Sometimes Boredom Restores Balance

 I  visited Mowhawk Trail State Forest last week and stayed in one of their thirty dollar a night bargain cabins. They are bare bones but do come with electricity and a very efficient woodstove.

 This farm road had a couple of yellow-bellied Sapsuckers playing hide and seek with me. These trees look like they came off the set of the Wizard Of Oz.

The Mowhawk Trail  is very quiet this time of the year. It's a change of pace from Connecticut where there are loads of restaurants, stores, and entertainment. In this part of the Berkshires there are only reminders of their native American History and a few small businesses that look as though they have been hit hard by the economy. There were even a few moments when I felt a bit bored which is a feeling that I rarely have. Even the guy who wrote that book Walden might have gone a little stir crazy around these parts. 

 That feeling didn't last for long though because nature never fails to inspire me. I drove around some crazy mountainous roads and backwoods farmlands looking for birds and scenery.

 I don't often see Pied-billed Grebes but when I do they always seem to be solitary birds. They are tiny in comparison to other waterbirds and usually dive under water instead of flying away when feeling threatened. It's not the most colorful bird but I was fortunate enough to get close enough to see some of their subtle markings.

I found a nature trail along the way with a clear running stream with water that rushed rapidly over a descending stream bed.

The only bird I saw was a lone Eastern Phoebe perched on a thin branch overlooking his kingdom.

Maybe the feeling of boredom is a reminder for us to open our mind and rely on imagination to keep us entertained.