May

I have been reading some old blogs and notice that a few of the links no longer work, so I apologize for the inconvenience… The content itself reads alright-a little more excitable than I remember- but that is the nature of a journal: to reflect the evolving nature of ones thoughts and life. The blessing of hindsight reveals the errors and successes of ones thinking, but there is no way to know which is which during the immediacy of the present moment. The above picture is of a Mayapple blossom, common now in the woods and destined to be short lived. When I was reaching to cup that particular flower in my hand two small moths the color of the petals flew off; they had been so well camouflaged that I had not noticed them! The flower itself is perched inconspicuously beneath the leaves, so together they offer a secure hiding place for such moths. Also blooming now are phlox and buttercup and wild mustard and others, but I do not see any adders tongue, a normally common flower that had just begun to bloom when that late April snow fell. I think it was one of the few species harshly affected by the ice. While hiking today I also saw pileated woodpeckers at two separate places, which, although they are not rare in the woods here, that

are not common either. Generally it is the massive holes they carve in trees that one sees, for the birds are wary and fly off when approached.