Renewing Relationship Means Paying Attention

 

The trail from Waubaushene to Fesserton is made from limestone screenings.  It follows the path of the old railway track that was built in the 1800’s to take lumber to the ports in the south.  Once all the trees had been cut down in a mere sixty years and cars became the preferred mode of transport, the railway tracks were removed.  Interestingly, the railway line was built on the trail followed by the Indigenous people who have lived here since time immemorial.  Ironically, the trail is once again a footpath used by walkers, bicyclists and snowmobilers in the winter.

This spring, the plants all leafed out together due to a slow spring and then a heat wave.  It was an explosion of green that catapulted me into a new world.  I feel like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland muttering, “I’m late, I’m late.”  I am experiencing a strong feeling of having missed something.  And so, as I walked along the trail that borders swampland and Matchedash Bay, the most easterly part of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, I stopped to look at many of the plants that grow on the edge.  Some of them looked vaguely familiar but I couldn’t remember their names.  It was like meeting someone on the street whose face is familiar but you can’t remember their name out of the context in which you usually encounter them. 

A tiny plant grows in a crack in the asphalt at the start of the trail showing great life force. 

In addition to this, many of the trail side plants, in their rush to procreate, have flowered at a height lower than usual and so my vantage point made them look different.  For example, the Goatsbeard usually flowers at a height of two or three feet and so I see the flower from the side.  Yesterday, I was looking down on their yellow flowers and noticing the symmetry of their shape.  I didn’t recognize them at first because of this different point of view.  They looked new and unfamiliar until I oriented myself.

I am not equally enamored with every plant.  I have my favourites such as the only Saskatoon tree that I have found on the first part of the trail.  Last year I could spot it easily because I put a little piece of red wool on one of its branches.  This year, I searched and searched but found no red marker.  The tree that I suspected as being a Saskatoon had only a few leaves on it so far, perhaps in response to the large LDD caterpillar population last year.  Perhaps the red wool became part of a bird’s nest.

Seen from above, the radiant pattern of Bird's Foot Trefoil flowers is evident
but this was somethingI had never noticed in previous years.

One of my other favourite trees is the Elderberry.  Once Elderberry trees have flowered, they are easy to find but this hasn’t happened yet.  They have pinnate lance shaped leaves that resemble Ash tree leaves except they are a bit darker and thinner.  In my search, I examined many Ash trees and I began to notice that the Ash trees I was looking at had 7 leaflets in each leaf whereas Elderberry had only 5.  I also noticed that the stem for each of the Ash leaves comes off the woody branches in parallel pairs.  The next set comes off at 90 degrees to the previous set and so it goes, spirally around the stem.  Perhaps this allows the leaves to get more sun.  Elderberry sections come off in pairs at the end of last year’s branches.

As I slowly made my way along the trail I felt as though I was renewing my relationship with old friends who I hadn’t seen all winter, catching up so to speak, remembering their names.  My partner who has excellent vision spied a turtle a long way ahead of us, crossing the trail, slowly.  This is the time of year when female turtles come onto the shore to lay their eggs.  Limestone trails are a favourite nesting spot because they are easy to dig holes into.  I knew there was no hurry to get to the turtle so I kept on greeting my old friends, touching their leaves and saying hello.  Eventually we came close to the turtle who was not happy to renew a relationship with us.   Map Turtles are very shy and wary of people.  We said hello and moved on so that she could get on with her procreative imperative. 

Walking the same trails through all seasons, year after year may seem boring to the casual observer.  However, if the time is taken to examine plants closely, they will continue to reveal their structures, beauty and intelligence.  They become our teachers when we stop to listen respectfully.  As I apply their teachings to people, I become aware of the complexity of personalities.  People respond differently in different situations.  They can be at their best when they feel safe and loved and at their worst when they are afraid.  It takes time to get to know people and that same curiosity that I bring to the plants on the trail allows me to learn from the people around me as well.  This is what my elder brothers and sisters, the plants and trees taught me this week.