The Quiet Country House

A Walk in the Birch Woods...

Good friends of ours have a campground set up on their "Back 40" complete with playground equipment for the children, a kitchen tent, and scenic trails through the woods. This weekend, Limerick and the boys camped there. Haiku and I had several other commitments, so we came and went. This afternoon, we stopped in long enough to take a walk in the birch woods. Tanka walked with us, but Sijo stayed at camp to try out the hammock.

There wasn't much blooming today in the woods. I didn't find a secret bower overflowing with trillium as I had hoped, but there were the tiniest wild violets I'd ever seen, strawberries blooming in the footpaths, and leaves unfurling in tender shades of green, red and gold. We stepped over mossy rocks and around fallen logs peppered with woodpecker holes. I hope I can carry the quiet of that walk with me through the upcoming week, which looks as if it will be as busy as the last.

photos (except #3) by Aisling 1) Sunlight through the birch leaves; 2) tiny woodland violets 3) Maple leaves unfurling (by Haiku) 4) birchlog with woodpecker holes