Hermon Woodlands Metro Park Trails, Lima Ohio, October 2025

My husband and I chose a gentle October day to wander through Hermon Woodlands. The air was kind, and the trees stood in quiet splendor—cloaked in deep golds and soft ambers. Just off the trail, we came upon a teepee built from fallen limbs, a simple yet striking shelter shaped by time, weather, and perhaps the imagination of a child at play. Nearby, the MagiNature Playscape and Storybook Trail added a touch of magic to this already special place. The wind carried the rich, earthy scent of fallen leaves returning to the soil. Mushrooms lay at the base of trunks, and above us, hawks circled, gliding on unseen currents. We moved past the teepee and into the quiet beauty of the dry creek beds, once lively streams, now hushed and sculpted by time into winding trails of stone, pale roots, and sun-bleached earth. There was a stillness there, the kind that invites you to breathe slower and listen more closely. On a small wooden bridge, we paused. Below us, squirrels darted through a mosaic of fallen leaves, their tiny feet rustling the forest floor. In that simple moment, surrounded by the hush of mid-October, we felt the peace that only nature can give.