Green Again!

I was surrounded by green as I walked through the Springbrook Nature Center today. Trees that were only budding a week ago, were dressed full out in green today. It had been raining since yesterday and all the leaves were washed clean. The cool breeze had a bite to it, refreshing and cleansing as I breathed it in.

There is a feeling of wildness walking through the woods here. Everything grows in a random, haphazard way. In the dense woods, trees grow up grotesquely. They are not full, rounded and lush as they would be in a perfectly designed city park. The branches here curl upward seemingly reaching around the more prominent, older trees; searching for the sustenance of the sun. Here the old and dying trees coexist with the new growth. It is real. It is life.

Springbrook Nature Center March 7, 2010

I really hate the piles of dirty snow that are now all that is left of the past winter’s storms. It is all so pretty when it first falls. The pristine beauty of clean, fresh snow covers everything. But after a couple of days the sand and gravel that are spread for traction turns the snow by the roadside into a dirty grey. It gets even worse as the temperature warms and the snow melts. The leftover, half melted mounds of snow look even dirtier as only the crusty, grey ice remains.

But, I knew of one place that that the snow would still be white and beautiful, Springbrook Nature Center. It is 127 acres of woods in their natural state located within the northern suburb of Fridley, MN. I used to walk there often when I lived in that area, but got out of the habit when I moved. Lately I have felt the need to return.

I would like to share with you some of the pictures that I took today. As you can see by the picture at the top, I did manage to find a little color in a moss covered stump. I also came across three women who were part of an effort to capture and band birds in the park. One of them directed me to a stump that had been literally ripped to shreds by woodpeckers.

In the coming weeks I will try to document the seasonal changes so that you all can enjoy it with me.