how well the camera would capture the beauty of that moment. And I can always count on Teale for a great quote. š The farther along the trail we walked the more I felt like I was “in some new and magic land.” The good energy those trees were giving off was very strong. It’s funny, I didn’t notice that last squirrel’s eye until I saw the picture on my laptop screen. The things we miss!
Barbara, what an enjoyable walk, especially as the sun filtered through the trees and illuminated the leaves – very beautiful. I like your squirrel pal and yes, even though he gave you the tail, he was cute, especially with the nut clenched between his teeth. Sometimes squirrels pose so nicely and other times they make a beeline and run – I sometimes think it is to spite you. I believe you would be astounded to have such a turnaround (for the good) in your life and the adjustments, but it is well worth it. That is a great poem – my favorite season is Fall and my favorite month is October, so I concur.
Actually those were three different squirrels! I’m still trying to get a picture of Fred, the squirrel who comes to collect Tim’s walnuts here at home. Yesterday, as Tim was leaving the house, he rolled a walnut out to him but he ran away for some reason. After Tim got in the car Fred came up to the porch steps and looked at me questioningly so I went and got another walnut. He ran down to the garden under the window so I tossed the walnut down there and he grabbed it and took off. He’s so funny. I don’t think it will be long before he’s eating out of Tim’s hand, though…
How did I miss that Barbara – three different squirrels? Squirrels are so endearing and I have no doubt Fred will be eating out of Tim’s hand. He probably watched out of the corner of his eye where the original walnut rolled to. Walnuts are a prize for them – they never check out a walnut like a peanut – sometimes the squirrels will sniff or pick up a peanut and examine it. The Jays do that too and I think they are deciding if it is too heavy to carry away and eat/cache or maybe they are just picky!
It’s true, the walnuts always disappear even if Fred doesn’t take them right away. One day I saw him chase off another squirrel who was coming along to investigate one of the walnuts he left to one side. Feisty little guy! Definitely not into sharing. We’re not feeding anyone peanuts. We have way too many crows as it is — sigh…
They are feisty and savvy … I’ve read that squirrels will see another squirrel eying their hiding place, so they pretend to dig, but carry that peanut or nut off to another place to thwart the would-be “stealer”. We have an abundance of crows too – I’ll be working outside and hear them cawing like crazy.
I think I’ve seen them doing that! It seems like we spend an awful lot of time observing them, trying to figure out what they’re up to. I do miss seeing blue jays but at least we get to see a lot of cardinals. The crows are getting on my nerves!
Those crows remind me of the old TV show “Hee Haw”. I like Cardinals too. I feel badly for the Cardinal pair that built the nest in the barberry. I tried feeding them twice, but the squirrels managed to get to the feeders so I had to remove them.
You cracked me up, yes, these crows would fit right in with the Hee Haw vibe. š It is too bad the squirrels interfered with your cardinal feeding. It’s frustrating trying to get food to the intended recipients when there is so much competition between species out there.
I would love to feed the birds in the backyard Barbara but I don’t want any critters – I had enough knowing there were groundhogs, opossums and my neighbor having raccoons in his garbage can. This is not a rural area. I had the cardinals and chickadees coming for shelled peanuts in the Spring at the small feeders, then the squirrels got into the feeders, so I had to stop. My next-door neighbor, (Marge’s son), decided to feed the birds as he’s torn out/down all his bushes so suspects no critters will go into his yard. He put two suet holders, but with small and large seed blocks, not suet, in them. I saw cardinals, chickadees and downies. I gave him a tray feeder I bought and never used – worried about attracting mice in the yard and a 10-pound bag of black sunflower seeds. He went and bought birdseed – I could see it in his doorwall window – huge bag. He put that in the tray feeder and I went out to walk one morning and must have been 50 sparrows flitting around – no other birds. Came home from walking and a black squirrel was in the tray feeder – very cute, ran in the house for the camera as I didn’t have it on me and he had moved. I don’t know if he’ll continue or not. I told him I’d help out with seeds/suet if he continues … I will wait to see. It would be fun and a chance to take photos, if he keeps feeding them through the Winter.
I do miss watching the woodpeckers come to our suet feeder back in Connecticut. And the chickadees would wait so patiently for the stray seeds that fell out of the suet while the woodpeckers were eating. Sometimes we would get juncos, too. It was a shock to me when the crows took over our one attempt at putting a suet feeder out here. Sigh. I guess things are different in different places in the world of birds. I hope your neighbor’s experiment works!
I thought of you today as I went to the Park today and there were lots of crows. I could understand if I was tossing them corn, but I don’t know why so many were there and making enough noise for 20 crows. I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and Downy today. I got several shots of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, but the Downy got scared and flew back into the tree. It was a very gray day on the first day of the sun getting up earlier, then we had fog so I didn’t get there until almost 10:00. Went to Elizabeth Park afterward to give the car a run – most all the trees were empty … now the beauty of Autumn is officially a done deal here.
Time flies and you’ve landed in a good place. The photo of the shagbark hickory trunk is fascinating. I also like the squirrel going on his merry way, up & up. Fall is beautiful and you’ve captured it well.
Thank you, Ally. I don’t often stumble across shagbark hickories but they always call to me when I see them. I’ve never seen a squirrel on one, though, so I wonder if that shaggy bark is too tricky for them to hang onto. š
What a lovely walk! I particularly like the squirrels. They made me smile. Such funny beings. š We were in Chapel Hill in the late afternoon/evening of the 25th on our recent travels. We stopped to visit briefly with some friends there. I’d really like to spend more time in the area. It looks like you are adjusting well to your new home.
Thank you, Robin! Squirrels seem to have taken the place gulls used to occupy in my photos — they’re so much fun to watch and have their different personalities. If you ever do find yourself spending some time in this area maybe we could meet at the botanical garden for a short visit. We are very happy here minutes away from our grandchildren, even if I do miss the ocean something fierce.
I would love to meet up, Barbara. š
Me, too. š
This was a beautiful walk, Barbara. I so love the play of light on the leaves – you got them just right. Thank you for sharing š
Thank you so much, Dale! It was so much fun looking for where the light was playing with the leaves that day. š
I bet!! I love how you succeeded. š
Thank you! š
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Love the individual leaf portraits and the light in those woods. Happy to stroll them with you.
Thank you, Jo. It was nice to have you along for this October walk. š
You’re very welcome š¤š©·
Good Morning! Iām trying to like, and nothing is working then comments keep telling me to log in, but trying to be sent new posts UGH. All the peace and joy, my mind has eaten at resentment toward WordPress. I love your images thanks for sharing them!
Good morning, Elisa! I sympathize with your WordPress frustrations — one never knows when a bug or a glitch is going to surface and usually at the worst possible moment. Thank you for letting me know you loved my pictures and for persisting to leave your comment saying so!