Moeller Commentary: A Wonderful Walk in the Woods

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I’ve often said this, but I don’t mind repeating, that while we may not have as many nice days as they do in a few other areas, our nice days are better than anybody else’s! There was no better example of this than several days last week, when the sun showed up and, after directing a few warming beams, had us leaving our jackets inside as we began stirring the soil in our flower beds.

It was the sort of day when many an old man might get the foolish idea in his head that he’s still as sharp and athletic as he was when his hair had color in it. Walking through my small garden with a mug of coffee in hand, I wondered if the trail leading up to the top of Seminary Hill was as muddy and slippery as it often is at this time of year. There was only one way to find out on a day when the sky was a solid blue from horizon to horizon.

Standing in the parking lot at the base of the hill with my hiking stick firmly in hand, I calculated that the estimated 300 feet of elevation would be roughly equal to about 500 steps on an average stairway. I could always turn around and come back down again, if need be, although that was seldom my first choice in my backpacking days. I started up the series of railroad tie steps that make up the initial entrance to the system of trails.

Once on bare ground, I noticed that the trail was damp, but not slippery. I’m pretty sure that it rose at a sharper angle than it used to, but “onward” was the order of the day. I’ll admit, I was almost to the point where a decision needed to be made about the sense or stupidity of my venture when I saw a thick slab of freshly sawed timber, sitting atop two “stumps” that had been dug into the ground. It was a brand new bench, with not the slightest sign of weathering! 

After a few seated minutes with deep breaths and rest and I was ready to continue up that trail, only to find more seats of sanctuary, spaced just about where they would be needed for any old dreamer to plop down and take deep breaths.  

The brand new seats are all ready for the summer season, whenever it gets here. Need I say that those rustic benches were all it took to eventually allow this nonagenarian to make it all the way up to the viewing site at Staebler Point? 

Then, talk about coincidence, I met Robert Godsey walking his dog, just as I had the last time I reached the top.  He informed me that the benches were all constructed and put in place by David Jenson, a man you might often encounter on one of the many trails.  How much is all this going to cost the city? Zero, because Mr. Jenson did it on his own time, with his own tools and his own materials. You see, he considers our own natural area a gem that few other cities of any size share. Isn’t that what I’ve been telling you all these years?



Robert also said I might be on the lookout for another older volunteer, John Good, who can often be seen on a trail carrying a machete. Don’t panic, he’s another volunteer who has simply found a machete to be the best tool to subdue any foliage protruding into space set aside for us slow walkers.

It’s difficult, as I write this, to know if our weather will turn the trails back into mud again but, for now, the hillside is slowly showing signs of spring. Trillium blossoms, which are my own gauge of springtime, haven’t appeared yet. But, then, the half dozen trillium bulbs I purchased and planted in a shady spot last fall haven’t broken ground yet.

 

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Bill Moeller is a former entertainer, mayor, bookstore owner, city council member, paratrooper and pilot living in Centralia. He can be reached at bookmaven321@comcast.net.