Springtime finds me detouring from the regular route on my bicycle rides home from work. Just a few extra miles nets me a slow, quiet loop or two around the paved trail at Barnes Preserve, the first and only Wayne County park, just a few miles southeast of Wooster.
The paved trail, constructed for full ADA accessibility, seconds as a perfectly silent substrate under my slowly rolling wheels. There, I watch the forest unfold after a long and lingering winter. It’s amazing what one can silently roll up upon at a crawl, only fast enough to keep from falling over.
Stealth is key in this pursuit, and I revel in the challenge of creeping up on a small pond where a deck overlooks a chorus of spring peepers, wood frogs and all manner of similarly singing creatures. One false move and heads dip below the surface and the world goes still…