An afternoon in the woodlot

Last Friday, I went to poke around my little bit of property in the woods.  We had a portion of it clear-cut several years ago.  The pines that naturally seed themselves in a clear-cut area are starting to grow, but the sprouts from the hardwoods are quite thick as well.  I had taken a few hand tools, and I removed some of the smaller stuff.  My father arrived later with a chainsaw and helped out a while.  I had inherited Grandpa's old bush axe, but it was heavy and cumbersome.  I remember one summer that I worked with the forestry service, we used Swedish axes that impressed me considerably for cutting saplings.  I'm thinking I might just spring for one of those.
After all was said and done (I can imagine my mother interjecting here, "...more was said than done!..."), I felt only a small fraction of what needed to be done was done.  On the positive side, I did get some exercise, I did enjoy the nice day, and I did enjoy listening to Daddy's tales about the olden days while we took a break.  I tried to imagine how times were when Daddy was a youngster riding a bike all around the rural community selling packets of Henry Field's seeds.  While we sat on a sourwood tree that had survived being uprooted, I saw two lizards venturing out.  It was a warm day for February, and they were taking advantage of the sunshine.  Earlier I had seen a warbler of some sort foraging for insects in the thicket.  The day was perfect weather-wise.  I might try to go back again sometime soon.  (I live too far away to go as often as I would like.)  Once warm weather, ticks, and redbugs arrive, I will not want to be out there.