Into the Woods

I went into the woods behind the English house around 3 pm today. I set off feeling full and happy from my birthday lunch. As I walked, I enjoyed the sound of the leaves beneath my feet. I had recently learned that the sound comes from the collapse of the dead cellulose cell walls of the leaves. The wind stirred the tops of the trees violently, churning their branches. The air was cool and dry on my face. The sun was lowering in the sky. Light filtered through the red and yellow and brown leaves and made them appear as if they were glowing. I came upon 3 beech trees, each one had its surface carved up with initials of friends and lovers. Some carvings were fresh and some had been there for quite some time. I paused to look at them. I imagined who these couples were, if they were still together. Moving on, I balanced on fallen tree trunks and pushed branches out of the way. Eventually I came upon a stone wall. I walked up to it and saw enclosed a small graveyard. Many of the markers were simple stones with no markings or markings that had been eroded over time. The dead leaves offered a reminder of what lay below my feet. One gravestone marking the site of a couple stood out as I remembered the many names of couples carved into the bark of a tree. Here were their names carved into a stone.