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OBSERVATIONS
February 20, 2020 |
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 Wingate Lassiter |
A wintertime walk in "Walden Woods"
leads to discovery of Nature's flukes
I grew up playing in the wonderful woods of South Smithfield. For me it was like Thoreau's Walden Woods --- a place not only for recreation, but also for re-creation. A place where one's imagination got extra inspiration from Mother Nature.
Fortunately, there's a remnant of those woods just a block away from my present-day residence --- complete with a trail "blazed" years ago by kids on their four-wheelers and preserved today by the few of us who continue to walk there.
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• Two mature pine trees towering out of a single trunk.
• Three smaller pines also growing from a shared trunk (with a sweet-gum tree nestled right up against them).
I first noticed them a couple of years ago as I was giving my grandchildren a tour of my trail in the woods. More recently, Ella Claire (the youngest), discovered a broken pine bough with a perfectly shaped miniature pine cone --- just the right size for a doll house. (She also collects lots of rocks and sticks and wildflowers.)
What simple pleasures!
When I was a child back in the 1950s, my grandmother --- the late Rena Bingham Lassiter, who always lived with us --- taught her grandchildren all about the natural world around us. As a result, I was able to identify many of our native birds and just about every species of tree we have around here.
So it's natural for this observant journalist to pay close attention to the environmentalists who remind us that conservation of natural resources is not only good for our long-term physical well-being but also good for the soul.
P.S. I hope it snows just once this winter. Best time for a walk in the woods.
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