our big backwoods

The sun came out, a big glass orb we've missed for many weeks now. Maya took me to the broken-down fort she found with her father, and they showed me the appliance used for target practice, possibly by the previous owner. Some strange things back here we'll pull out, but it also serves as a reminder of the permanence of these woods as someone's. Not ownership in a possessive way, but in the sense that we could very well put a chair out there and have it available for knitting in, say, when the kids climb in the newly-built fort. Just as a for instance.

Maya brought her bucket and was determined to bring back some bits for closer study. She had a piece of bark, a stick with blackened fungus growing on it.

The best find, if one were to ask me, was the deer bed that clearly has been used multiple times. It has layers, unless that's from one night of deer-warmth, and it's certainly a lovely place. I kept thinking to myself, "You are welcome here."

It's kind of egocentric to say that: am I welcome here? This giant house plopped on a lot that maybe used to be more trees and more deer and more turkeys and the like. We'll try our best to be respectful, to provide as we can and be counted on to do so. In the meantime, we'll enjoy this place and its dips and furrows and be grateful that this is how it will stay throughout our time here. And our hope that our time here will be long and good and home. Which is how it feels, already.