A Year in the Forest

A few days ago I found the front leg of a deer.  Today I found part of the backbone of a deer, I assume the same one.  It was quite a ways away from the leg on the other side of a ravine.  I have looked and tried to follow my nose in vane searching for any other sign of the deer.  No Luck.  No smells. Nothing but the front leg and partial backbone.

Walking through the forest my nose did alert me to something, however.  I smelled something very sweet and looking around found a ripe pawpaw under some rose bushes.  Few things smell as sweet.  It seems the walnuts that have been falling the past week or so have finished.  I did not hear one fall today.  I did see several squirrels on the ground today.  They had been keeping themselves in the trees.

The leaves continue to fall and cover what were bare dirt paths that I use.  If I didn’t know where to go, it would be hard to follow the paths in some places.  There is not really much color, mostly yellows.

The only mushrooms, growing at the moment and not being immediately eaten are some honey mushrooms covering a large log.  I don’t expect them to last long.