a special place

There is a place, a special place, deep in the woods. Home to a hundred swaying trees straining upward into a bright blue sky.

A shallow stream snakes its way between steep muddy banks. Dappled sunlight falls upon the meandering water which dances with a million sparkling diamonds. Pebbles of brown and white and grey shimmer beneath the surface, as scores of little grey fish dart back and forth in perfect harmony. A motionless frog sits statue-like on a fallen branch, its eyes searching for an airborne tasty morsel as a vole scurries into a hole and is gone.

Above, a canopy of fluttering green leaves shoots flickering arrows of light and shade through the air. Below, the dappled ground is soft and springy, a bed of moss through which tender shoots of grass sway in the breeze.

Three butterflies of purest white frolic and gamble in the air seemingly unaware of a dragonfly which hovers then swoops then hovers again, its wings a dazzling display of iridescent hues.

An army of ants goes about its business carrying portions of leaves, and pieces of twig aloft watched over by several skinny legged spiders.

Here and there twisted thorny bushes put on a show of plump sweet blackberries, all part of natures harvest. Between the rambling wizened roots of the trees, white mushrooms come and go with each new day.

This place is a special place. A special place indeed.