Sometimes Change is Fast

It has been a busy April, and I have spent much of it away from home.  I did not realize this until going on a nature walk in our woods last night.  It had been a couple of weeks since my last walk, and I wanted to see how spring was progressing.  It was a warm evening, the frogs were calling, and my dog was anxious to get some exercise, so we headed out.

The first thing that struck me was the mossy path.  It was now colored in several shades of brown, red, and green.

As I looked out into the woods, several spring wildflowers were in bloom.

I had noticed some species in the past, but this trillium was new.  I found many along the path, and some coming up right in the middle of the path.








And even more obvious were the red bud trees all in bloom.  I passed many along the trail that were in full purple adornment.

Spring was coming up through the winter waste such as this deer jaw.

Spring was changing things fast.  A couple of weeks ago, these mayapples were just bursting through the ground.  Now they covered the forest floor and were tall enough to shade the ground under them.

Even the decomposing deer skulls had changed.  There were many more carrion beetles under the skull.  They scurried so fast as I moved the skull that I could not get a focused picture.  Soon the skull will be only bone.

Fast change had occurred while I had been away.
New blossoms.  Plant growth.  More species.  More individuals. Decomposition. Life renewed.

The transformation and speed of that transformation were remarkable. I barely recognize our woods.  But this is what I have been waiting all winter to experience.  I welcome the changes..fast or slow!

My First Post

This is my first post.  I have been toying with the idea of blogging for quite some time.  At times, it seemed that I wouldn't have enough to share, and at others, not enough time.  This spring has been one of those times with so much to share but not enough time to do it.  So I thought I'd dive in anyway.  There is just so much happening this year.

So here I hope to document some of the usual and unusual things I observe in the outdoors.  It occurs to me that I spend a lot of time outdoors but still can see things that are new and different.

And I like to go to new places in the outdoors like Little Grand Canyon in southern Illinois.  My husband and I took a hike there a couple of weeks ago.  It was a strenuous hike down solid, slippery bedrock. Over three miles in length.

But what pure beauty.  Photos just can not capture how awesome this place was.  It was the first trip for us, and we were not disappointed.  Our dog could not climb such steep slopes, so we had to carry her in spots.

We saw many of these white trilliums in bloom.  These are not found in our woods so it was something new and unusual. All in all, it was a great hike and one I would repeat.