Encountering Earth

My favorite spot, besides our park, is definitely Vischer Ferry Preserve. I went there on Saturday morning- I thought it was early- 9:30 but a lot of folks were there and the parking lot was full. I love seeing the families out walking. Really, the kids lead the parents in noticing things and being enthralled with rocks on the path and birds flying by. I met this little guy named David. He is about two with a huge smile and absolute enthusiasm for "nature". His parents said that he woke up all excited to go into nature that day. David looked all around and noticed my binoculars. His parents decided he should have a pair so he could see the birds better. They moved on, assuring David that next time we might be able to "bump fists". They were eager to see the painted turtles that I told them about. I think one of the best gifts parents and relatives and friends can give a child is an outlet for this biophilia that is naturally theirs. They need time and space and a m

Spring is tentative about coming because the nights have been cold. We had snow last Friday and Saturday! But Spring will only be held back for so long. This week the flowers of the trees are coming out - red for the maples, yellow-green for the poplars, tan for the alder catkins. The skunk cabbage has unfurled from its sheath of pale green splashed with maroon to large heart-shaped leaves that fill the swampy places. Coltsfoot is up smiling yellow and shyly from the side of the trail. Bloodroot's fragile white petals are fearless coming through the dead leaves. Early wildflowers are trying to send up tiny tender leaves - trout lilies, starflower - just promising to burst forth in a week or so. The blessing of this time is time to amble and look - really look at the small things like new shoots. What are you seeing as you take time this Spring? (image credit: Wikipedia)

I have been walking every day. It really is great to get out and watch Spring unfold. Nature seems undisturbed by our struggles with the Coronavirus. What a switch! We are usually disturbing her and now the roles are reversed! Will we stop to consider our impact on Creation? Will we just return to our ways of wanton consumerism and destruction? But nature is simply being her Springtime self. At Vischer Ferry this week I was blown away by the sounds of the frogs. I know one of the species is Spring peepers. But I heard other frogs too. Perhaps wood frogs? Creaking and trilling. The sound was so loud! Painted turtles congregated on logs, unmindful of social distancing. A piliated woodpecker was excavating a nesting hole. His? Her? large body would all but disappear into the hole, do some chipping away and pop out. Very interesting, since piliated woodpeckers create large rectangular holes in trees and this hole was perfectly round. It seems like the hole was made by another woodpecker s