Woodland Watcher

It's a crisp late-autumn afternoon. I make time for a stroll in Haw River woodlands near Bynum, North Carolina. Summer bird chatter is a distant memory. Except for my footfalls across thick carpets of fallen leaves, the mood is an eerie silence. I pause to adjust my camera neck strap. Within seconds the silence reaches into the primordial pool of my essence and raises an alarm born of ancient memories. Fine hairs on the back of my neck bristle. I sense a presence. Is it animal or woodland spirit? I ready my camera and turn slowly. Sunlight filtering through bare tree canopies distorts perceptions of reality. My heart races as I fix my gaze on what appear to be two eyes in a mass of pine straw deposited by recent wind storms on low hanging tree branches. I snap a photo.

© Ilija Lukić 2018

Woodland Watcher

(Photo impressionism)