"All this is perfectly distinct to an observant eye and yet could easily pass unnoticed by most." -Thoreau
There are some among us, who standing at the edge of a deep wood, will wonder what is to be found within. The thought comes to mind that surely there are forests and fields where not every square foot of ground has been tread upon. What is yet to be discovered there?
On his grandparents' farm in the northwest reaches of Wellfleet, where the landscape peaks and dips in knolls and hollows but is otherwise characteristic of much of Cape Cod, Tim Atwood has spent many summer vacations exploring woods and meadows, often with his grandfather, Timothy. Bordered by a stream to the north, a salt marsh to the south and Cape Cod Bay to the west, Atwood Farm is a picturesque setting; and also one of very few remaining working farms of the region. There, over the course of many generations since its settlement centuries before, members of the Atwood family have stepped out on the farmhouse porch and welcomed with cheered hearts the sight of yellow and white daffodil blossoms nodding to the wind on a cold spring morning. Others enjoying a warm mid-summer's night on that same porch have gazed in wonder at constellations positioned in the sky just as they had been, and would continue to be, year after year throughout time.
Mother Nature's wonders were not all in plain sight for the Atwoods to see. Only those with a more watchful eye saw the migrating warblers high in the oaks above, or caught the fleeting moment of a star falling from the heavens. Certainly some things on the farm preferred to go unseen; though there were Atwoods who looked closely, they were missed just the same. Even the finest of Atwood hunters would occasionally fail to spot a deer that had taken cover among the tall grasses of a fallow field. Likewise the praying mantis among the green leaves of the porch-side lilac bush and the lone owl that cleverly hid itself among the pines, were sights overlooked. Small enough to hide in tight spaces, dressed in their camouflaged "garb", built to run swiftly and silently, or adapted to living in environments not suited to their predators, some plants and creatures, both large and small, have long existed unobserved on the land the Atwoods call home.
Of course, that which goes unobserved can still be known. Having spent centuries farming that land, it's not surprising that the Atwoods have many tales about those forests, fields and the sea beyond. In fact, tales describing unusual happenings and encounters abounded. Around campfires, on fishing jaunts, and at the dinner table, stories were passed from one generation to the next. Some were funny, others scary, and some even tragic, but regardless of theme, those with a special gift for storytelling could deliver the tale in a manner so convincing that at least a few could be spotted casting glances over their shoulders toward the forest. After all, though years of embellishments had infused these tales, it was impossible to say with any certainty whether the stories were legends or if some truth was being told.
Like many before him, young Tim had also heard these tales time and again. But when Grandpa Timothy passed away unexpectedly in 1994, the stories became seemingly irrelevant in the face of keeping the farm going; there was a lot to do to help his grandmother get through the growing season. When Grandma Atwood decided that season would be their last and began to seriously consider an offer from a developer, Tim was disappointed, but understanding. Sorting through his grandfather's belongings in preparation, he discovered that the stories he'd been told may not be mere legend after all…
What Tim learns will be detailed in a book, soon to be available for all to read, but his story is only a short chapter of a much larger story that goes back in history long before the Atwoods staked their claim on that tract of land. It will require another book to entirely share that story. Then, too, there's the question of the future, which is to be the culmination of this trilogy.
But in the meantime, there is only the present, and so we share with you the brief first-hand accounts herein to serve as a background for the books to come.
Welcome to The Last of the Forest Dwellers.
