It seems as if all the ephemeral plant species are showing up at the same time this year – a strange happenstance when the weather goes from 40 to 60 in a matter of days. I’ve never noticed the blooms on a Blue Cohosh before. It’s the first year that the ones I planted have flowered, and living with these plants, I get a better chance of examining them and coming to a better understanding of their growth patterns than I would otherwise. They’re beautiful as are the flowers of the sarsaparilla – the flowery fireworks – and the bells of the Solomon’s seal.
“After years of walking past it on my way to chores in the meadow, I actually paid attention to a gnarly canyon live oak one day. Or maybe it was ready to show itself to me. I felt its oldness, suchness, inwardness, oakness as if it were my own. Such intimacy makes you totally at home in life and in yourself.” – Gary Snyder
