forest – How Would You Do It?

Love A Tree Day!

The very first time I travelled from faraway San Diego to the remote reaches of a Western Kentucky forest, I fell swoopy-doopy in love. The Realtor I’d visited was in Elizabethtown. I wanted to build a cabin in the woods. Nada, nothing available, all the woods being sectioned up and bulldozed for subdivisions, sadness. The hour I was to leave the motel for the airport, she called and breathlessly rushed to say she’d just had a miracle pop up on her screen.

I sped over and met her at the door. She told me a 100 acre forested lot just came up on the wire, not even formally listed yet. And they only wanted $35,000 for it! She got a somber look and added that it was almost a hundred miles west.

We went and we poked around a little in the pouring rain. Gee, I wasn’t sure…We went back to the Realtor’s house and she let me stay there.

I called home and said I’d be away for one additional day, then remembered to change the flight due to family emergency. Sort of… The next morning I drove back out and everything seemed different, me and the trees in cosmic communion. The wonderfully sunny day was rather far along before I’d stopped wandering the deer paths, swooning in awe of the cacophony of birdsong and ogling the brilliant wildflowers. Before I got back in the car, felt the strangest, I couldn’t believe I was doing it compulsion. I hugged a big ‘ol tree. Tight.

I got back to the Realtor’s and picked up my plunder so I could return to the airport in Louisville. I had to talk a 35 grand commitment over with Bob, we had to look over the finances, we had to see if this could integrate into our plans, I had to convince him with a thousand pictures. I drove away. About 100 feet.

I ran back crying and signed the papers.

I have NEVER regretted it.

It’s Love A Tree Day, and as ABBA sang, “I do, I do, Id, I do, I do!”

Holy cow, just writing this has me in tears.

Impending Autumn

I thought I’d post a few timely pictures to show I’m still alive and kicking! Fall is my favorite time of the year; the weather starts cooling and I can cozy up to thick, soft clothes. Who doesn’t enjoy the vibrant colors of a majestic hardwood forest? And fortunate me – I live in the midst of a beautiful one. See the flocks of silhouetted birds headed for the beaches, see some of the squirrels hoarding nuts while other sneak up and steal them, see the evening sun arrive sooner and sooner.

Write down what size furnace filters you need and get a pack now because you’ll be too busy with Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas to think of them later. And a note to self, make up some of that superlatively soft fleece and faux fur you got on sale last spring…you have the patterns, now find the time!

Summer Butterflies!

Woodland May Apples

Newly leafing May Apples, and I sure have lots of them. Part of my land is a Kentucky – designated wetland. That’s the perfect environment for the well-storied May Apple.

Other names: Umbrella Plant, Duck Foot, American Mandrake, Wild Jalap, Racoon Berry, Hog Apple and Indian Apple.

Lest the “American Mandrake” scare you, like, don’t eat the plant or unripe fruit. The May Apple is not a real mandrake, but chowing down a plant might well do you in.

As a relevant aside, the real mandrake is a member of the Solanacae family (as is the Deadly Nightshade!). People used to think tomatoes (from that family) were poisonous. Potatoes are from that family too, don’t eat the green skin or the sprouts – same for eggplants. Tobacco to peppers to petunias, it’s a big family! I mention these simply as an example of how you can eat poisonous plants and fruit if you know what you’re doing.

So, like eating the correct part of the potato, eat only the fully ripe, yellow fruit. That is if you can beat the squirrels to it some time from late May through July. This website has pretty good information on it:

Eat the Weeds can be found at http://www.eattheweeds.com/podophyllum-peltatum-forgotten-fruit-2/

Walking through the woods is wonderful and Spring is a magical time to take it all in. From the tree-borne constellations of Redbud blossoms to the tiny, precious wildflowers, I love it!

Sunday Near Sunset

The rain went on its way and the sun came out. I’d been working all weekend moving books from upstairs down, up and down, up and down, about 25 at a time. Come late Sunday afternoon, I was SO ready for a break, and sitting on my rump is not for me. I stepped out on the front porch and was dazzled by the slanting rays of sunshine; it made the forest appear golden and spotlit the colors. Here are some of radiant photographs, I hope they come though the multiple electromagnetic steps and satellite bounces well.

The early fruit trees are blooming, we’ll see if Sunday night’s freeze harmed the Intrepid Peach, the Moonglow Pear and the rest .

I walked the gravel road from one property line to the other. The Wild Branch is still high and the road is still a mess. I did clear out the ditches a bit to assist in drainage. The wood roses were so beautiful, I wish the picture revealed the amazing hues better. They aren’t actual roses, but the blooms are very reminiscent of the old-fashioned wild roses. I have some of those, to bloom later though.