Imagine standing on the eastern shore of Trout Lake in northern Wisconsin. Your senses are bringing in all that is around you.

On a late afternoon in early August, I was standing along the eastern shoreline of Trout Lake, one of the largest lakes in Vilas County, northern Wisconsin.

The soft breeze peacefully rippled the water just enough to break the perfect glass-like reflection, yielding an almost painted-like appearance.

This great stand of red pines stood straight to the sky, inviting me over to enjoy their forest-floor carpet of heavy pine needles. Each tree was as stately as the next.