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Showing posts from January, 2021
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 A few weeks ago I took a hike at the Vischer Ferry Preserve. It was a grey day as much of January has been. I wondered if I could really see any birds since the light would not be very good, but I forged ahead. There is always something to experience in nature! I felt enveloped in a monochromatic gray. The sky was a veil of silvery clouds that reached down through the trees to the ground. Trees were etched in hues of washed-out black with brown shadows. The limbs and branches of each species sketching delicate traces or thick, dark lines across the clouds. The canal and march were frozen and the ice continued the pearly tones - white-streaked only in small places. I felt that I was lost in a Japanese watercolor! As I walked I looked more deeply and carefully. Grey was not the only color here! Muskrats had kept the water at the edge of the marsh open and brown reeds and loosestrife stood out there in the black water. The reeds towered tall and tan and rustled a song in the wind. Li...
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 Why do I do it? I was hiking with a friend, so I should ask, why do we do it? Do what? Go out on a morning when the temperature is 18 degrees, but the Weather Channel has told you "feels like 9". I asked myself this question last week as I put on layers of clothing to head out. Actually, I have hiked at much colder temperatures and left the house much earlier than our 9am rendevous time. But the question still hung in the frosty air. Why? Then we got to the trailhead of the Sanders Preserve. My question evaporated as I put on my microspikes for safety. The air felt and smelled so fresh, even if a bit frigid. The trail beckoned us into the woods. Lovely hardwoods greeted us. One of the first trees I saw was an Ash, so I had to give her a special greeting since these dear trees are under assault from the Emerald Ash Borer. Many other species called to me - Shagbark Hickory, Oak, Maple and then the coniferous- Hemlock, White Pine - all friends. The Oaks were especially magnific...