Peaceful Retreat

 We have all had enough of staying home or of walking through the same neighborhood streets as we approach the one year mark on isolation due to the Covid pandemic. Sometimes, a person just needs some new scenery to keep from climbing the walls.

Today I needed some peace and quiet, so I took a walk in nature, and I did not have to travel too far from home to do so.  I visited the serene trails of Hammock Park.  No, there are no colorful hammocks hanging between trees in this park.  In this part of the country, a "hammock" is a fertile, higher area of land that is characterized  by hardwoods and deep, humus-rich soil.  Such an area exists just a half mile from our house, yet we have not explored the trails in the nine years that we have lived here.  That changed today.

While we have a "side entrance" to the park off of a neighborhood street, I traveled to the main entrance of the park.  The primary parking lot is still closed because the city is building 1.5 miles of boardwalk on trails that traverse lowlands, but a secondary parking lot was open, and the trails in that part of the park were high and dry.

The main trail and some smaller trails are wide and paved, but they also tend to be populated by dog-walkers and people with strollers or walkers.  I chose the gravel side trails instead.

Sugarberry Trail offered plenty of shade
and tranquil walkways through several
varieties of trees.

The first trail I chose was the Sugarberry Trail, named for a native species of tree that apparently produces very  sweet fruit.  The trail was absolutely deserted except for me, lots of squirrels (or something else scurrying in the underbrush), and birds.  The temperature was perfect for a walk, and that trail actually follows along a stream.  I was totally alone with nature.  The only thing I kept an eye out for was snakes, but I saw none sunning themselves on this slightly chilly morning.

I did not linger in sunny spots, but several
were available, including many with benches
on which to rest.

The second trail I chose was Cline trail.  While I did not specifically look for any particular species of trees, I am sure that there 're several different ones along the way.  That trail followed the opposite bank of the creek from the first trail, and again offered sweet air, lots of shade, and abundant nature.

This tree, growing at about a 45 degree angle,
attests to the storms that have ripped through the park.

I took a branch off Cline Trail by following Oak Trail back to the main Skinner Trail.  In each case, I either had the trail totally to myself or only passed one or two people as I neared the main trail.  That trail was busier with afore-mentioned dog walkers or parents with children.  

Several creeks and drainage canals
wind their way through the park, but most
have sturdy bridges on which to cross.

Most of the park is left wild.  Trees lay where storms took them down, and one sign even explained that a "dead" tree really was not dead at all since it housed birds and insects, provided a surface for moss and other plants to grow, and provided food for a variety of animals and insects.  

Hammock park is a beautiful, easily-accessible park that offers tranquility and a chance to walk with nature.  I certainly will visit it again.