Welcome to day 8 of 31 Days of Apocalypse, Now, a month of posts about apocalypse, revelation, uncovering what’s been hidden. Each post will look at these ideas from its own vantage point, which may not obviously connect with the others, and which may only peripherally seem related. I won’t attempt to tie the posts together. They’ll all be listed here, as they are posted.

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The word cover has many meanings, as a transitive verb, an intransitive verb, and a noun, of which a few are to protect (CYA; or an insurance policy that protects the holder by covering specific dangers), to guard from attack (as when a cop covers another cop with weapon, or in sports, as when a shortstop covers 3rd base), to shelter (seek cover from the storm), and to conceal or hide (she coughed to cover her laugh).

Remember that apocalypse means “an uncovering.”

The trail system I walked this weekend is on land protected in perpetuity for the use of the public, and in fact guarded by covenant from the encroachment of development, and because of this it provides shelter for animals (bears, coyotes, fox, moose, deer, and smaller animals), plants, and fungi. In providing shelter, it also serves to hide its inhabitants, and in fact for nine years the trail system itself has been hidden from me, in plain view. Located only a few miles from my house, these are the last of the local trails that I’ve walked, even though I’ve been expressly invited to do so a few times. I knew they were there but I never looked.

That’s how apocalypse can be: The revealing, unveiling, or discovery of something that’s hidden only because we haven’t looked closely. Sometimes uncovering just needs pulling off the covers and looking at what’s been in front of us all the time.

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Here’s what I saw, when I looked: