Yes, it’s cold. You have to dress for it. And it’s worth the extra effort, because…the stillness. You can hear yourself think! (Or, not. Sometimes not thinking is the point.) American poet Robert Frost must have known this when he wrote “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” (See him recite it here.) Below, some photos of my winter get-away in far-north Michigan.
Frost: “Whose woods these are, I think I know.Ā His house is in the village though. He will not see me stopping hereĀ to watch his woods fill up with snow.” This is the road leading to Camp Many Moons. I’m not there now; neighbors are keeping an eye on the place and sent these recent photos. They brought Frost’s poem to mind, reminding me that I used to write poetry and even created a monthly Poetry Club at the National Science Foundation. Poetry doesn’t have to be ponderous, as Frost shows. It can be like this…
“My little horse must think it queerĀ to stop without a farmhouse nearĀ between the woods and frozen lakeĀ the darkest evening of the year.Ā Ā He gives his harness bells a shakeĀ to ask if there is some mistake! The only other soundās the sweepĀ of easy wind and downy flake.” No horses near Camp Many Moons — only deer — and I wonder if this one wonders where I am! This is the road before plowing. Can you hear the sound of “easy wind and downy flake?”
Frost: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep…but I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.” The cabin at Camp Many Moons awaits my return.
How I yearn to get back there and think about my promises to keep. Soonā¦
While at my home-of-record (just outside Washington D.C.), I recently visited another fascinating place….the Natural Bridge in western Virginia.
On the path to the bridge, we passed other natural phenomena…like this very old tree. Dying but not quite dead. Nature has a way of hanging on sometimes. Humans, too.
We stayed in a former plantation, The Inn at Forest Oaks, now an AirBnB. The former means of its economic survival (slavery) is nowhere in evidence today. Now, personal $ gets you in.
And it was well worth it. This is the entrance hall. Imagine being the owners in the 1800s!
The study was — of course — filled with books. That was the day when people valued reading.
Fall comes late in Virginia, and mid-November was gorgeous. The original owners must have kept horses or other livestock. Or it may have been planted by tobacco, which was a main economic crop of western Virginia at that time. (Tended by slaves.)
Near the AirBnB, the Blue Ridge Mountains. There is so much variety in Virginia…the ultra-metro area, which is where I live, and the “big-Navy” center in Norfolk. And, out west, this kind of setting. I’ve spent many weekends hiking and camping out here to get relief from the city.
Just for fun, this photo from a year ago…from one of those “big-city” virtual attractions. It was fun! But I do prefer nature. Any day.
For Many Moons 
Absolutely lovely.
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