A Nature Break

When I passed the young redbud yesterday, the one that lives a short walk from my driveway and introduced me to the snail, I noticed that all its blooms were gone. It was sprouting those beautiful little heart shaped leaves that become voluminous as the tree matures. So I paid it another visit. And then I wandered. Quaker Ladies
I found more Quaker ladies sprouting among the mosses and a few more woodland flowers I had not yet seen. And I paid a visit to the wisteria hanging among the oak tree boughs. Unfortunately, this is not the native variety. Also visiting were a kettle of bees. I attracted some unpleasant stares, but happily, they were more interested in chasing each other than me.

Red Bud Visitor

I didn’t expect to find a snail in the tree. In fact, I missed it altogether, at first glance, its speckled brown patterns blended so well with the bark. I confess that I've never been a great fan of the slippery sluggery sorts. But then you can’t help but feel fascinated with a creature that carries its eyes at the end of tentacles and sports another set of tentacles for its sense of smell. A soft bodied gastropod that can’t hear, moves slowly and has poor sight, yet has been known to live fifteen years? There must be some wisdom we can glean from that.

--Brown Garden Snail

Eastern Red Bud

The Eastern Red Bud parade is in progress. One of our native flowering trees, it sprinkles shades of purple and pink and magenta all over the country side, peeping out among still-bare deciduous trees, peppered along pastoral hillsides, brightening the roadsides everywhere. Native plants do that. They are happy, non intrusive and hardy. I visited several near my home between drizzling rains, just before the dark clouds moved in again. The blossoms sprout from everywhere, all over the tree’s branches, in what seems to be no particular order, although, you can be sure there is perfect order. Nature is the embodiment of order. Everything is connected to everything else, the tree, its roots, the sky, its rain, the visitor, its life cycle, and on and on it goes--a circle of connection--refreshing, renewing and alive.