turning a new corner

Sometimes I like to turn a new corner when out on my daily walks with Kiki. No corner is really new here for me, but these are ever-changing along with the seasons, and I've noticed that just taking a few steps in a different direction can present you with surprises. Clusters of fern, a red mushroom, a small waterfall. Sometimes there are patches of a certain kind of flower which you will only find in one particular spot. I am sure this has to do with scientific things like sunlight and soil constitution. But when I happen upon something rare, it feels miraculous and special.

March is the time to search the ground....there are so many things going on there. November's layers of leaves protect and feed new life, which I find fascinating. For as clichè as it may sound, it is true: the wheel of life is nowhere so evident as in nature, where fresh life springs from the remains of death, only to eventually die and be the source of life for the following generation.

You can find the most change now by brushing aside dead foliage and searching the edges of creek beds. For someone who takes no notice of the tiny (but remarkable) changes, spring must seem to leap up in blossoms and bird song sometime in mid April! But for the observant person, spring creeps up in an almost mysterious manner these next few weeks. This is the time of year when one should take advantage of the places in nature which will soon be inaccessible once the vines and underbrush flourish. I take some of my longest walk at this time, down deer paths and along singing creeks, searching for the first spring shoots and flowers, frogs and salamanders, duck nests and toad eggs. 

While I brush aside leaves and stand still listening to the hawks cry, Kiki is busier than ever. The entrance holes to field mice hovels are now finally uncovered, and the perfect size for a spaniel snout to poke around in but not do any real damage.

Here you see a mouse hole in the middle of wild strawberry vines. What a clever mouse, living with fresh berries growing at a tail's length!

This is the look Kiki gives me when I distract her for a portrait. "Ugh, you with your camera!"

Right before leaving the hillside which dives steeply down to the creek, I found this skeletal leaf in a tree crevace, so frail and beautiful. Simple and intricate at the same time.

So while we look forward to the trembling and bursting of new growth, we also say a thank you to the things which have passed, and give sustenance to that new life.

Thank you for your notes, I have never felt so connected to a community. I am happy to share the seasons with you.

xo country girl