Relative Something

It was after I had finished, soaked in sweat after two hours straight holding the trigger on the trimmer, that I noticed the slight sensation of grit in my mouth as I was walking back to the shop. Great. How much E. coli bacteria from animal feces had I just spattered all over myself? Maybe none. But the thought crossed my mind.

The work is so rewarding, though. Recovering a walking path wide enough to drive the Grizzly ATV on, clearing the rampant tall growth that leans over and covers the trail, makes for a beautiful sight. In the morning, when everything is wet with dew, taking Asher on a stroll along that path has been leaving pants and boots soaking.

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Now we can get back to enjoying our Forest Bathing strolls among the trees, basking in the cooler, cleaner air on hot and smoky days without feeling like we are doing jungle bushwhacking. However, it won’t prevent the all-too-common occurrences of walking into unseen spiderwebs draped across the path. We try to take turns each morning being the person in front, to give each other a break from the skeevy wiggle of suddenly feeling a web across our faces and strands across our arms.

I consider the trail shown in the image above to be one of our great accomplishments in our first year here. Most of the wide trails already existed when we bought the place, but at this spot, there was a dead end. With a goal of avoiding cutting down any large trees, we opened this pathway from the thick growth visible on either side, creating a route that allowed us to ultimately walk the full rectangle of our property border.

Today, it looks like the trail has been there just as long as all the other portions.

And the only reason they are still there and open is because we continue to hack away at the vigorous growth that strives to take over any open terrain.

Another of our labors of love, tending to our little sanctuary of fields and forest that we call Wintervale Ranch.

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