A Walk in the Woods

Sunday afternoon Michael, Melissa and I went for a walk through a local forest preserve, Brown's Woods. We hadn't been there since early this spring and thought a nice hike on its 2 miles of trails would be relaxing.

We noticed that many of the paths seemed unused, with grasses growing into the pathway. It seemed a little odd, but, oh well.




We sprayed ourselves liberally with bug spray and took off for a little stroll through nature.





I get easily creeped out in the woods. It must be some primordial instinct kicking in. When I get deep in the woods, I can't help but think of all those Grimm's fairy tales and begin to relive my ancient Germanic relatives' terror of the Black Forest. After all, the big bad wolf could be just around the corner...

or I could get totally lost, like Hansel and Gretel.

My heart starts to beat a little faster and a thin film of sweat forms on my upper lip...

There's not much comfort in knowing I'm not the only one who suffers from hylophobia.

So, while I can appreciate the beauty and peacefulness of the forest, I just can't enter a large stand of trees alone or as the only adult. I'm a little freaked out just writing this...

So, with Michael along to protect me (think the brave woodsman), I was able to enjoy the walk.

Mostly.

That is, until the mosquitoes found us. We sprayed ourselves heavily a second time, but about a mile in, the spray wasn't much of a deterrent anymore. We practically ran the last mile, swatting and swishing all the way.

Not exactly the relaxing walk we were hoping for, but we did learn a couple of things. First, we now know why the paths looked somewhat untraveled. And two, see that curled leaf above? I'd never really noticed this before, but I guess it's quite common. Inside the leaf was fraas (bug poop) and debris. Michael knew what these were, but he's not home now to ask.



There seem to be a myriad of insects that cause the leaves to curl this way, but I'm betting its most likely the leaf curling aphid.