Taking Advantage

It snowed today. Again. It won’t be much. Snow in March is often gone within a day or two. It was actually lovely to walk around doing errands in. But its prediction was the reason I took full advantage of the sunny, upper 40’s F day that Sunday gave us.

This is the savagely trimmed Trumpet vine. Not to worry, It will flourish again and need trimming all summer and fall.

Because so many people I’ve been talking with have mentioned their crocuses and daffodils coming up and because so many trees are budding (and some starting to pollinate, causing me to get started on my allergy regimen), I thought I would take a walk at Ft. Bennett Park, which has a lot of woodland plants like Solomon’s Seal, May Apple, Bloodroot, trout lilies (dogtooth violets), and spring beauties, as well as bluebells (Mertensia Virginianus). It is, apparently after all the cold, a bit early for these plants to be out. I’ll check again later this month.

There was a home here, built in the 1930’s and torn down in 1996. Bay and Eva were husband and wife.

Because there had been a house here at one time, there were a number of clumps of bulb plants, some hyacinth and some daffodil, to be seen popping up from the forest floor.

I also saw other landscape flowers, but none of the woodland floor plants I mentioned searching for.

I saw other plants up, in particular, chives, which I remember going outside for as a child when my mother was cooking. There was also quite a lot of garlic mustard, which is highly invasive and apparently useful in some culinary traditions. It is also known as Jack by the Hedge and Poor Man’s Mustard and used in salads and sauces. But like Perilla or Shiso, it has gone wild in the woods and I suppose provides for foragers.

Here it is in all its inoffensive looking glory, spreading greenly after frozen weeks…

The path isn’t very long, there and back under three miles. But it’s a lovely cool place in the summer heat. Because it’s on a high bluff above the Potomac, there was indeed one of the many Civil War defenses of Washington here. It’s good to remember that much of the high ground above the river was clearcut in the 1860s so the Union forces could have a good view of any potential attacks from the water.

A view of the path coming back. You can see the water center right. Like Turkey Run, that I wrote about a number of years ago, this is a diverse hardwood forest with lots of Tulip Poplar, Oak, Hickory, Beech, Dogwood, and a few Maples.

On my way back after my fruitless search, I saw a downed hornet’s nest. It was once one of those huge paper nests, but was either cut down or blew down in a storm.

It must have been quite the colony.

After inspecting the hornet’s nest, I headed home and met my local Bridge Brigade setting up for a Sunday demonstration. They have a collection of letters on foam core that they can spell out messages with and assorted other signs we attach to the chain link safety barrier. We even had a frog costume!

Our fearless leader of the signs and letters.

The frog is in stocking feet. I guess his shoes didn’t fit in the suit.

The message on the bridge, other than anti-war, was Resolve to Resist. There was also a sign on defending the Constitution. The bridge demonstrations go on all week over major thoroughfares and their purpose is just to keep people aware and cheer them up if possible. If they notice the message and agree, they usually honk. It’s a community building exercise that enables mobilization for things like actions or boycotts as well as local and state political organizing. Last year I wrote postcards to women who hadn’t voted in several elections, encouraging them to vote in state delegate elections. It was a success. This year, we’re doing something similar.

Meanwhile, I’m still gardening, and will plant early crops sometime later this month. I’ll be driving to my mother’s at the end of this week to visit and celebrate her 97th birthday. This is what will await me when I get back:

The garden in late winter, resting and ready.

As you know, I have a plan!