Mountain state (1)

High in the mountains one hayfield remains uncut. A doe’s ear twitches.

Bed of the Dry Fork scored for tic-tac-toe: water fills all the squares with zero.

Camp at the woods’ edge. Morning sun brings rhododendrons into your tent.

Steep banks, big boulders, pools – everything but otters in Otter Creek.

At Dolly Sods when the wind slows down, it’s delicious: wild azaleas.

When they cut the forest, the soil burned off. Bleeding hearts bloom among the rocks.

On two different hikes I looked at lichens & left the map in my pack.