Snapshots, Wanderings, Wildflowers

Nature stark naked

6 Comments

Every new flower’s my favorite for a while… so bear with me here. Turkey Beard is a characteristic Pine Barrens plant and, according to all my books, quite common and easy to find.

Pfft.

The knowing where to look is key, apparently.

Mostly I just wander on my own when I go there; a precarious thing considering my poor sense of direction and how easily one might get lost among the intersecting sand roads. My always-turn-right strategy has served me well enough so far, but one of these days…

😉

It must be the strange, hard-won beauty of the place that captivates and distracts me so… the craggy pines and impenetrable scrub that holds the promise of something new at every visit. I don’t always find something new, of course, some days I just wander aimlessly and get eaten alive by skeeters and deer flies. Or practically freeze to death in the winter. Those things are pretty fun, too, when done in the spirit of exploration.

“There is something grand, charming and desirable in this vaguely despised country… the sand, the pines… it is Nature stark naked.” –Phillip Vickers Fithian, a Revolutionary War chaplain

6 thoughts on “Nature stark naked”

  2. What a pretty and delicate flower. I love your spirit of exploration. I always say I am like the Bear who “went over the mountain to see what he could see…” Perhaps you are like him also.

  4. To me, it is the wilderness next door. I hop in the car and less then an hour later I’m lost in the woods.

    I don’t mind the cold. I do mind the bugs though. At least the biting ones.

  5. When my son was packing to leave for a tour in Europe recently I noticed that he had a couple of Tom Brown books-his name comes to mind when I read anything about the pine barrens- although I’ve learned a lot more about them here. 🙂 Nice flower! That could easily be a favorite for a while.

  6. Rabbit’s Guy: Right… could be anything!

    Kathie: Hi! Thanks for coming by. I think I’m pretty much that way too, yeah.

    😉

    Beth: Hmm… not sure. There’s only one other species in its genus and it’s called Beargrass.

    ?

    MevetS: Right… I like that feel, too. Doesn’t happen much here in NJ.

    Vicki: Hi!

    A friend of mine did a couple clinics with Tom Brown, I think, and loved them!

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