local history

Any path can become the path if attended to with care, without preconceptions, informed by knowledge, and open to surprise.

—Chet Raymo, The Path

The upper shoals have a wildness about them—big trees, exposed rock, and falling water. I like to walk down there with the dogs and pretend we live far from town surrounded by nothing but forest. The path along the creek through the floodplain is not ours. It's owned by one of the wealthiest families in the United States. We find what refuge we can among their abundant acres.