A walk in the Forest

My work schedule has me off every other Friday, so this morning I got to walk my daughter to Kindergarten. Nothing new, but since it's a crisp fall day I decided to walk back home through the forest. It was only about a 40 minute walk, but it was very refreshing. So much so that I didn't really think about anything till I was almost home. And that's when it occurred to me how often when in the woods we are so focused on other things that we don't just "take in" our surroundings. Now, we take many family walks, and I truly get great joy out of watching the kids discover new things, or having the opportunity to explain what they are seeing. Since my time is pretty limited by work and family, my solo walks are usually when I'm hunting and my senses are tuned for that. But today was different, just a walk. Just being part of the surroundings for nothing more than calmness.