HS JOURNALISM: Take a walk on the wild side

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By Jacob Doyle, Monticello senior

MONTICELLO - Imagine a place you can be truly free. Imagine paradise.

For me, paradise is in the woods.

To most people, paradise is laying on a hammock between two palm trees on a beach, listening to the waves crash against the shore under the fading light of the setting sun with a gentle warm breeze.

To me, paradise is sitting on a small lawn chair listening to the wind rustle the leaves while a creek trickles just a few meters away. Paradise to me is the crackling of a small fire, feeling the warmth of it on my face and smelling the smoke and the wet leaves.

Seeing the trees, the dirt, the creek,  the limestone cliffs and the last few rays of warm sunlight poke through the trees before night - that is why I love going in the timber.

Freedom in paradise. The mystery of the woods intrigues  you. No trip in the wilderness is the same. The timber always is changing. Trees die and others grow, along with wildlife. The creek erodes the banks, leaving a new bank of sand. There is a vast array of wildlife, too. Whole families of deer, raccoons, opossums, skunk, coyotes, chipmnks and squirrels. All sorts of life.

I would recommend to anyone to take a trip in their local forest. There is never a dull moment. Take a hike and see what this world truly has to offer.