The station was completely empty, the sky grey and dull. Often freight and passenger trains use the same tracks, especially at night when there’s less of the human traffic. When I was awaiting my transport to the dunes on Wednesday night a freight train passed by at a fairly moderate speed. But at some random point the train slowed and came to a halt. When the cars are sitting there right in front of you, it makes you appreciate just how huge those things are and scale of industrial might and amount of steel that went into producing each and every car in the extensive line of over a hundred on the one train. It also makes you wanna be one of Jack Kerouac’s dharma bums, clamber onto one of them, and go for a ride. To where? I dunno that’s part of the whole aura. So after the appropriate hunk of steel arrives and I go through an hour long ride on the crazy train of drunk cubs fans I set foot in the drizzling woods. It’s interesting to note that the same drizzle within the trees sounded as if a heavy rain was coming down. As my eyes adjusted while walking along one of the roads in the absolute darkness that results from the lack of anthropogenic lights, I realized the night wasn’t absolute. The clouds above glowed faintly but strong enough to gently illuminate the road ahead. Soon I found a huge and unimaginably tall oak tree with poison ivy vines crawling up it in a clearing. Natures lullaby was one of falling and flowing water.
Though mildly cold the dawn was invigorating with towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), titmouses (Baeolophus bicolor), robins (Turdus migratorius), a lone red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), and a strong bright sun piercing the water saturated but cloudless atmosphere. 
I tried inspecting the area for signs about how this clearing came to be. After all, we were in a fairly dense woodland and to have some random clearing with no clear age succession among the trees was a little odd. Alas, I lacked the sufficient knowledge to find an answer to the ponderous change in tree cover. Proceeding along one of the numerous small waterways, I found myself in and out of minor clearings. In one of these clearings where the river swelled due to some artificial dam I found a deer jawbone and some scat that looks most like that of a Coyote (Canis latrans) due to the size, shape, and amount of hair. I also found a bit of a bird haven involving my first Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) of the spring and an Eastern Towhee as highlights.
To Be Continued
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