When Three Things Align

Hilda Van Netten
11 minutes ago
2 min read

Three things aligned in time and space this morning:

There was over-night oatmeal in the fridge
Our first blueberries were ripe
A letter appeared in our inbox from Leslie Abram

When 3 things align, you need to do something about it.

We chose to take our breakfast to the nearest Land Trust property that is open to the public, eat it there and take some pictures. Leslie's email was asking for photos of Land Trust landscapes, plants and animals for their photo contest. Winning photos would be used for their 2027 calendar. Sure! We needed an excuse for an adventure.

Wilhelmina Woods Nature Reserve is one of the newest aquisitions for the land trust. We'd entered by way of their Dixon Drive access point in the past and wanted to find the Old Mill Road one today. Hmmmmm.... I guess it's an if ya know, ya know kind of thing. That little sign says.....

..... Northumberland Land Trust.

We were ready to explore.

Not too far down the path was an official sign ....

... and a little further a tribute to the mother of the couple who donated this stunning forest.

And, stunning it was.

After walking down a clearly marked trail for a while, I found a log to sit on and Ted reclined against a tree and ate our oatmeal/raspberry/blueberry/maple syrup breakfast. Yum.

A somewhat hazy sun's rays found their way into the forest. We were still experiencing smoke from forest fires in Northern Ontario this morning.

I always wonder what interesting things will present themselves to me when I venture outside. This morning had a mushroom theme. (Oh, and Ted would say a mosquito and poison ivy theme.) But, I will stick with mushrooms.

The deeper we walked into the forest, the more mushrooms we saw. Many had just started to emerge in the past day.

I-Naturalist suggests that this is a reticulated net-winged beetle.

That was the only insect we saw. (except for mosquitoes and a horsefly.)

Mushrooms led the way, like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs.

This method of dispersing spores is new to me. I need to pay better attention.

An oak tree hinted that summer will not last forever. I hope to go back to this reserve in different seasons. It will be a wonderful place to get to know better.