FIFTEEN – BELLE ISLE WOODS: INITIATIONWhen I was growing up, the woods on Belle Isle were always dark and mysterious. Sometimes, while driving through the shadowy forest, deer and other forms of wildlife made their presence known to those people who dared venture into their domain during daylight hours. The trees were a mixture of birch, elm, maple and spruce; some of them reached heights of 40 to 50 feet. Wild vines surrounded the tall trees and were tethered to their trunks; some wrapped around like a barbershop pole, reaching up from the ground to form a dense ceiling below the treetops. The brush was so thick it was near impossible to enter beyond twenty feet of the road. The canopy, lush and vibrant during the late spring, consequently blocked out both sunlight and moonlight from pene
