Just a Little Green

British soldier lichen (Cladonia cristatella)

 Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)

 Trout lily (Erythronium americanum) 

Another spring, and here I am again, aching, creaky of limb and not as agile as I once was, but delighted to be out among the trees and old stones with nary a scrap of snow to be seen anywhere.  It will be a week or two until the forest floor is carpeted with blooms, but as the earth warms, little green wonders are springing up everywhere.

Down on the ground I go with camera, macro lens, notebook and pen, clicking away happily and writing down the names (both common and Latin) of every leaf and lichen and frond poking out of last autumn's dessicated leaves.

I always forget how difficult it is to get myself upright again during springtime excursions, but what I never seem to forget is the names of these little springtime wonders - in my own language or in Latin either. Perhaps this old hen's passion for botany and wildness and all things organic is hardwired in, at least in this lifetime.