[Blue cohosh]

Fertile spring emerged from the morning fog glistening with rain. Overnight the balance had shifted from brown to green. The tight bundles of blue cohosh relaxed and lightened to a grayish green. Hillocks were softly furred with patches of trout lily leaves. Ferns rose in fiddleheads and little arching rib cages. Skunk cabbage leaves have expanded to smother the flowers, while tree flowers are being overtaken by leaves in various hues.

Everywhere spring beauties were coiled up tight from the night, ready to open later in the day. The drooping trout lilies were only waiting for a break in the clouds. They burst into bloom, like festive little banana peels discarded throughout the forest. Trilliums gaped open, not quite in their glory.




[Trout lilies]

The soundscape was also maturing. Finally the strains of our flutist, the wood thrush, settled over the forest. Ovenbird song crashed through the underbrush. As I made my way next door, a black-throated green warbler declared, “zee zee zee zoo zeet!”