I sat there for a while on my paloose in the middle of a small, snow-covered clearing and studied the scene around me. It was very late in the afternoon. There was no sun. And the sky was awash in dark grays and blacks. Yet somehow there was light. The big pine stands surrounding the clearing were still. Not a soul seemed to be stirring within them. I was maybe fifty yards away from the nearest tree and could see the dusting of snow on their leaves but what caught my attention most was how still the trees were. Their tops gradually and unevenly disappeared into the swirling fog above. It was eerily quiet and surreal. This was an entirely new world and me and the paloose had somehow wandered into it. Had man even tread here before?
I looked to my left and ahead to the edge of the clearing where a short black cliff maybe 20 feet high glistened in the dusky light. There was a faint rough, white line somewhere about the cliff's middle that gave the suggestion of a slight crease in its otherwise smooth surface. On top of this cliff grew more pines, their trunks barely visible in the fog. The fog was descending then. Very slowly. But it was descending, pushed by a wind I could not see or feel. The air was moist to the taste. A storm, a big one, was on the way. It felt ominous and a shiver ran through me.
A slight movement ahead caught my attention. I looked up at the trees and saw what looked like a lone owl or perhaps a raven soundlessly and slowly making its way diagonally up and across the trees and then vanished into the fog. Baba-Yaga! That witch. Did she live here then? Suddenly I was desperate to find a good spot to pitch camp before it started to snow!
My eyes strayed back to the majestic forest in front of me. I could make out a dim trail between two trees right in front of me. Who or what used that trail? Small animals? Perhaps a wolverine? Perhaps some ancient forest people? My eyes rose from the trail to the blackness that it led to. There were more trees further in there as I could see their gray tops faintly visible in the canopy. But I could barely make their trunks out. It was just black in there. Should I venture in there? Maybe I could find a small boulder in there that I could use as a fire reflector. A lean-to and the leaves above me would provide good shelter and also dissipate the smoke from my fire.
I sensed the first snowflake before it even came down. And then there were more. I had a feeling the paloose knew where it wanted to go...right onto that trail. The thought of a fire and a warm blanket was tantalizing. I flexed my weary muscles to get the blood moving, lowered the brim of my hat a bit and let the paloose have his head.
I looked to my left and ahead to the edge of the clearing where a short black cliff maybe 20 feet high glistened in the dusky light. There was a faint rough, white line somewhere about the cliff's middle that gave the suggestion of a slight crease in its otherwise smooth surface. On top of this cliff grew more pines, their trunks barely visible in the fog. The fog was descending then. Very slowly. But it was descending, pushed by a wind I could not see or feel. The air was moist to the taste. A storm, a big one, was on the way. It felt ominous and a shiver ran through me.
A slight movement ahead caught my attention. I looked up at the trees and saw what looked like a lone owl or perhaps a raven soundlessly and slowly making its way diagonally up and across the trees and then vanished into the fog. Baba-Yaga! That witch. Did she live here then? Suddenly I was desperate to find a good spot to pitch camp before it started to snow!
My eyes strayed back to the majestic forest in front of me. I could make out a dim trail between two trees right in front of me. Who or what used that trail? Small animals? Perhaps a wolverine? Perhaps some ancient forest people? My eyes rose from the trail to the blackness that it led to. There were more trees further in there as I could see their gray tops faintly visible in the canopy. But I could barely make their trunks out. It was just black in there. Should I venture in there? Maybe I could find a small boulder in there that I could use as a fire reflector. A lean-to and the leaves above me would provide good shelter and also dissipate the smoke from my fire.
I sensed the first snowflake before it even came down. And then there were more. I had a feeling the paloose knew where it wanted to go...right onto that trail. The thought of a fire and a warm blanket was tantalizing. I flexed my weary muscles to get the blood moving, lowered the brim of my hat a bit and let the paloose have his head.
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