A Little Time by the Woods and Water

While at the family reunion last weekend, Larry discovered this enticing spot and showed to my sister Theresa and me.

There is so much to see in a little patch of woods, like a patch of Mayapples (sometimes called Mandrake) in bloom,

and Jack-in-the-Pulpits in both green and purple, some of the largest I have ever seen.

A lovely Mayapple flower hides in the shade of its umbrella leaves. Later a fruit will form that is supposedly edible, although I have never tasted it.

A forest giant stretches its arms to the sky.

A little further down the road we came to another pretty place--a little creek bordered by wildflowers. Here the Bluets (also called Quaker Ladies by some) are barely visible as a blue haze along the creek's bank (see this poem about them),
while Golden Ragwort makes itself at home on a large rock in the stream. Have you ever smelled the leaves of this wildflower? They are highly perfumed, with a fruity-flowery scent. I used to have a plant in my garden just so I could nip a bit of the leaves every now and then.
A strange apparition--the Dancing Outlaw, perhaps?-- appears on the swinging bridge.
A small round tuft of moss, arched with a twig, looks like a soft green basket,

and water sluicing over rocks made music that was perfect for the time and place.