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Yesterday afternoon, Jim and I decided to take a stroll down a wooded trail that runs alongside the Merrimack River. This hiking trail is part of the “Heritage Trail.” We met a few fellow travelers, all with dogs, some with mandated “baggies” to keep the area clean. The chipmunks were alarmed, and skittered about, not wanting to stand still long enough to have their pictures taken.

Witch Hazel with its yellow fall leaves is seen below.

One plant Jim pointed out is Witch Hazel, which has medicinal properties. Another was Yellow Beech, the stems one source of the substance, Wintergreen. Yet another plant, with red berries, is Barberry. I asked him to take a photo of some of these and the Sweet Fern, a plant that is a natural insect repellent when the leaves are picked and crushed and rubbed over the surface of one’s skin.

Barberry, with its delicate red berries, is seen in the photo below.

In traipsing through the woods, I thought of the many plants that man has discovered to have some use. Digitalis, formerly used to treat heart conditions, comes from the beautiful Foxglove. Over the centuries we have relied on so many additional plants to feed us, to dye cloth, to provide medicine, and to spice our foods.

The other line of thought I had yesterday was a literary one about “woods.” In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost says, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep…” An old song I learned in grade school says, “Over the river, and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.” We always sang this song at Thanksgiving time. Of course, there is also, “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Hansel and Gretel,” both woods-based tales children.

While we didn’t see any wolves, nor even foxes, we felt alone with nature, enjoying the hemlocks, the pines, the deciduous trees (turning to red and yellow), the sound of rushing waters, and the occasional pooch who would happen by, without a leash on.

A Mallard Duck flaps his wings while his lady friends look for fish.

We heard some ducks, long before we saw them. There was only one male among them, his green Mallard’s head, glimmering in the sun. Most of the time, the ducks’ heads were underwater, as they must have found a school of small fish hiding behind a little banking of rocks. Just the other day I was pondering the fact that of all the other kinds of ducks that supposedly inhabit New England waterways, Mallard ducks are the only kind I have ever seen.

Just as Jim was absorbed in taking a photo of them, I spotted a low flying Great Blue Heron, and also a hawk overhead. (Eagles are known to frequent the Merrimack River area, too.) I love to see Herons. They are usually spotted in marshes and swamps where they nest in adjoining trees, in huge nests atop of them. They are gangly birds and can often be seen standing completely still in water, waiting for a fish to swim by. The Green Heron seems to be not as common and has much shorter legs.

On this day, the woods smelled…well…”woodsy.” I suppose some of that smell was decaying leaves, something I tried not to think about lest my allergies flair even worse. I had fun asking Jim the names of some unfamiliar plants and trees. When he had started his university career, he had been a botany/forestry major, and he has always loved the woods, and plant identification.

We enjoyed our mini-trip, a brief respite from work on that autumn afternoon.

Pat

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.