The Forest Community

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Once, long ago, an isolated farming community

existed on the perimeter of a steep-sided forested

ravine when it was in its second-generation of

logging. Now it is an urban forest, since municipal

housing gradually replaced the farming community.

For decades among community-area residents who

valued proximity to nature prized their contiguous

access to the mysterious forest interior, and over time

trails were established in a network meandering through 

the forest ascending and descending the hillsides of 

landscapes forever changeable with the seasons, each 

with its very particular allure. In its earliest days as a 

primary recreational destination for a small coterie of 

nature lovers there were foxes, quail, porcupines, skunks

raccoons and occasionally deer and wild turkeys, coyotes

who called the forest home -- aside from the more

commonly recognized denizens of the creek running

through it, the birds and small mammals. Seldom to

be seen now that housing has encroached on its wider

perimeter. The forest-hiking community has more

recently been introduced to the presence of those

for whom the forest enclave represents a potential of 

aerial acrobatic opportunities, and to that purpose a 

zip line now stretches high over the ravine's waterway 

promising athletic adventures for those who revel in risk.