Lorene Connolly
51m ·
I have found myself hiking again in the Watchung Reservation, a large county park near my home in Mountainside, New Jersey, USA, having recently bored with the walking paths and wishing to see the sights I had not visited for perhaps ten years. I will say the county responsible for maintaining the park has done a great deal to improve the major trails themselves in that they are deep with dark gravel stones, almost paved. One of the jewels of the park is the hidden lake, and Kensey and I hiked the trail down to it today. Previously, I recounted walking with Kensey among a formal garden of shrubbery where I found an abandoned bird’s nest. I failed to mention many tiny leaf buds were beginning to appear and they were very obvious to me because I was so close to them. As I walked today, I noticed the trail leading down to the lake was lined with an abundance of these shrubs, only in just a few days, the leaf buds were in far greater abundance, indicating how quickly spring was arriving. Although it was a cool and overcast day, looking back over the trail, it appeared to be lined with a veil of green. I was able to capture the moment with a picture. It may not look the same tomorrow as landscape scenes are ephemeral. By the sight of the trees hovering above, however, winter still has not released its grip.