Berillas and Einblesleys

I decided to go for a walk alone rather than taking the dogs. My neighbor had three Rottweilers and I have a good-natured mutt, Kama. I generally take mine for a walk every day and often his too, thus used to this they all behave well. The problem is, when you take that many dogs for a walk you rarely get to see wildlife - save snakes, toads, and a few chipmunks that squeak and run -- which merely teases the dogs. I also have to be alert making sure they behave. When I take mine alone I don't have to watch her as she will stay close and not wander; but I really just wanted the freedom of no responsibility in which I could sit for hours if I chose -- merely to think and not feel guilty as doleful eyes watched hoping I'd throw a ball.

I'd walked for hours then walked by a group of people close to a lean-to that were setting up for a cookout. Some of them smiled, the smallest of the children waved. I reflected on the amiable innocence of youth in which fear had yet to be instilled. I had no doubt in my mind that if I were to walk over to one of these children I'd be invited to partake of their barbecue; and most likely the adults would feel an obligation thereafter to agree with the child. I smiled and passed on.

At this point I was on my way home; I had come up with ideas on my eyre thus could not wait to get once more behind a computer. Down a trail I discovered a new path I'd not seen before; I had frequently walked in this area so was aware of changes. Someone must have brought a bush-cutter up here to cut down the long grasses and saplings; from the looks of it I guessed they would have done that a couple days previous. Judging by its proximity to my residence I thought I could traverse the field up farther and save time on this new course.

It must have been about 30 minutes since I saw the people and it did not look as though anyone lived around here, although this path opened up new aspects of the countryside to me so who knows what the next turn should display. There were no warning signs informing an intruder to stay off the property so I continued.

Then I saw some fencing and a big old barn suffering greatly from the elements of time; it seemed strangely out of place. Yet there was old rusty barbed wire everywhere throughout the woods in New England. I knew barbed wire had not been invented until 1874 thus someone had attempted to harness the countryside at one time. I also knew we had quite a bit of sheep yesteryear, so it was safe to assume the fencing was once for them; possibly this barn was too. I peeked in one of the few window frames on the bottom floor - if you could call it a floor for it had muchly decayed back into earth at this point. There were no windowpanes but shards remained; most likely vandals had long ago destroyed much of this property. Generally where there was a barn there would also be a house, most likely in the same run down condition, but intriguing nonetheless - I was anxious in anticipation of what lie ahead.