3.28.14 Satiated By Land and Forest and Season

Today was such a dark wet day of early spring beauty; the soothing sounds of rain upon the roof and against windows as we rested , cozy, inside. 
Eventually , though , the year old pup couldn't handle Fall Over Friday one more moment, so boots were pulled over wool socks, scarf wrapped round neck, raincoat tugged over polar fleece, as he danced about in anticipation .
The big treat ( Hey- dog- do a good job coming back inside and here's what you get) was in evidence, as the back door opened, and out at least one of us bounded. 

As the fields are now bared of snow , their ticks eagerly awaiting better fare than field mouse, we cut through bramble and blackberry, as we tromped on into the woods.
Green mosses and mycelium of so many colors and genus grew here and there across the woods, while the Witch Hazel held out their delicate seeds pods and the shining River Birch gleamed with their seeds.
Much evidence of active spring-is-wandering- this-way creature activity was in evidence everywhere , as well as burds and squirrels courting, and hawks trilling to one another, as we headed down the forest hill toward the ridge .
There, we could gaze at the still snow and ice covered outwaters; at the farmer's river- rich fields beyond. 

I often stop in the woods to remove fallen branches or trees from between trunks of a tree, and Dante has become an enthused companion, pulling vigorously at the rotted limbs stuck up in trees, or braking apart fallen trees to liberate bent over younger ones, his delight palpable as he wrestles with each disengaged piece.
A very chilled but not freezing cold Bruegel-like feel to the stark greys of barks and rich reds of composting Oak leaves, finally fallen as Spring makes it's approach , contributing to the rich loam that mulches and protects the forest floor.
I stopped to taste the rain drops lingering in Beech branches, small mirrors of the world around them, glistening in the late afternoon light. 

And then, having been satiated by land and forest and season and trudging up and down forested land, we both clambered once again through prickly brambles and tangled bittersweet, to fall in an exhausted heap once happily home.