A Wordsworth day

I went in search of a particular wildflower today. More on that, later. Sometimes it can be a mistake to look for a very specific thing, because you may not find it! I did not find my flower. But I did find so much more.

It was hot and humid... there was a misty rain earlier today. It left behind heat and steam: just like Louisiana, where I am from. It felt familiar.

Walking along one of my favorite paths, I was serenaded by meadowlarks and robins. Swallows were swooping though the air around me, almost hitting my head. There was a strong smell of honey in the air, and I found the source:

Basswood. It made me think of forestry class, and one of my favorite professors. Good memories, there.

There were flowers, bees, and butterflies everywhere. What a joy, if you stop to look.

Although it was overcast, the scenes around me reminded me of the famous Wordsworth poem, "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud." I wasn't looking at daffodils, of course, but the joy was the same.

In another post, I'll try to catalog all I saw in list form. For today, though, I'm just basking in the joy.

Lewis and Clark

This week, my family and I went to the Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail & Visitor Center (or the MRB L&C Center, as printed on my receipt, whew!). This little jaunt out to Nebraska City, NE, reawakened an old fascination I have with these explorers. There is something for everyone in the Lewis and Clark exploration story. I love the adventure, the natural history, and the detailed journal keeping.

The Visitor Center was well worth the time. I especially enjoyed seeing the example of a medical kit that would have been used back in the 1800s. The interpretive display also discussed the fish the explorers caught, and the hooks they would have used, which is something I have not seen anywhere else.

Outside, the trail was muddy, but the view of the Missouri River was beautiful.The woods were quite like the Eastern Deciduous Forest I know from my time in Tennessee.

While there, I bought a copy of H. Wayne Phillips' Plants of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. And I found myself wanting to reread Stephen Ambrose's Undaunted Courage and Lewis & Clark: Voyage of Discovery.

 An old love is reawakened. I'm already thinking about how to interpret some of this in a contemporary way. Their story never gets old. And I hope that an appreciation for the natural world, the value of wild places, and the importance of a person's recorded thoughts is never lost.