I see the details. The small pebble, the tiny leaf, the surprise 1.5” gnome some magical person planted along the forest trail. I may not always see the big picture while I’m peering at minutiae, but that’s ok. There are plenty of wide-angle views out there. I have written about this before, but my life is charmed. Things happen to me that cause such heart stopping delight and I seem to get more than my share of these moments.
This week I sauntered upon two. The gnome and the porcupine…
A couple of blogs ago I wrote about skunk cabbages and showed you photos of their beginnings (My own sculpture park…). My intention was to continue to show you their growth but the trail closed due to the pandemic. Today I drove by the trail again and it was open! I jumped out and practically ran up the path to see “my” cabbages. I felt like a crazy great aunt peering at my nephews through thick-lensed glasses, “Oh my, look how you’ve grown!”
I took a photo of the same exact plant by my foot that I took the second week in March and here is the progress “she” made…
I don’t know why it is a “she,” but she is. Strong, beautiful, spreading her leaves wide and tall. At least two and a half feet taller than when we last met. I was in a blissful state as I perched, poked and eyed my way through the changing landscape on the trail.
I came across a photographer carrying a HUGE telegraphic lens. We passed keeping as much distance as we could with slight nods, my heart pumping enthusiastic joy knowing he must be getting some amazing shots.
I stopped in my tracks to appreciate a hanging garden growing out of the roots of a fallen tree. It was enchanting and as I snapped photos and walked around it, I came across a tiny little gnome perched in the grasses. A perfect home for a tiny man.
On my way back to the car, I passed the photographer again, now with his 2 foot lens pointed at a tree. He told me there was a porcupine up there and I looked and sure enough, there he was, his quills highlighted against the setting sun. I’ve never seen a porcupine outside of film and didn’t even know they climbed trees! It was a joy to come across a person at that moment that was as perceptive as I, his detailed sight enlightening my own.
meanderest 