Some cold seasons seem especially long so when the first warm day finally arrives, it feels everyone heaves a collective sigh of relief. We have survived another winter and the sunshine brings a renewed sense of hope and optimism. After long months of dark days, bad weather and winter ailments, you just want to shed heavy coats and feel the sun on your face.
On this first glorious day, the need to be outside was overwhelming so I headed out in my faithful green chariot. She is a lady of a certain age, somewhat like myself, but always up for an adventure. The wonderful thing about living in an area for a while is that its roads and trails become old friends. You know where the osprey nests are, or where you can see a muskrat or a bobolink or the first coltsfoot.
I chose the Sudden Forest Tract because it has so many of my favorite things like boardwalks, water and wildflowers. Perfection. It is a little drive north but I chose the back roads so that dawdling and pulling over to take photos does not cause road rage in any other motorists.
This platform is near a large field that bobolinks nest in. The first indication of their presence is usually a sighting on the wire fence. On this day the only fence sitter was a lovely Savannah sparrow, identified by a vivid yellow face marking.
It was a delight to be greeted at the entrance to the forest tract by a Mourning Cloak. These butterflies, as well as the lovely Comma, overwinter as adults in the leaf litter or a tree crevice so are usually the first butterflies that you will see in the spring.
This is an area of wetland so one of its wonders includes Snakeskin liverwort, also called Great scented liverwort or more formally Conocephalum conicum. There are thousands of liverworts, but interestingly, a Harvard University blog spoke of research being done with a a cannabinoid called perrottetiene (PET), found in the liverwort plant Radula perrottetii to see if it has new benefits which would make it an alternative to medical cannabis. Who knew?
It is easy to see why it is called Snakeskin liverwort, but the 'conicum' part of its formal designation comes from the little cone-shaped structures that are the female reproductive structures.
This is one of the boardwalks and it previously connected to another raised walkway by a wooden sidewalk through the woods. On this particular day that section was really muddy and I had to pay attention to staying upright and keeping my boots still on my feet. On the opposite side the wetland gives way to hills and vernal ponds. On this side I saw Wintergreen that still had berries,
the first open Hepatica blooms,
gorgeous mosses,
and the first of the season's snakes...sigh.
The trail circles back to the wetland and I noticed that Marsh Marigolds leaves were emerging and even saw a few early buds.
There were patches of tiny trumpets which are a lichen species called Cladonia,
a fungus flower,
and unique perched trees.
Sometimes it feels so self-indulgent to spend this much time in the pursuit of solitude. It is however, not recreational so much as something visceral and as necessary to me as breathing. The forest is a spiritual place; a place to marvel at design and form; to allay anxiety for a time; to take a deep breath. One can set aside the big worries in life like climate change and the willful disregard of the human condition in the world, as well as the personal worries about health, finance or family matters. It is a chance to wonder at beauty and make a new furry friend when you are missing your own.
The forest soothes the hurts and calms the spirit; gives hope and re-energizes.
For my dear husband, who still brings me flowers, and sets me free to roam.
