Shayla and I have gotten into the habit of going for a morning walk each day. Sometimes we walk on the road, sometimes the Foxwood trails and sometimes both. We have especially enjoyed noting the daily changes in the woods this spring as the plants wake up and trees leaf out. We go on wildflower hunts and greet each new Trout Lily, Spring Beauty or Violet we find with enthusiasm. We have seen lots of small Trillium plants too and marvel at their resilience. After years of overgrazing by deer they still manage to leaf out and try their best to build up strength and energy before the forest canopy steals the sun away and they go dormant for another year. Hopefully the small Trilliums we see will be able to store enough energy to flower in future years. On the drive to Huntsville we pass a hillside that is covered in a mass of flowering Trilliums. It's quite a sight but nothing to compare to the single blooming Trillium we found on the Foxwood trail the other day. I felt almost as proud as a new mom! Since then I have found others stong enough to flower- both in white and purple- often tucked between the fallen branches of trees where the deer can't get at them. For the second year in a row we have noticed a drop in deer numbers in our area so there is hope yet for a hillside of floweringTrilliums at Foxwood.Saturday, May 16, 2009
SPRING FLOWERS
Shayla and I have gotten into the habit of going for a morning walk each day. Sometimes we walk on the road, sometimes the Foxwood trails and sometimes both. We have especially enjoyed noting the daily changes in the woods this spring as the plants wake up and trees leaf out. We go on wildflower hunts and greet each new Trout Lily, Spring Beauty or Violet we find with enthusiasm. We have seen lots of small Trillium plants too and marvel at their resilience. After years of overgrazing by deer they still manage to leaf out and try their best to build up strength and energy before the forest canopy steals the sun away and they go dormant for another year. Hopefully the small Trilliums we see will be able to store enough energy to flower in future years. On the drive to Huntsville we pass a hillside that is covered in a mass of flowering Trilliums. It's quite a sight but nothing to compare to the single blooming Trillium we found on the Foxwood trail the other day. I felt almost as proud as a new mom! Since then I have found others stong enough to flower- both in white and purple- often tucked between the fallen branches of trees where the deer can't get at them. For the second year in a row we have noticed a drop in deer numbers in our area so there is hope yet for a hillside of floweringTrilliums at Foxwood.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A NICE REFRESHING DIP
Monday, May 4 marked the official first swim of the year here at Foxwood. A few weeks ago the ice was floating around and we probably had the first boat in the lake. This time it was Julia's turn by herself. She always makes that first swim, however this year she was a bit later than usual. Typically, it's January 1 when she jumps off the end of the dock. We have aerators going to keep the area free of ice so it's easy to get in and out of the water. This year something else must have been taking place so the New Year swim never happened...maybe it was because our daughter Meg wasn't home to keep Julia company. The temperature of the water on May 4 was a balmy 8C or about 47F. Julia's words as she got out of the lake, and perhaps not to anyone's surprise, were "it's not too bad". For most of us we can wait a bit longer, or until the mid part of June when the water temperature creeps up into the mid 20C's or 70F - 80F.
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