Do forests have character? Does any landscape have character? I think I’m probably asking the wrong question.

A better question would probably be, How does it make you feel? I think the answer for most of us is that it definitly does something. The next thing that pops into my mind is, does a certain type of forest elicit a certain type of feeling. That’s a tough question to answer. I’ve often heard people make reference to common feelings for a given place. To complicate matters, forests are a dynamic place not only because of all the life but also because of the seasons and the weather.

A reader of this blog (Glen) commented back in April when the snow was still on the ground, that he had just returned from a hike in a state park and he was disappointed that he hadn’t seen any animals. He was comparing his walk with the ones I was doing around my home where there is lots of wildlife. I noticed that his walk was in a deciduous forest and at home here, it is a coniferous forest. Since Glen’s comment I’ve paid more attention to the “Character” of the forest within which I’ve been walking and so far I have to say there is much more going on in the coniferous forest.

I’m not trying to say that more going on is better, just different, check out Paul Butzis’ words on “There are no insignificant places”.

Today I went for a heavy duty hike in a deciduous forest of the Gatineau Park and I kept Glen’s comments in mind. I didn’t see a single animal not even a chipmunk. Heck, I didn’t see any spore at all (Prints or poop). I could hear the odd bird every now and then, but that was it for wild life. I noticed that the lack of wild life made for a much more secure feeling and I developed a better appreciation for people that believe that nature is benign. The character of that deciduous forest is definitely different from the one around my home. It seems more sterile. On the plus side now that the bugs have arrived, I noticed that the deciduous forest has hardly any bugs. Hmmm, maybe because there is nothing worth biting.

If you’re not too queasy, compare the photos below to these from a coniferous forest from around my home.

Different character?

The most fearsome creature encountered all day.

That’s enough writing for now, I need to metamorphize into a grease monkey and go out and change the oil in my car.

I also need to prepare my old classic 1982 Camaro Z28 for sale. It’s from California and only has around 50,000 miles on it. It is also a limited edition Indy 500 Pace Car Replica (Only 6,000 or so made). I wonder what kind of photo gear I’ll be able to get from this?

If I’m going to get any more photo gear this toy has to go, those are my marching orders from “She who must be obeyed”.