ANIMAL SKULLS
It’s been this way since he
was a boy: his heart popped
each time he saw one—
a possum, a deer, a turtle, a
beaver. In the dark woods
near his mama’s house he’d
scan the ground for the dirt worn,
dusty white of them, pocked and
smooth all at once, a snout
or a jaw bone poking up from
the brush, like a sail adrift.
Back in his mama’s yard
he’d give them a proper clean—
flesh-eating beetles and bone
thrown together in a pine box,
letting nature do its thing.
Afterwards, when all the dirt
was wiped away, there was a sound—
an ancient wind, made of his
calloused hand brushing along
the long drawn mold of it, and here—
now, they are lined up next to
each other on a shelf in his studio,
a collection of truest form—
wails and moans of echoing lifetimes.
Hike level: Moderate
Location: Ojai, CA
Cost: FREE to hike
Description: This was a nice 2.9-mile loop trail with just 833 ft of elevation gain in Ojai, California. It had a couple of nice scrambles, almost all the elevation gain is in the first .8 miles of the hike and there are lots of gorgeous views.
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