A Walk in the Woods
There was no Bill Bryson to keep us company, but Angela and I didn't mind as we set off yesterday on our after-lunch jaunt, which proved to be an exceedingly long one indeed, despite that not being our intention.
You see, we came to a fork in the path, and took the way we'd never gone before. (Cue Frost and his poem, "The Road Not Taken".) And then we came to another place where "two roads diverged in a (not-so) yellow wood", and we headed off down the woodland path you see here. I should also note that we were not sorry we could not travel both paths at this point, since the other one appeared to lead into the wastewater facility.
As we walked down the path, we had the Mad River to the right of us, and a lovely bit of woods on our left. It rather looked as if someone had been playing pick-up sticks in there and had forgotten to tidy up. See?
When what to our wondering eyes should appear set back into the forest than, well, this:
I said: "That looks just like a . . . "
"Hobbit hole", said Angela, proving yet again that we think just alike.
Speaking of Angela, here she is, after singing the start of "The Lumberjack Song". She is managing not to look chilly, which is quite an accomplishment, since we could still see our breath in the air for the duration of the walk, even though it was mid-afternoon.
As we continued our walk, we found that Frost was correct, and that way leads on to way. But since we had been lucky enough to see a hobbit hole, I preferred to think of it in Tolkien's terms (in the version of "The Road goes ever on and on" found in "The Fellowship of the Ring" portion of The Lord of the Rings:
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
We shall see what adventures today may bring.
