April is here, my favorite month of the year. I've been waiting for it since May of last year. It's when the forest fills with wildflowers and green plants, and the leaves start appearing on the trees, and the light becomes bright with a crystal like clarity.
Last week, Maryland's governor Larry Hogan issued a mandatory stay at home order for everyone, travel allowed only for the most necessary reasons due to COVID-19. I am fortunate to live in an area that buffers against the forest ever so slightly. I stopped going down there last week as it didn't seem safe anymore, as many people are going to the forest for different reasons. Now, like many others, I take my walks around the neighborhood, where proper social distancing can occur. Yesterday, on my neighborhood walk, I decided to slip into the forest briefly to take a look around. It's really hard to appreciate something when you no longer have it. Stepping into the forest for a few minutes felt like standing on top of Mount Whitney. I bee lined down to the creek and was greeted with abundant wildflowers. I was surprised to still see large numbers of hikers passing one another on the opposite side of the creek. Some hikers were wearing masks which was the first time I've ever seen that. There was a family sitting on a sandy stream embankment. In some ways it felt like a different time from long ago. I only walked around for about 15 minutes before I slipped back into the neighborhood to finish my walk...
