but there was nowhere I wanted to go that didn't involve a three-day drive.  但任何我想去的地方都得开上三天的车才能到。

I pulled on my boots anyway, unclear where I was headed, and went downstairs.  无论如何，我还是穿上靴子，漫无目的地走下楼。

I shrugged into my raincoat without checking the weather and stomped out the door.  我甚至没有看看天气，就直接套上了我的雨衣，重重地踏着步子走出门外。

It was overcast, but not raining yet.  天阴沉沉的，但没在下雨。

I ignored my truck and started east on foot,  我不去理会自己的卡车，徒步向东面走去，

angling across Charlie's yard toward the ever-encroaching forest.  斜穿过查理的院子走向我此前从未涉足过的森林。

It didn't take long till I was deep enough for the house and the road to be invisible,  没花多长时间我就走进了丛林深处，走到无论是从房子里还是从马路上都已经看不到的地方。

for the only sound to be the squish of the damp earth under my feet and the sudden cries of the jays. 唯一的声音是来自我脚下的湿土的吱嘎声，还有突如其来的松鸦的叫声。

There was a thin ribbon of a trail that led through the forest here,  一条窄窄的羊肠小道穿过密林延伸到这里，

or I wouldn't risk wandering on my own like this.  否则我不会冒着让自己迷路的风险走到这里来。

My sense of direction was hopeless; I could get lost in much less helpful surroundings.  我的方向感向来让人绝望：要是周遭有助于认路的信息再少一点，我就必定要迷路了。

The trail wound deeper and deeper into the forest, mostly east as far as I could tell.  这条小径蜿蜒着伸向密林里更深处，就我所知，总体上是一路向东延伸。

It snaked around the Sitka spruces and the hemlocks, the yews and the maples.  它曲折着绕过一棵棵西德加云杉和铁杉，一棵棵紫杉和枫木。

I only vaguely knew the names of the trees around me,  我只是隐约知道自己周围的树的名字，

and all I knew was due to Charlie pointing them out to me from the cruiser window in earlier days.  而我知道的这一切都得归功于查理。更早些的时候，他曾在巡逻车里为我指出窗外这些树的名字。

There were many I didn't know,  这里有许多我不认识的树，

and others I couldn't be sure about because they were so covered in green parasites. 还有有一些树我没法确认，因为它们都覆盖在了密密麻麻的绿色藤蔓植物下。