A Walk Down to Bear Swamp

It's truly Spring when the water burbles,

the birds call and the forest turns dense with green.

A morning walk down the dirt road behind my house

to Bear Swamp is a reminder that we can plan

the garden in our landscape beds, but 

Mother Nature is really in charge

in the big garden of our environment.

Cattle Brook becomes a swamp

when the beavers build dams or

the Spring rains bring a deluge.

This rainy Spring of 2020

brings the swamp closer 

to the road.

Mother Nature knows intuitively

to grow ferns in the low border 

in front and skunk cabbage 

in the low wet area in the

middle ground.  On the rocky 

forest slope in the background, 

we can spy an open area

that draws our eyes and feet

to discover more.

The ferns unfurl as sculpture.

The bluets carpet the grass

along the roadside.

If only we could achieve

their pleasing randomness

in our planned garden beds.

And then there is the way 

they all blend: a collage of 

ferns and bluets and 

mounds of moss and rocks.

And Mother Nature adds not a

bird bath or a gazing ball-- 

but a bit of tree trunk whimsy

that looks like a Frilled Lizard

trying to catch a mouse--

to attract our attention.

Lessons from Mother Nature!