The woods were ethereal and dark—ghostly even. Somewhere in the distance a wolf let loose a long howl which reverberated through the autumn night and over the shining waters of a nearby lake—one of more than 500 that define the landscape of Vilas County, Wisconsin. The silence in between was palpable, and the cabin I temporarily called home resonated with an eerie quiet that can only be found in the woods. The next morning, bright rays of sunlight reflecting from the lake forced their way into my bedroom, and the new morning light enveloped the surrounding trees and the shadows in the woods, which I took as an invitation to explore.
As I delicately maneuvered my hiking boots over the discarded multi-colored leaves along the trail, I began to feel at home. These woods that I had never before explored became familiar and I took my time getting to know them. At the end of the last trail that marked my last day in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, I came across a tree that time and nature had marked with a heart. A warm and fitting goodbye to a place that I was nearly too afraid to say hello to.
