Woods Walking

After work yesterday, before picking up the CSA share - I forgot bags at home again and had to beg plastic ones off the local bookstore, I have got to get better about this! - Misling and I went woodswalking up at the University. In the winter the trails are (almost) all ski-only no dogs allowed trails, but in the summertime they become the haven of joggers and pups.

Flowering:  purple aster, monkshood, fireweed, yarrow, vetch,

Fruiting: lingon berry, blueberry, bunchberry, black currant, thimble berry, at least 5 different varieties of mushrooms (is it a fruit or a flower on a fungus?)

Hipping?: roses

Harvested: coltsfoot

Eaten: blueberries, thimbleberries, and a black currant.  I'm still not a fan of black currant, but I can see how it would be good as a sauce for pork...

It was remarkable how my perception changed from the first to the second half of my walk.  As I released my day on deep inhales and exhales, and really allowed myself to be present in the woods, taking a genuine interest in the plants around, more and more of them showed themselves to my gaze. 

It is something that I have noticed with myself and plants, when I move somewhere new, I bring my attention to the medicinal "weeds" that are present and I say hello and invited them to flourish.  In each of the last 3 places I've lived, the next year I see a remarkable increase in that/those plants' presence near my home. 

My yoga teacher says that "where attention goes, prana flows."  It works on so many levels.