Winter Wonderland Golf Course- Central Ohio
Most golf courses are more than just a place where you go out to be frustrated trying to hit a little white ball into a hole xxx yards away, it is a part of nature. Many of your local courses have been there for decades and were carved out of the natural landscape in an effort to keep the natural beauty of the property. When the snow falls, the people leave and the original inhabitants of the property spring back to life.
In a secluded course several hundred yards away from any roads, there are hundreds of acres of trees, creeks, ponds and natural areas. During the Winter months I always enjoyed taking a walk out onto the course right after a fresh snow has fallen. The quite can do a world of good when you have spent a season running around on your feet, resolving issues with staff and patrons. A nice walk out in the cold fresh air with no one around you for a mile or two is a very relaxing experience. Several days you will run into the real residents of the property. From deer, fox, hawks and rabbits you find that the fresh snow you are walking on is already littered with small paw and hoof prints. Small holes leading under the snow to even deeper underground spring out from the hillsides. Tracks leading up to the creeks and ponds are seen from all directions with no sign of what made them, as if those that made them knew that you were coming.
When you do get to see the wildlife in its original habitat with no worries of man or machine on their minds it is a sight to behold. People take so much for granted during their every day lives that if you actually get to see how the rest of the creatures we share this planet with live, you will see that the basic fabric of life is there in all of us on this Earth. The young will always stay close to the parents, parents will gather food and create new shelter for their young while always keeping a watchful eye or ear out for anyone or anything that might threaten them. The young are always the first to go at any sign of conflict or threat. The parents seem to give a inaudible signal which tells them to head for home, or the nearest cover. With the young away, the parents will carefully scan the area in all directions while making a quiet retreat into cover.
It is truly a time for reflection if you find yourself the only human in the middle of a scene like this. You realize that instances like this take place all over, every day, away from the view of mans eyes.
If you know someone or somewhere that will allow you to put yourself in this situation, I suggest taking advantage of it. Bring your family out to let them witness these views as well. Because while there are many parks and preserves to go to, these are man made, often fenced in so that the wildlife is not truly wild, concrete and asphalt trails lead into man made trails to man made ponds, and while these are great places to spend a day, it does not even begin to compare to the sights and sounds you will experience when you get a chance to witness nature first hand it its every day routine.
