On The Wild Side

Make no mistake, what you see before
you is indeed a forest, a natural preserve
beloved of those accessing it to breathe 
its primal purity, view its landscape, admire
the seasonal gifts on the forest floor and
experience the freedom to lope along the
many trails that generations have forged
through the woods. It is a place of refuge
where deep contemplation of life in a
serene setting beckons. It is an arras of
unsurpassed beauty in all of its variability
and seasonal displays. Within its confines
there is wildlife; think deer, coyotes, foxes
raccoons and the smaller denizens of
such places, along with birds of exotic
frame and girth like herons, hawks and
dabbling ducks that come to the waterway
coursing through its ravined hillsides. No
it is not a wilderness, though 'untouched'
by human habitation for the wilderness is
confined to the streets of the nearby city
where a different kind of wild life exists
intimidating, threatening, dangerous and
crowded with distrustful dwellers who 
seldom ramble within such graciously green
and temperate sanctuaries as this oasis.