Back to Ontario, Canada - Time in Nature

On Sunday, I spent some final time (for this trip) with my cousins, and also other cousins joined us in the afternoon for meal of pizza and salad and a lot of conversation. Then everyone set off for their ultimate destinations for the day, and I was alone.

I had already planned to head up to Hamilton, Ontario for a few days in this second week of my VT time. On Monday morning I set off around 9:00am. The shortest route from the Mad River Valley up to Hamilton is to head WSW across VT and into NY state, then mostly west from Syracuse to Niagara Falls, and then follow the edge of Lake Ontario WNW until you round just the western curve of the lake. That's what I did ... and about 8 1/2 hours later, I was checking into my hotel in downtown Hamilton.

I had the day on Tuesday to be outside in nature (do you see a theme in these blog posts?) and took advantage of it. I headed over to the Royal Botanical Garden, bought a membership (because I love it there and hope to be back at least a few more times in the next year or so) and then headed to the Arboretum. I had done a short walk there in July, but wanted to do a lot more exploring this time.

The Arboretum covers more than 100 acres and is much more like an English landscape park than a garden - although there are definitely garden areas within it. As its name implies, this is the place where you can see a wide variety of trees and other woody plants up close. Some of the things within it are various tree collections (including flowering trees in May & June), the trailhead leading to Cootes Paradise, other trails, something over 1,000 types of plants, some very large, very old specimens of trees, and home to one of the largest lilac collections in the world. Of course, I am here in the fall, so mostly I was looking at foliage. And water of course.

I headed down toward the Cootes Paradise Marsh. It's a somewhat steep, but short, walk down to the trails that skirt the edge of the marsh. Being in the woods and also by the water is paradise to me! Part of this path is the Anishinaabe Waadiziwin (indigenous plant medicine trail). This trail is a nature sanctuary, with a trail that explores plants used by the Anishinaabe peoples and their connections to culture, language, ecology and history. There are posting all along the trail, as well a recordings to which one can listen to learn and hear stories and history.

It was a lovely day, and I only ran into a few other walkers/hikers. I actually just found a place to sit and did so for probably close to an hour - just listening. I wrote a lot of this poem while sitting there - typing phrases into my phone for firming up later. The magic of nature, for me anyway.

Earth Sounds

Listen.

It starts as a breath,

then grows into more of a breeze,

but isn't, quite yet, a wind,

although that may come soon..

It's autumn, and as the

breeze freshens you start to

see leaves, releasing their

hold on their branches,

coming down through the air,

tiny colored kites that you watch

as they fly, a unique acrobatic routine.

Down, ever down, somersaulting past

other leaves still hanging on,

and tree branches, and shining in open air.

And you hear them also,

little wisps of sound as they

brush past tree bark,

collide with other leaves still

attached to the trees and bushes,

each sound just a little different.

Listen.

There is rustling all around you,

squirrels perhaps, or chipmunks,

maybe something bigger,

scurrying through the underbrush,

the pine needles and dead leaves,

that which the air currents already

threw down to the forest floor.

A snake just slithered past your foot,

not through leaves but through

damp pines needles on the earth,

with just a tiny little hiss as it moved.

Sometime you hear small sounds,

a squeak or low growl, or distant crickets.

Birds are part of the conversation,

many different bird calls in the air,

for now at least - soon many will be

leaving to fly south, away from what

they know is sure to come soon.

Listen.

You are sitting, in a sacred spot;

sacred because it is in the forest

that means so much to you.

Many would call this spot quiet,

this spot in the woods, and yes,

also near the water of which you see

glimpses, with the sun creating a sparkle,

sometimes as brilliant as diamonds,

as it shines down on the liquid below.

But they would be wrong, so wrong.

You can hear the water always,

as the rising wind creates little rolls or

even hills of water, small sounds of

waves splashing onto a rock, or

against the roots of a tree that has

ventured out close to the edge.

You may even hear just a hint of sound,

that is only the whisper of air moving

over the surface of the water, similar but

different from over the forest floor.

Listen.

This is the world saying to you

"You are welcome here."

This is the world saying to you

"You belong here."

This is the world saying to you

"We are all here together."

Listen.

Water views:

Along the trail(s):

Some of the larger trees (pictures looking up) are black walnut, white oak, and honey locust.

And also a friend I met along the way. He actually just appeared and moved right over my boot, and then stopped a foot or two away. Quite a large garter snake for that area.