On Sunday, before the dusting of snow, before crisp weather came, Clif, Liam, and I went for a walk in the woods. The day was gray and moist, but the rain held off until night time, when it eventually turned to snow.

Usually when we walk in the woods, we go on a trail not far from our house. It loops down to the Lower Narrows Pond, and to my way of thinking, a pond makes any walk special. On Sunday, however, we decided to walk on the community trail by our town’s high school. I had heard how pretty the trail was, but I had never been on it.

“It won’t have the Narrows,” I said to Clif as we started out.

“No,” he replied.  He loves water just as much as I do.

Nevertheless, right away I knew I was going to like this trail. It was well taken care of and thus easy on my creaky knees. There were little bridges over streams, which made them easy to cross. Best of all, the dog didn’t have to be on his leash, and he could amble and sniff and do other doggy things to his heart’s content. (Yes, I bring little baggies in my pocket. Just in case.)

We walked for a while, talking about this and that—somehow the nature of time almost always seems to slip into our discussions—when we rounded a bend, and I heard the sound of running water. Through the trees, not far from the trail, I caught sight of a large stream.

“Let’s have a look,” I said to Clif, and he didn’t argue.

We walked to the stream and saw that it was connected to a huge marsh. Water tumbled over rocks and rushed through the woods.  Naturally, we had to take pictures.

Reluctantly, we left the hurrying stream and continued our walk in the woods. Once upon a time, the whole area had been cleared for fields, and we came upon the remnants of stone walls, a common sight in central Maine woods. (We have some behind our house, which, in an earlier time would have been the little house by a big field. Somehow this just doesn’t have the same ring as the little house in the big woods.)

After an hour or so, we returned to our car, and Clif and I agreed that we had had a very good walk. This trail, which is only a mile and a half from our house, is not only well groomed but it also has water—not the Narrows but really just as beautiful.

We’ll be back to walk that trail again.