Dreaming the World

Its foggy! Very foggy! The sea breeze seems to be intensifying the gloom instead of breaking it up as forecast. If not for the wind and damp the day would feature springlike warmth.

The crows are in mating mood and in spite of the inclement weather there are moments of strenuous courtship, not always successful. There may also already be some child rearing going on as occasionally an individual flies off with a remaining morsal of food.

Along our road there are gatherings of robins, sometimes mixed with other species. Given the robins don’t always look before crossing the road, it is a good idea to slow one’s car when passing these flocks. Given their relative proximity, these groupings may actually represent one large flock.

It appears the maples may come into flower any day now, along with our magnolia. Some smaller shrubs are beginning to leaf out.

This day has brought back a beloved memory of being at university and visiting friends at another for a weekend long music festival. Their school was situated in the rolling hills of southeast Ohio and one foggy morning we set out for a hike in the spring woods. Walking those trails one could understand Copland’s mood when he wrote “Appalachian Spring”.

Below the newly leafed undergrowth were carpets of wildflowers. Across the hills ran gradations of every green imaginable, mixed with muted versions of falls’ palette. Every now and again morel mushrooms of various types and sizes would appear out of the fog.

Southeaster Ohio is an exceptional morel hunting region, perhaps only rivalled by parts of Michigan. It was getting late in the season, the maples having moved beyond the crucial “mouse eared” stage, but to our delight and pleasure the morels were abundant and perfect. Being so late, many were of the larger varieties which meant they were easier to harvest and carry.

Remembering back, I note that we were not concerned with ticks as the local species were large and easy to find and carried no human pathogens. Deep in the woods, even poison ivy was not an issue and our small band of young adults (we were mostly seniors getting ready to graduate into a chaotic Vietnam era world) was in good spirits, a welcome change from our politically and ethically fraught day-to-day lives. Somehow that morning we all sensed that it was a memorable day, indeed.

I hope that wherever you are you have access to spring (fall if you are down under), nature, and joy, especially in these charged times.