ACL Letter #21 - A Spring Ephemeral
The Bluebells
I had to visit the farm recently. I wasn't going to stay long. I had a few things to pick up, check on, and bring back. But when I looked to see if the bluebells were blooming, I had to linger a while. Across the creek, tucked away, is a riparian woodland that, for a days in the early spring, is blanketed in bluebells. No one planted these flowers and no one tends them. They come and they go. To see them, is to behold them. They tug on strings within you that are connected to feelings not quite expressible with words. I crossed the creek and wondered over to the woodland where the bluebells adorned the sandy floor. I needed this moment. I needed to be barefoot. I needed to lay down in the bluebells. I needed the bugs, the flowers, the water, the trees, the rocks, the moss. In a world so disconnected, hurried, and digital - I needed the connected, slow, reality of this meadow.
The gift of gladness is joy with sadness. Sitting bare foot in the moist soil among the bluebells I felt it. The gladness that came with seeing the meadow in bloom. The joy of being in it. And the sadness that accompanied the desire to share the experience with those that I love.
The window was limited. The bluebells were at their peak and freezing weather was a night away. It was this day... or wait a year and hopefully time it right. So I called Morgan and asked if we could clear the schedule for the day, that I had somewhere I wanted to take her and the kids. She obliged and less than three hours later I was back in the meadow with my people. The kids went barefoot, drew pictures of what they saw, took pictures, played hide and seek in the bluebells and explored all around. Morgan and I sat. And smiled.
If you have a chance to lay down on the bare ground this spring, I hope you do. Preferably in a spot that is under some trees, has a few bugs around, and also a few flowers. If possible, leave people behind - unless of course those people are ... your people.
"In the cool sunlight and the lacy shadows of the spring woods the blueness of those flowers, their elegant shape, their delicate fresh scent kept me standing and looking. I found a delight in them that I cannot describe and that I will never forget. Though I had been familiar for years with most of the spring woods flowers, I had never seen these and had not known they were here. Looking at them, I felt a strange loss and sorrow that I had never seen them before. But I was also exultant that I saw them now - that they were here."
-Wendell Berry, on his encounter with bluebells
To see, is to behold.
My people.
A Spring Ephemeral
Spring ephemerals are a group of wildflowers that are adapted to the specific conditions of deciduous woodlands or forests. These plants typically grow quickly in the early spring, taking advantage of the sunlight that filters through the trees before the forest canopy fills in. They then bloom and set seed before the leaves of the trees fully develop and shade the forest floor.
The combination of Virginia Bluebells, trilliums, Yellow Trout Lillies, and Dutchman's Breeches is a classic springtime ephemeral. They were all present in the woodland.
Virginia Bluebells
Trillium
a Yellow Trout Lilly
The Dutchman's Breeches
"Hide-n-Seek" among the wildflowers
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