Out for a walk this afternoon. SInce I am spending so little time here these days, I'm taking more time to walk deeply in the forest around my house, to visit the land and sea and stay quite connected to the rhythms of this place. So for your edification on this misty late winter afternoon, here are a few things I noticed...

• A few early signs of spring, including new growth on the salmonberries and some skunk cabbage growing in the swamp.
• An accounting of some of the carnage of the winter storms which felled hundreds of trees in Crippen Park, including these three giants.
• The fallen trees will open up much new light in the forest and allow for more growth of food plants like berry bushes and ferns. I was lucky to harvest these licorice fern rhizomes from a fallen maple log. You can see in this photo how thick the moss is that they grow in. So lush. After picking through the moss my hands smelled like rich, wet life. Fantastic!