I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. –John Burroughs
There is a connection between the generations, a sinew of code that we receive from our parents and ancestors and pass on to our offspring. Our chromosomes determine eye color, hair and skin color, and many other physical and personality characteristics–our Nature. When we celebrate Mother’s and Father’s Days, however, it is mainly about our Nurture–how we were raised and nurtured and how we raised and nurtured our children. The nine months of carrying and growing a child, the months and years of nursing them, caring for their every need, teaching them, guiding them, providing for them, cherishing them, and allowing them to become the persons they were meant to be. A difficult, joyous, incredible, honorable journey.
Our journey into nature this past weekend was to Birch Lakes State Forest, one of the smallest state forests in Minnesota, situated between two lakes on hilly, forested land created by glacial depositions. It is in the transition zone between the southwest prairie and northeast forested regions. It is mainly a deciduous forest with aspens, maples, basswoods, and oaks.
Spring wildflowers were blooming on the trail by the lake: Large-flowered Bellwort and Wood Anemone.
We hiked the trail with no map, not knowing where we were going, around shallow ponds filled with cattails and surrounded by white-barked birches.
Wild Calla Lilies or Waterdragons bloomed in one of the shallow ponds.
Jack-in-the-Pulpits and Ferns were abundant along the trail.
One of the most interesting plants in the forest was a small shrub. It was shaped like a petite tree with a singular trunk and symmetrical branches. The bark was smooth and brownish-gray, and the branches were pliable and bent without breaking.
Neither of us knew what kind of shrub it was, and on closer inspection, we saw that it had already bloomed and was producing fruit.
After a fairly long search when we returned home, I found the shrub on the Minnesota DNR field guide to native plants. ‘Dirca palustris’ or Leatherwood grows in part to full shade and likes a boggy habitat. It blooms in March or April, before its leaves emerge, with a bell-shaped pale yellow flower. The fruit will be red by fall, and the leaves have a yellow fall color. I remembered that I had taken a picture of a blooming shrub during our early spring hike at St. John’s Arboretum. It was the blooming Leatherwood! The Native Americans used the tough, leathery twigs and bark for bow strings, baskets, fishing line, and rope.
The only critters we saw were a loon on Birch Lake when we arrived and a camouflaged tree frog on the leafy trail towards the end of our hike.
Going to a place we had never been before and walking through Nature’s incredible gifts soothed my soul and got my senses in order. Connection with Nature–in all its glories–is something we nurtured and passed on to our children. The journey of parenthood takes a sharp turn when children are adults and living in places far from their parents, but the road never ends. Losing a parent of my own in these last months brings that reality home. Remember to whom we belong. That sinew of code–tough, flexible, unbreakable–that we receive from our parents, grandparents, and ancestors and the years of nurturing from resilient, flawed parents make us who we are. Follow the trail of life. We may not know where we’re going all the time, but we can find beauty and interesting things along the way. Find our own way. We choose our paths, sometimes turn around when we find we’re on the wrong trail, and at other times blaze our own trail with intuition and spirit. May Goodness and Mercy follow us all the days of our precious lives.
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