A WINTER'S TRAIL. My last walk in Bethpage State Park in 2005 was a winter's stroll. Visibility in the woods was good due to the barren trees. The weather was warm, so the ground was muddy in spots. Avoiding the mud and following trails I hadn't noticed before, I wound up on a stretch of what I believe was Long Island's Nassau-Suffolk Greenbelt Trail, not far from an exit ramp from the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway.

In the woods, I found a kind of shelter.

























Inside the shelter was a bench made from a split tree trunk.

























Nearby were some old campaign posters. Here is one of them.

























There were also mysterious mounds. I didn't know what to make of them.

























Not far away was a makeshift bench, also made with a split tree trunk. The two benches were the first "resting spots" I'd found on the park's trailways. (There are benches in the picnic area, but I'm not counting them.)

























Then, in a different part of the woods, I found this chair.

























Photos: David Marc Fischer