Friday, April 14, 2006

Cool Small Things
We had two deserters on account of the rain. Weenies. And we had to wait for half an hour for everyone else to show up - but that's expected (but we don't wait for longer than half an hour without serious apologies or really strong excuses given). The rain stopped and became a light mist and the sun actually broke through for a brief glimpse - like the guy at entrance said it would. The Good Friday hike was everything it should have been . We had only one male this year, everyone's husbands (and MY son) abdicated, but it was their loss.
The woods were at their quiet best. Small treasures were there for the looking. Jewel-green mosses, a blush of colour running thru the outer edges of the trees and shrubs. A still pond, that probably mostly dries up in the summer, with some bottom's-up geese & nesting ducks. Unfamiliar (to me) birds calling, but unseen. The season's first Coltsfoot, not-quite-out because they like to reflect the sun like dandelions. Hepaticas - delicate, pale blooms out of the way of the obnoxious cyclists belting their way thru this gentle sanctuary (everything is about them). And an unexpected treasure found by S. - a tiny, transparent salamander - trying to get run over by the cyclists who see nothing but mud.
We shared lunch, or at least our cookies, by a small playground in Sanctuary Park before making our muddy way back to the cars. All the other hikers stuck to the converted railway path, but the woods were much nicer AND much more of a workout. Very hilly. Perfect.
We'll be back.

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