Do Something

Portions of my morning walk with Joy and our dog Gracie take us through the Kisatchie National Forest. In the winter months we wear headlamps to light our way, because we return home before the sun rises. Eyes gleam back at us from the woods. Owls announce their presence with hoots and growls.

On an especially windy morning an obstruction across our path appeared in the beam of our headlamps. Initially, we could only make out shapes that might have been a pile of cut brush or a fallen limb. As we got closer, we realized that the wind had downed one of the Kisatchie’s enormous longleaf pines.

Riddled by disease and rot, the tree had exploded when it struck the ground. After gawking at the site, and breathing a sigh of relief that the thing hadn’t fallen on us, we picked our way through the scattered bits and smashed…