Our Return

Thank goodness for some cooler weather. While we had a bit of a kick back into the upper 90's and a day of 100, I think that more of fall will be visiting us. And with this wonderful weather, we returned to one of our favorite venues. Again a goodbye of sorts, as we spend our last month of hikes in this particular wooded area.

It was a great day for deer, lots of mama's and their babes hanging out.

And a great day to bid a farewell. I have photographed this place for the past 9 years, since I first started my job at the nature center. I don't think I have ever captured the part that I will miss the least: the road right there, reminding me that while yes this is a great place to explore, it is a bastardized piece of land that was clear cut, filled and dissected by road ways. I am grateful that 10 acres were saved (eventually when a bitter old lady was sick and tired fighting the Audubon society to put in her strip mall) and the wilds took back over, that the park district restores and maintains it. However it makes it easier to say goodbye as I know I will be saying hello to places where we could actually get lost. A place where we can sit and not here construction vehicles and buses (to River's dismay).

We swung from the vines and climbed through the holes that are so familiar to us, walked barefoot in the mud, and were happy to return after avoiding the mosquitoes and heat of the summer.

I have been happy to have a place to ride my bike to. A place to spend hours without worry or need to provide activity for my boys and a place that we were easily able to visit often. Because becoming familiar with a place that is wild, even if not pristine or always isolated, is important.