newtonbrook creek

Trout Lilies

(Mary Oliver) It happened that I couldn’t find in all my books more than a picture and a few words concerning the trout lily, so I shut my eyes. And let the darkness come in and roll me back. The old creek began to sing in my ears as it rolled along, like the hairContinue reading “Trout Lilies”

Kneeling at Easter to the Season’s First Bloodroot

It’s Easter … and I saw the season’s first bloodroot … and I did kneel, as a matter of fact. And why not? Why shouldn’t I? I found myself thinking, even–without remembering the poem I posted last year, linked above–that if there is a god, it is a wild thing that lives in the woods.Continue reading “Kneeling at Easter to the Season’s First Bloodroot”

Trout Lilies 2010, Part I

aka Dog Tooth Violet (This for Mary G). Around here, the very first of the trout lily leaves are appearing. Look for them at the base of large tree trunks, between exposed roots, on sun-facing southern slopes. The microclimate there is just warm enough to give them a head start. They will look like tightlyContinue reading “Trout Lilies 2010, Part I”

Look Small: Dead Stuff

The average high in Toronto this time of year is 4C. Yesterday, it got up to 14. Fourteen! Putting aside the global warming concerns: fourteen! Wasn’t it beautiful? Fourteen, sunny, mildly breezey. A perfect day for a walk. It was also the day I finally managed to get myself to a camera store to rentContinue reading “Look Small: Dead Stuff”