Summer evening walk

Crossed by power lines, the nature trail in Bear Creek Park is lit with late light.

Especially in summer, earth exhales a sweet freshness as darkness approaches. Just as humans exhale carbon dioxide, plants give out oxygen; evenings they exude the most.

As dusk nears, cottontail bunnies dart along the lawns, in and out of the hedgerows of brambles. Birds call softly to one another, and occasionally an owl sits in a cottonwood waiting for nightfall.

The wild blackberries are still hard and green, but on the park lawn, transparent apples are already lying on the grass, their crisp green flesh alluring. Along with a few from the lower branches of the tree, a selective harvest of the undamaged windfalls can be made into the most wonderful applesauce. The smell of it cooking arouses the summer appetite for fruit.