When we are out walking, we are usually walking on the path. Or we are running.

Or something. It isn’t out of the question somebody climbs up a tree.

I have walked these woods for a long time. I am their cartographer. I like to think I know all the parts. Every so often though, I do notice what is maybe a path that maybe wasn’t always there. Maybe I don’t even discover it. Maybe it’s one of the dogs sticks there nose there and, behold.

Because I am who I am, we need to know exactly where every path goes. This is how you learn the forest. It’s the only way I know how. You just start down and move carefully and see where it’s headed.

Even if it goes into a thicket. The manzanita thickets are pluckery and if you get stuck in one on a false track, it is hard to get back out. Sometimes this is where the paths go, they belong only to rabbits and foxes who are very short and I may spend a good deal of time crawling out on hands and knees to escape the thicket.

This time though, I knew from looking at the sky that there was a big tree way in there and that the crawling might take us there. So through the thicket we went. Once you are part way there, you might as well keep going, even when you realize it was probably a bad idea.

It’s hard to see beyond the big tree, but yo, behold, it is a tiny house there. Somebody lives down the rabbit path in this thicket. Somebody who is ok to crawl to their home. I guess. I didn’t see no human tracks, which is a little creepy when there is a residence and no sign of the resident.

It always scares me to find a camp. This one was somewhat permanent, there was real wood used to build some black tarp hobbit walls. It’s back there in the dark. I didn’t stay long enough to tweedle around in the f-stops in hopes of a better shot. Because I was crawling backwards to get back out of the thicket the second I saw the hut. The dogs were out just as fast as me. This is our good plan when we run into a camp. Scissorshand chainsaw creepy crawlers could live there who eat little dogs and girl scoutish types alive. Me and the dogs never have had to discuss this plan, we just all know that get out fast is the very best thing to do. We are the best anti-neighbors that an anti-neighbor could have.

We did indeed make it to the tree I thought was there, just didn’t know it belonged to somebody already. We will stay out of this thicket. But it is now noted on my map.