Off the Wolf River Trail

Shelby Farms Park is one of those places Memphis gives you without asking much in return. It is big enough to wander for hours and close enough that I never needed much of a reason to go.

I spent most of my time among the flowers and along the Wolf River Trail, which slips out of the park and into the woods. The blooms were busy with butterflies, the trail was shaded and quiet, and a spiny little spider had built its web right where the light could find it.

It was the kind of outing that asked nothing of me except to slow down and look closely. Living here, it is easy to forget a place like this is so close. Days like this one remind me not to.