Loosestrife & Midlife

Love this quote …

”I think midlife is when the universe gently places her hands upon your shoulders, pulls you close, and whispers in your ear: I’m not screwing around. It’s time. All of this pretending and performing – these coping mechanisms that you’ve developed to protect yourself from feeling inadequate and getting hurt – has to go.

Your armor is preventing you from growing into your gifts. I understand that you needed these protections when you were small. I understand that you believed your armor could help you secure all of the things you needed to feel worthy of love and belonging, but you’re still searching and you’re more lost than ever.

Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you. You can’t live the rest of your life worried about what other people think. You were born worthy of love and belonging. Courage and daring are coursing through you. You were made to live and love with your whole heart. It’s time to show up and be seen.”

~ Brené Brown

Whorled Yellow Loosestrife June 2018

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Sunshine

“The beauty of that June day was almost staggering. After the wet spring, everything that could turn green had outdone itself in greenness and everything that could even dream of blooming or blossoming was in bloom and blossom. The sunlight was a benediction.”

Dan Simmons

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The Royal Wedding

Grandma would have loved the #royalwedding this past Saturday. We would have so much to talk about. The beauty, the traditions, the memories of her home. I miss you Nana. Today was emotional and beautiful all at the same time. I knew today’s photo had to be of a Daisy (of some sort) just for her.

Imagine our homes and families when love is the way. Imagine our neighborhoods and communities where love is the way. Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way. When love is the way — unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive — when love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again. When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream, and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook.

When love is the way, poverty would become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary. When love is the way, we will lay our swords and shields down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children. When love is the way, we actually treat each other, well, like we are actually family.

Rev. Michael Curry

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Violets in the Woods

I took a nice long walk in the woods yesterday and went to investigate a tree that had fallen in the lower field. I loved this view of the violet standing tall against the crash of the tree.

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First Daffodils 2018

Sweet ones. I know what the sunlight means to you. I know it allows you to start anew. I know it gives you hope for brighter days. I am right there with you. I am just afraid this beast of a winter hasn’t said it’s proper goodbye.

The bottle in the foreground is for you Uncle Joey. You would have loved that. We miss you already.

Pokeweed

Some people don’t care for this plant but pokeweed has always been a favorite of mine. These delicate little blossoms will lead the way for the dark purple berries to form and become a wonderful food source for the birds. This plant can absolutely take over but I do love to see it’s distinctive color and style growing on the edges of the woods – it can get big, over 6 feet. The adult plant, roots and berries are toxic so it is important not to eat any part of it. In the past the young shoots may have been eaten after being boiled twice (with water discarded between each boil). I am glad there are easier and better choices for us to eat today. One other fun fact is that the berries were used by Native Americans and early settlers for ink and dye.

This is a picture of Pokeweed early in the season. The berries are now a lovely deep dark purple.

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Rose of Sharon

Our Rose of Sharon are really starting to bloom!
Someone that came to our property a few years ago said, “The first thing I would do is rip those out.” I get it. They take over and can be a pain. What this person didn’t know is that they were one of her favorites. They were bought for her by her son as birthday presents. She is the reason we are here. I will trim them and pull any stragglers – as long as we are here, they are not going anywhere.

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We Honor You

Make a Wish

By Sgt. Charles Leo Michaud (my grandfather) ▪️ May 2017

Did you ever wander on an evening when the air was still and cool,

Down by the rippled pool and little garden stool, 

While the moon was palely gleaming – did you abide by Nature’s rules? 

Well, I took one of those nighttime strolls through the garden, glowing bright

On a starry night – under a silver light. 

I heard the cricket on the knoll and saw the firefly in flight. 

It was as I chanced to glance above me that I saw away on far

A flashing bar – a shooting star.

And it fell into it’s home, the sea, where it’s fallen brothers are. 

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The Mayapple Quest

It all started one morning, on my way out to start my day, when I noticed a patch of emerging mayapples. The tree and shrub leaves had not fully awakened from their winter slumber making the new patch of plants easy to see. The young students that I teach lovingly call this plant “the umbrella plant” due to its very umbrella like shape! There are many fascinating facts about the mayapple including that it is poisonous to humans and that it also has some cancer battling properties! Another interesting thing about this plant is that they are all connected underground with a rhizomal root system – where you see a patch, to put it simply, they are all a family.

One evening after the spring warmth and rain had visited and made all of the flowers come alive, I decided it was time for a walk to investigate the Mayapples that I have finally noticed on the property. I am sure they were there last year and it was only my observation skills that needed a refresher. I decided that instead of visiting the path on the driveway I would head up on the back side of the house where I had seen some earlier in the week (after we did a quick owl prowl one night – that’s another story!). I found a HUGE patch of the plants and then went to look for the flower.

In order to have a flower you need a plant that has 2 “umbrellas” out of one single stem. In this large patch, there are no doubles. They are all single plants. My mind is confused and not understanding, to the point where it tells my body that “you just aren’t looking hard enough, maybe you should lay on the ground and look through the field of plants, surely you are just missing it!” So yes, after some time on the ground, I still only see singles. I move to another patch, and another and yet another all on the upper side of the property. All single stems. No flowers. I decide to head down to the stream bed and back to the original patch I saw. (Please note that this is about an hour later and a mile of walking, laying on the ground and scratching my head!) I should have just gone to that patch first – there are some flowers!!!

But it still lingers in my head – why so many plants with a single stem and no flowers? Why so many plants in the colonies on the upper side of the property? There had to be a hundred in the first colony I found. I need to also remember that I have only had the opportunity to explore about 5 acres of the family’s 70.

It turns out that the single stemmed plants could be young plants and this could be a young colony. Once a seed is dispersed to make a new colony (one article says that the Box Turtle is the primary seed distributor along with squirrels, grackles, white footed mouse, fox, raccoon and opossum) it will take at least 5 years for the plant to grow and another 8 years for those plants to produce a flower. After the plants flower they have decreased rhizome growth and a decreased chance of being forked and produce a flower the following year.

So, now the questions are

1. Do we have very young colonies OR

2. Do we have older colonies that produced fruit last year?

Only time will tell.

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New Spring Ephemerals!

Oh what a spring this has been! My appreciation for the spring ephemerals has reached an all time high.

“An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. The spring ephemeral, refers to perennial plants that emerge quickly in the spring and die back to their underground parts after a short growth and reproduction phase. ”

I have been on hike after hike looking for these amazing flowers and I was very excited to find some new ones on our property.

Cut-Leaved Toothwort

This little one is a member of the mustard family and gets its name from the tooth-like segments on its roots. The deeply lobed stem is another clear giveaway. The plant grows 8 to 15 inches tall. It is a woodland species commonly growing in rich soil with significant leaf litter. You have to be quick to catch a view of it. It blooms before the leaves are out on the trees and after about two weeks goes to seed. I was excited to find this plant growing along the road edge of the property, a place that I walk frequently.  We have such a large deer population and their path of destruction is larger than I anticipated. I need to find a place where the deer can’t go – finding steep embankments is my goal right now. If they can’t get to it they can’t eat it.

Toothwort

Super excited to find this one – a new one for me, anywhere! “It is found in moist woodlands usually in edge habitats and blooms from April to June. A member of the mustard family, it is typified by a four petal flower which blooms in a cluster on a single stalk above a single pair of toothed stem leaves each divided into three broad leaflets. After flowering, narrow seedpods appear just below the flower cluster. It grows approximately 30 cm (12 in) tall.”

I found this one tucked up next to a tree on a pretty steep, but short, embankment. The deer couldn’t get to it to step on it OR to eat it!

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