New England in the fall, is a treasure trove of gorgeous sights and sounds for those who head north to drink it all in. I have had the pleasure of driving through these beautiful woods several times. I worked for a company that had me into Boston once a month to edit medical videos so in the fall I would hurry up and get my work done so I could head up into the woods.
October always seemed to be the best time.
I'd leave Boston around noon on a Friday and just start driving into Maine until I wanted to stop and then pulled off the highway to locate a hotel. That is how I would spend my weekend - no deadlines, no people, no noise other than the wind and the loons.
These are loons; lovely little birds that cruise around our northern lakes. If you have not stood at the side of a lake, no one else but loons around, and got to listen to them...I mean really LISTEN to them, you are missing something that will enrich your soul. This is what they sound like.
As I headed further north, getting close to the Canadian border, I ran out of towns and any real sign of people, other than the roads that is. That far north, they have fire lanes; narrow dirt roads leading directly into the woods so firefighters can get in there and battle any wildfires that can happen from lightning strikes.
I suddenly decided to go look for a moose. What better place to do this, than literally in the middle of nowhere? The next fire road I came to, I turned onto it and drove slowly as far into the forest as my rented Camry would go safely. This was before the days of cell phones and if I broke down, I most likely would never be seen again.
I left Boston at noon that day and was still dressed as a "producer" which was my job title, while editing the medical videos. My attire consisted of a tastefully cut suit with HUGE shoulders (this was in the late 1980's) and of course, high heel shoes. Perfect outfit for traipsing around the north woods, a stones throw from Canada.
Seriously...what were we thinking!?
Finally, I came up against a large tree that had fallen and blocked the narrow road, so, this was the end of my journey here. Exiting the car, of course leaving the radio blaring, I headed further into the woods, not caring really that my heels were sinking deeply into the rich loam of the area.
I wandered around for quite a long time, marveling at the amazing colors and huge size of these woods. My car was parked at the top of a substantial hill so through small breaks in the trees I could see for miles and miles in all directions, at the stunning beauty of it all.
But no moose!
After nearly an hour of searching and ruining a pair of shoes, I decided it was time to go. My plan was to head towards the coast and look for a hotel for the night. But gosh darn it...where were all the moose? I did see an eagle flying way off in the distance. I wonder to this day, if he was warning them!
"Hey, you down there! You moosusses. There is a stupid hooman on the hill there with gigantic shoulders. That can't be good, so make yourself scarce!"
Well, he could have. Just sayin'.
As I staggered back to the car, finding my way because of the radio, I just knew moose were probably here, but hiding somehow. I wondered though, how could someone go about hiding a moose or many moose?
When I got to that log laying on the ground in front of my car, I stepped over it and looked down to avoid tripping and then I saw them! THEM! Moose tracks EVERYWHERE!! Dozens and dozens of them crisscrossing all over the place. Those darned moose! I saw the game they were playing now.
Truly, I imagined them hiding behind all of those gorgeous, brilliantly colored trees.
OK, not like that actually, but more like this...
"Luv ya mooseses...until next time!"