Living on the edge of a beautiful forest

Living on the edge of the Boreal forest; 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly! 

There are endless discoveries, those which provide a sense of undeniable beauty, those hiding within the denseness of a darkened forest, no matter what season.

Truly, there is such a thing as fast becoming in a state of awe, just while momentarily standing quietly in the carved forest trails, witnessing the breathtaking 100 feet plus trees who have been breathing oxygenated life into our area for many years.

As you've seen glimpses of our gorgeous forest which surrounds and consumes a few acres of our property, those in our recent autumn posts, how about the long overdue glimpse of what it resembled shortly before all the late spring and summer foliage appeared?

It's a thing of wonder to capture the abundance of change each new month brings, with so much scenic vistas all bound up in four distinct seasons within any given year, and to watch the life forming and living within, fully dependent on its environment. 

 Ontario's white trilliums, our provincial flower, 

explodes on our forest floor in spring! 

Gorgeous!

As winter disappears, and spring arrives shortly after the great thaw of all things snowy white, truly it's really spellbinding, to witness just how much thick foliage grows, closing a window to the more wide open spaces for pathway visibility out there. 

I very much enjoy sitting a while and taking in moments of forest loving sessions, peeking "through" the forest, wondering what's happening out there today, who might come to call, or whom we might not wish to call actually. There is such peace residing in the boundaries of nature, and great solace in also knowing "what" resides there within those clusters of the Boreal forest out yonder.

Last week while walking the trails with my hubby, a rather large white tailed deer bounded off, leaving both of us in awe. Maybe he was the deer who had visited me briefly one weekend morning, the one I ran for the camera only to find him gone, and the one my kids teased me incessantly about for weeks to come. I have news for them; "He's real kids! Even your father saw him this time!". (grinning) 

Our entire family worked hard this year, rebuilding and forging new trails and tending to their continued path clearing growths as we are able. 

Until a few folks came over and enjoyed these same trails with ATV riding aplenty, there was only one timing when we wondered if we would lose these new forged trails for good, like the last time we attempted such a thing the year before. Here's what they looked like after a one week trip west, at least what we returned to. (Sad face inserted here) Soon, and after several redneck rowdy ATV riding sessions, all was well again, and continues to be to date. Yay!

These Autumn days continue to offer us some pretty spectacular scenes of beauty, but just a few months back, here are the real photos of what remains "within" those more dense scenes surrounding out trails, the nasty mounds we never got to on the grand list of desired and hoped for forest clearing. 

There will indeed be more clearing and more work next spring to rid our forest floor of the clutter which remains there, for now. Foliage has grown over these mounds, hiding them for now, so they no longer bother us. In summer however, these types of mound messes can provide forest fire issues, so next year we're hoping to have them tended to and eventually forever gone.

The thick and lush forest foliage allows us to know its spring clearing timing. That is, after the mushy snow sinking, and before the dense, bug infested door slamming. 

During our summer and fall seasons, we no longer dwell on spring chores, rather we can simply meander within the trails, admiring everything anew awaiting us there each time we set foot out back. 

Meanwhile, those grounds are so much better than they were before we did our damage last spring. 

We'll keep plugging along, mostly making every attempt to grab our shoes, and get out there to walk our one kilometer plus trails daily. We have big plans for this area of our property, well, someday for sure. 

This winter we will tap some dozen tall maple trees in the hope of our own maple syrup, but also, we've decided a lovely "studio" getaway would be just perfect for my hubby and I to get away and work on our many future creative projects, he with his art easel standing near window, and for me, well the sky is the limit on that one. 

With four very distinct seasons, here's four of the same views of our back property, photos all snapped from the back deck of our home looking out to the forest where our trails await our explorations, and never ending adventures. 

(So which photo below is your favorite season?)

Our forest in four seasons;

 

Spring

Summer 

during our worst drought

 Autumn 

in its full color splendor

Winter 

in its snowy white beauty.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little seasonal tour of our forest property. It is such a privelege to live here, in a glorious and most beautiful residential setting. I will never take for granted this property, something my hubby and I would have begged for so long ago when all of our children lived at home. It was a dream of ours to end up on a larger piece of property....someday. 

I suppose, this really is our "someday". 

Thank you God!