Today was a day long in coming, I finally had the itch, the uncontrollable urge to explore the world around me once again, camera in hand. While my world has changed quite a bit in the past two years, my camera and computer have changed too so it is a true lesson for me.
Just a mile or so from my home here in Centerport, Long Island is Twin Ponds Park. I've passed the parking lot countless times, today I finally pulled in and went for the short walk. On the north side of 25A is mostly sand and scrub, basically an uninteresting walk unless of course you are looking at the world through your camera lens. I found a large stand of Opuntia (don't know the rest of the botanical name). Another quick lesson was learned when I tried to remove a leaf for this photo and found the entire tip of my pointer finger stabbed with teeny tiny but painful thorns!
Bittersweet is the gardeners nemesis, many is the time I cursed this plant as I pulled it's vivid orange roots from the ground. In the wild though, it can make your heart sing :-)
The south side of 25A was much more scenic albeit also a very short walk. I was fascinated by these points coming up out of the ground. They look similar to Hosta shoots when they first emerge. If anybody knows what these are, please leave a comment. My guess is skunk cabbage only because I really have no other idea.
The moss was everywhere and it literally glowed in the autumn sunshine! If you look close you'll see those spiky growths coming up right through the moss.
Walking along I remembered why one has to dress in plain jeans, hiking boots and an old sweatshirt. Lots of clambering over and under with whippets of thorns just waiting.
Now these are roots! I tried not to hear the tree cry as I gently tiptoed my way through them.
A final note for today, we are still in the thick of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I took this photo several times over and had fun playing with my i-photo enhancements. If you want to see the result it's posted on my other blog, Melanie's Old Country Garden
Posts
