Walking Through the Woods at Pinson Mounds

Boardwalk in the Trees

During our most recent visit to Pinson Mounds State Park in Tennessee, we enjoyed the fact that we finally got to take the boardwalk and nature trail through the low-lying areas.

So here is one more photo from that visit of the boardwalk. As you may know if you drop by here often, I seem to have lots of photos of boardwalks through nature. So I tried to make this one a little different by having the boardwalk itself be off-center. Just for something different.

I liked the little stream running under the boardwalk at this location, too. I would imagine that back during the winter months that stream was not quite so little. It probably had lots more water in it. In fact, I would guess that the whole area had much more water in it. Pretty cool that they have the boardwalk over all of that to make it easier for us to walk through there and enjoy the view. 

I am always amazed at how they are able to build boardwalks like that without disturbing the natural scenery. I don’t know for certain, but I think it must be done as they go. They can’t go drive through there and put all the posts in the ground and then come back and put the boards on them. I can just imagine someone hanging off the end of what they have done so far to put the next post in the ground. Maybe that isn’t quite how they do it, but I suspect it is something similar. Pretty cool.

Not All the Same

As I mentioned above, all of these boardwalks that we have visited might look the same. But that is only if you are looking quickly without taking time to investigate more.

On closer inspection, you can see that they are all made slightly differently. And their locations are all a little different, too. Some of the locations are drastically different, such as the boardwalks in Tennessee versus the boardwalks in Florida, for example. But there are other differences, too. If you know what to look for.

That reminds me of how we see people sometimes, too. You might look at a large group of people and think that everyone is the same. Or you might categorize people based on the larger groups that they fall into. You might see all the cars on your way to work and think that everyone is in your way and is driving poorly, too.

But if you take time to look, you will notice that people are all different. We all have our own unique characteristics. We all have our own interests. And we all have our own things that motivate us. Sometimes when someone is different from me, instead of just dismissing him immediately, I should try to figure out what makes him the way he is. Why is he grouchy all the time? What would make him happy? Maybe he has something really bad going on in his life right now that is affecting the way he sees everything. Maybe he just needs a kind word or two of encouragement. And maybe he just needs a friend.

There was a guy that I grew up with that I thought was just plain weird. I didn’t really know him. But I knew a little bit about him, and he sure seemed strange. I only found out many years later that his family was going through some really difficult stuff. Those things were making him more or less withdraw from the world. I thought he just didn’t talk to anyone because he didn’t like anyone. Little did I know what was really going on. That would have made a big difference.

We can improve our relationships with others if we take the time to figure out why they are the way that they are. They might not tell you why they are the way that they are. You may have to do some digging to find out. But take the time to look at things from the point of view of someone else. You might be surprised what you find.

Even though we may all look the same at first glance, just like boardwalks through the woods, we all have our differences. You just have to find them.

Bible Verse

The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn. - Isaiah 61:1-2

About the Photo

As I mentioned above, I purposefully took this with the boardwalk off-center, just for something different. When you are taking an off-center photo on purpose, be sure to make it enough off-center that it looks like you meant for it to be off-center. Sometimes it is difficult to tell unless you make it obvious. Hopefully it is obvious here.

Sometimes photos of woods are a bit dark. A mysterious look is nice sometimes. But I chose to make this one nice and bright. We were happy for a sunny day after several weeks of rain. I wanted to capture that sunny day feeling here. So everything is nice and bright. The leaves on the trees are a bright green, and the sunlight is strong on the boardwalk. Just a reminder of the fun in the sun that we were having that day.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 Fisheye Lens
Date: April 21, 2018
Location: Pinson Mounds State Park, Tennessee