To Alex -

To Alex...who is far away in person, but never far from my heart. I miss you. Enjoy these snippets of everyday family life here in the states.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Mushrooming

success!! Foraged in a new-to-me location over the weekend...

I'll be going back next year. The yellow morels are done for the year, but I should find oysters all summer long.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Walking a wire

I'm choosing my steps
Carefully
Trying to find my way
Forward or back
I don't yet know
Still
It must be done
For both our sakes
 
I hope you'll step as carefully with me

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Whenever possible.

Mostly photos...in fact, very heavy on the photos. I'm having a quiet morning.

Mourning Dove

American Robin

Trillium

Wild Geranium

Beech Tree Graffiti


Jack-in-the-Pulpit

I see a gnome face - in the right-hand branch sticking up.

Dryad's Saddle, edible


 It's my thing

Garlic Mustard
I turned my pickings into
pesto

Solomon's Seal


Wild Lupine

Scarlet Tanager
What a find! This is only the second Scarlet Tanager I've found.

Blueberries


Lily-of-the-Valley
The reason I went walking, in honor of my mother.

The end of the wild garlic. I managed to find a few that I used in the pesto.

Shoot, I even found the bottle lying in the woods.
Happy Mother's Day

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Lilacs

My neighbor has a very mature Lilac bush growing outside my back door. She tells me to help myself to as much as I like...so I pluck snippets...repeatedly, until they're gone.
I'm trying to write at my kitchen table with this vase in front of me, but the rich, sweet Lilac scent has invaded my senses and I've deserted my writing. My thoughts have run toward my mother and I sit here ruminating about her, again. The scent of Lilacs, Honeysuckle and Lily-of-the-Valley will do that to me.
 
I hope your day is beautiful...I think I'll go to the woods to look for wild Lily-of-the-Valley.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary

I ran across Loda Lake by accident a few years ago while traveling home via the back roads after kayaking. I marked it on my map, came home and looked it up, but disregarded it for hiking because the trail is only 1.5 miles. I guess I didn't do my research very well because it has a connector to the North Country Trail and it's easy to plan a trip with as many miles as you would like. Fortunately, my hiking group planned a weekend trip to include Loda Lake and, of course, I joined in. Please, enjoy the photos...I certainly enjoyed my hike.
Sharp-lobed Hepatica
Hepatica - note the 3 bracts surrounding the partially open flower
Trout Lily
Spring Beauty
Marsh Marigold, Cowslip
Ostrich Fern fiddle heads, edible - note the groove running down the inside of the stem. This signifies that it is Ostrich and not Cinnamon or Interrupted, neither of which should be eaten.
Cutleaf Toothwort
Trout Lily
Mayapple
Woodland Terrarium - wishing I had picked this up because it would look gorgeous in my garden
Fairy Castle
Hepatica
Partridgeberry
Lesser Scaup
Tree Groundpine
Northern Pitcher Plant, carnivorous
Tree Swallow
Tree Swallow
Serviceberry
Lesson learned: if I happen across someplace that appeals to me, I darned well better get in there and explore it. I could have easily ignored this place for years and never known what a gem it is.