Coastal Forest

There are times when the forest seems to exhale clouds, when fog rests so heavily on the tree-tops that the space between them vanishes, and the whole of the forest becomes a white-frothed ocean. There are times, as well, when sunlight finds its way to the ferns and fawn lilies, to the dense, secret streams at the feet of the maple trees, and for a moment the colors lose their dampness, and the soil smells of drying rain, and all the world seems stirred by the sun.