What I've Been Waiting For! (or Hallelujah It's Finally Freaking Spring!)

Woohoo, it's Spring, Happy Spring!
We had a delightful hike in Spring Grove Cemetery today.  It was such beautiful poetic justice: in Spring Grove, we saw the first spring beauty flowers, on the first day of Spring!  I couldn't believe how many flowers are blossoming right now.  The spring ephemerals are out.  They're called that because they only blossom for a short time, then they're gone.  So catch 'em quick!

I just couldn't wait to share these wonders.  So, here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

The first Trout Lily (white) and the last Winter Aconite (yellow) (Erythronium albidum, Eranthis hyamelis)

Siberian Squill (Scilla siberica)

I hope this inspires you to get out in the woods and take a hike!

Today's Adventure

I have Spring Fever, bad!  I had the flu for the beginning of the week, but managed to ward off the majority of it with the help of herbs; I'm so grateful to the plants.  I was about to lose it, huddled up inside my stuffy apartment while the weather is so gorgeous with the first tinges of Spring.  

So today I finally got out for a hike with one of my besties, Dan.  Dan calls best friends, besties.  We can be super silly together.  We started this "Friday hikey hike" (as he calls it) about two years ago.  And almost every Friday since we have hiked in sun, rain, snow, wind, or whatever.  Others come and go, but we hold strong because we have this undying love of the woods (and somewhat flexible schedules).  Seriously, if I don't get out in the woods everyday, I start to get cranky. A little obsessive? Yes!

Sunday I saw the very first spring ephemeral wildflower, Harbinger of Spring!  I wait with as much patience as I can muster to see these amazing tiny beauties.  The sight of them gives me so much hope.  It's like an analogy for life: just like nature is reborn every spring over and over again, so we have the opportunity for rebirth over and over again, to make ourselves into who we dream to be.

Harbinger of Spring

Harbinger of Spring, or Erigenia bulbosa, is in the Apiaceae, or carrot, family.  It's also been called Pepper and Salt because it tastes like guess what.  I think it's pretty tasty myself.  It's native to this area and all of the midwest, spreading north to Canada and south almost to Florida, west to Kansas and east to New York.

Here's some other pics I'm excited about from today's hike.

Witch hazel in bloom

Look close and you can see the first tiny trout lily buds

Somebody has got to figure out how to make a bench or something out of this.  Wish I could lift it!

The coolest beech log in the world!

And then, when I got  home:

Garter snake sunning itself under the overcast sky

Hope you enjoyed our first adventure.  Let me know what you think.

Yay and Welcome!

Hooray you made it!  Welcome to my brand new blog, I'm glad you're here!  If you haven't noticed yet, I really like exclamation points.  I am very colorful (I'm actually wearing rainbows and stars right now), and tend to get excited about the small stuff.

My two favorite things to do are spend time with my daughter and hike.  People are amazed by the latter favorite when they find out I live in Cincinnati (of all places).  But Cincinnati actually has a ginormous amount of greenspace, 5000 acres in the city!  I am a total experiential scientist.  I love to strap on my binoculars, my camera, my boots, head into the woods, and get dirty.  With mothering and hiking, I found out that if you take things slowly enough you notice all kinds of amazing things that you might never see or hear otherwise, and sometimes you avoid some nasty falls (in mothering and hiking).

So brew up a tasty cup of tea (in the not too distant past, I had my own tea company), strap on your virtual boots and let's go on an adventure!  And I really would love to hear all about your adventures, too!