Ailsa’s travel theme this week is “forests.” I could have traveled through my photo files to find some forests in the Blue Ridge Mountains that were all ablaze with colors, or my photos of the rain forests of Oregon and Washington, or the Redwood forests of Northern California. Or maybe a forest or two from northern Michigan. Instead I didn’t travel far – only about 1/2 mile down the road to take some photos of some early winter woods – not exactly forests. Maybe wood lots are more accurate. I find great joy in watching the changes that take place in the wooded areas here in lower Michigan. I look into them as we drive by, and this time of year I enjoy the carpet of newly-fallen leaves and the stark shadows as the sun shines through the bare branches.

As we continue our drive into town, we drive through a wetland area – something like a ‘swamp bottom woods.’ Here I can see cattails growing among the trees and golden stalks of hibernating grasses. Occasionally I see the edge of the woods brightened by red berries.

The late fall/early winter woods calls me for a walk. The woods are small in this part of the state because most of the land has been made into farm fields or housing developments. My walk wouldn’t be long. I know that just over the slight hill is a farmer’s field and straight ahead, down the road, is where friends live. And if I walk through the wetlands I would be sure to get my feet wet – we’ve had a lot of rain lately.

Mostly in lower Michigan we have cloudy skies – second only to Washington State. When the skies are that dull gray, the personality of the wooded areas change and the colors look entirely different. There is still beauty, but of a different kind.

You can join the fun of posting your photos of forests by following this link:

Travel theme: Forest