My year of writing this blog is ending. It’s been a wonderful journey, providing me the opportunity to slow down, pay attention, and share with you some of my discoveries on this one small wooded trail. If you have joined me on this journey, along the way we have witnessed the turning of the great wheel, […]
Tales from the Bent Twig Trail: Stories that Restore
“To restore any place, we must begin to re-story it, to make it the lesson of our legends, festivals, and seasonal rites. Story is the way we encode deep-seated values within our culture” Gary Paul Nabhan. In last week’s post, I delighted in some of the spring wildflowers that are blooming on the Bent Twig trail, […]
Tales from the Bent Twig Trail: The Flora Rewards of Restoration
Restorations of natural areas provides many rewards. Invasive species, such as winter creeper, Euonymus fortunei, and various species of exotic honeysuckle Lonicera sp. take their toll on the health and natural diversity of a landscape by crowding out native species: species that have complex ecological relationships that evolved over eons. But thanks to the hard work […]
Tales from the Bent Twig Trail: Beautiful Bloodroot
Easter weekend was indeed a celebration of new life on the Bent Twig Trail and elsewhere. Wildflower enthusiasts, naturalists, and hikers were rewarded by the bright presence of clusters of moon white bloodroot blossoms shining up from the forest floor. Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, has long been a favorite of mine, partially because it’s an early bloomer, […]