nichepoetryandprose

A week ago, my husband gave me this year’s Christmas present – a new length of trail for us to walk. He flagged some trees to open up an old trail in our grey woods. Then he hired some local men to fell the trees, cut them in four foot lengths, and set them to the side of the trail. Today he was out with the tractor, taking out some of the high spots.

~

Last weekend, he took me for a walk to scope out the new walkway. It’s still very rough but you can see the final trail if you use your imagination. Over the winter and next spring, he will clear the stray branches, smooth the bumps, and fill the hollows. The trail is 750 steps from beginning to end. It loops the back half of our acre lot and extends to an old road on the property behind us which we also own..

~

~

One of my favourite parts of the trail is a small clearing I visited with my Mom years ago. She found Ghost Pipe, also called Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora), growing there. This is an odd plant that does not contain chlorophyll. It is white in colour and the flower has between 3 and 8 waxy white petals. The flower occurs, as the name suggests, at the top of a stem bent like a pipe. Mom loved her find so much, she put a ring of shingles around the plants to protect them from trampling.

~

~

In later years I have visited the site regularly although I have never seen the Ghost Pipes again. A few years ago, I put an iron bird feeder there on the surface of a big hardwood tree. The feeder has the image of Saint Francis of Assisi.

~

~

I think of this little grove as ‘Mom’s Park.’ My mom has been gone more than 20 years but her love of plants, and her aim to protect them, is with me every day.

~

I have written about Mom’s Park in the past ( here ) and repeat the poem I wrote for that post here:

~

ghost pipe

~

in grey woods

Saint Francis

cast in iron

watches wild

life pass by

~

red squirrel

ceaseless jitter

white-tailed deer

pauses, listens

a chipmunk

runs the log

fallen tree

~

time also

passes by

Aralia

and bracken

replace white

ghost pipe, once

grew here, all

nature a mirror

of our lives

~

When the path is more defined, I will put a small bench in Mom’s Park where I can sit and enjoy our grey woods.

~

~

With this post, I will thank my husband for such a thoughtful gift. These days, walking in our woods is synonymous with keeping up my health. But our grey woods will always be my favourite place to meet with nature.

~

All my best,

Jane (a.k.a. Alexandra )