This doesn't look like much, I'll agree—just a sliver of a trail in snow-blanketed woods—but remember: this is a scene I haven't been able to see and document since the end of last October. But I've been making steady progress both at home, where I'm wearing out paths on the local roads, and at cardiac rehab in Westerly, where I'm wearing out paths on the treadmill and myriad other heart-improving machines. Today, I felt ready to get back to natural history business, so I headed to a favorite spot, the Benedict Benson Preserve, took a deep and calming breath, and started to walk through the woods. I wasn't really nervous, but I did carry identification and a cell phone; I'm a little more careful than I used to be. This time, however, because I was out for a for-the-head tour rather than one strictly for the heart—it was that, too, but it wasn't just aerobic—I walked slow enough to observe, reflect, and record. I would do the heart-training walk tomorrow.