#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Packera obovata, ragwort, golden growndsel
The temperature dropped and the rain came again and I loved being in the cool woods, fresh air on my cheeks, everything greenly moist. A busy day, framed by two writing groups I lead, one in person, in the morning, one in the early evening, online, and appointments in between, but I took my time and took my pictures and thought deeply about the day, what I had planned for my group, the prompt about eternity, (!) and the quesadillas I still needed to make before leaving the house for the lunch we would have after group to celebrate birthdays. And there was time for all of it, without stress. Because spring in the woods is so fun and interesting and gorgeous and delightful. First, I found that the Jack-in-the-pulpit which used to grow so sparsely on the trail by my brook are spreading rapidly with many young plants and hoods blooming, which made me very happy, as I love to pass them by in the early morning. Then, I was walking down a part of the trail where the dogwood have been in bloom, and the startling white petals lighting the wild trees are gone now from the branches, but out of the corner of my eye, a few feet away in the low brush and broken trees and ferns, I spied bunches of bright yellow blooms I didn’t recognize. I went over for a closer look and found the blooms rain washed and slick. Later, I looked them up and found the name of this native plant: Packera obovata, or ragwort.
“Ecology
Flowers of P. obovata are visited by cuckoo bees, halictid bees, andrenid bees, hoverflies, tachinid flies and various species of beetle. The larvae of the northern metalmark butterfly (Calephelis borealis) feed on the leaves of the plant, and the white-crossed seed bug (Neacoryphus bicrucis) feeds on the seeds. ”
After our writing group, we went to our host’s living room where we lit the fire in the big stone fireplace to warm ourselves during lunch! And we sat warmly in each other’s presence, laughing, feeling lighter, feeling close and connected, after writing truth and beauty in the studio overlooking the pond.
Dinner was another lovely part of the day to appreciate: because my husband and I did an errand for me to buy two young Japanese Maple trees and some grass seed for our yard, and then we had dinner and talked – conversation just as it always has been and yet this was missing so far in his recovery as he went within and used his energy to heal. We talked about ideas, plans, wishes, dreams, and we were on the same page, listening, offering, sharing the energy and mystery and joy of what is yet to come. And tomorrow, or very soon, I will plant the maples and he’ll scatter the grass seed on the lawn.
