The Primrose Path

Cut-leaf Evening Primrose
Originally uploaded by toadshade

No I haven't started drinking again. I did a 5 mile tempo run over Dickcissel Fields where these Cut-leaf Evening Primroses are starting to grow in abundance. Evening Primroses are so called because they usually bloom in the evening or dusk since they are pollinated by Luna Moths and other night flying insect creatures. Sometimes they come out cloudy days like today. Saw some Wild Mustards and Toadflax on the road also. They're the second wave of wildflowers that will stay around a month or so until the summer heat brings some of the more heat resistant, hardier species.

Had a decent run after a little layoff. Did 5 miles at 46:58 at 9:24 per mile.

toadshade

Spring in the Mountains

Wood Anemone
Originally uploaded by toadshade

These are from Pearson Falls road outside of Saluda, NC. I'm too cheap to pay the 2 bucks to go into the falls. Especially when the same wildflowers are growing all along the dirt road outside the falls. There's nothing like Spring in the mountains for nature enthusiasts. This Wood Anemone has a special significance to me since it was the first wildflower I ever identified and there were very few there. I found Toadshade Trillium, Large-flowered Trillium, Toothwort, Spring Beauty, Mayapple, Smooth Leaved Violet, Bellwort, Solomon's Seal, Sharp-leaved Hepatica and Bloodroot. You can all the pictures (including Toadshade) at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadshade/sets/72157616132807068/detail/

toadshade

Spring in the Midlands - Forty Acre Rock

Pool Sprite and Stonecrop
Originally uploaded by toadshade

I made a sort of photo hike trip to one of my favorite places in the midlands which is located about 8 miles northeast of Kershaw in Lancaster County. It's about 66 miles and an easy trip to make for a unique environment that has some of the characteristics of the mountains. In Spring, the wildflowers, especially around the beaver pond are quite spectacular. There are plenty of Windflower, some Wood Anemone, Halberd-leaved Violets, Spring Beauties, False Garlic, Yellow Buckeye, Hawkweed, Indian Strawberry, Phlox, Wood Sorrel and Bloodroot. And on the rock, pictured above, are the rare Pool Sprite and the red Stonecrop. I found some Puck's Orpine on the way up which is also unique to this granite outcrop. You can see more of the Rock's flora at my Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toadshade/sets/72157615351166935/detail/

Years ago I used to hike to see how far I could go. I was training for marathons back then and the mountain walks were tough but good to strengthen the legs. I ran my best marathons back then. Later when I got with my friend Bill, who was more into the study of nature, he helped slow me down to see what I was missing and I can hardly walk 50 yards without finding something unique to nature and the world. This blog tends to meander between the two interests which are really one. I tend to ascribe to the old Tolkien saying: All who wander are not lost.

I've come to see running as a meditation and nature, my own and the natural world, as the wellspring that feeds it. My spiritual path insists on staying in the here and now. Nothing, to me, grounds you in the here and now like nature. In a couple of weeks, most of these flowers won't be here. Others will come to take their place. I will have changed too.

In the words of Heraclitus, the Pantheist philosopher, no man ever steps in the same river twice.

toadshade

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler
Originally uploaded by toadshade

This little Winter Warbler is about to take off back north. He's been a regular visitor at my feeder for the last several months. You can seldom see the orange crown but this one is very pronounced. It's been rainy for the past few days in Columbia but Spring is springing and there's excitement in the air.

toadshade

Blackberry Spring

Blackberry Blossom
Originally uploaded by toadshade

"My love, he wooed me as I lie there
With a flower in my hair and my cheeks aflush
It was a blackberry blossom from the blackberry bush."
- Blackberry Blossom, Michelle Shocked

One of my favorite songs about a maiden and her lover making love amid the blackberry brambles and blossoms; a perfect metaphor for the pain and joy of love. I always think of it when I see this flower that grows everywhere in the Spring. In late April and early May I'll be picking blackberries to snack on while I jog and in late July and early August hope to be picking them at Black Balsam Knob in Shining Rock Wilderness on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a vine that seems to cover everything with white and makes a nice trellis for the Spring.

I had a decent 8 miler hampered a little by an upset stomach that probably originated from some left over pizza that has been sitting in my fridge for an indecent amount of time (but not as long as the okra which I'll have tonight). Still I ran it in 1:17:01 at 9:38 per mile.

toadshade

Azalea Dash

Azalea
Originally uploaded by toadshade

The signature flower of suburban South Carolina and most of the south for that matter. Saw some Phlox and plenty of Red Maple Wings. I did a 6 mile tempo run that was the reverse of the run I did yesterday. I needed to test my leg on a long uphill slope and I passed with flying colors. My time was 56:39 at 9:27 per mile. I don't think the layoff hurt much of anything since my pace is crisp, my weight is down and I feel 10 years younger than I did when I started. Will do a 10 later in the week and start working on some hikes around the midlands and mountains. Am thinking about hitting 40 Acre Rock this Sunday with hopes of even more Spring flora than I got last year. Next Friday I'm heading back to the hills and will probably hit Station Falls, Jones Gap, Cane Creek and Big Bradly Falls in Saluda.

Spring fever has hit the toad.

toadshade

The Six Mile Spring Loop

Field Pansy or Johnny Jump Up
Originally uploaded by toadshade

Ran around Sunview Lake for the first time since I got hurt. Took a picture of this Field Pansy which was growing on the edge of the woods at Sunview Lake. These are sometimes called Johnny Jump Ups because they seem to shoot up very quickly in large patches mainly in fields. If you see a blue blush in the fields when you out driving, it's probably these guys. Always a welcome sight after the cold of Winter. Saw some Common Blue Violets and Periwinkles also. This run did my heart good due to the fact that the last time I ran this run it was cold, rainy and I had an injury that dashed my hopes for the marathon. This reminded of the joy of pure running. I stopped and took a few snapshots and 'smelled the roses' or Violets in this case. My time was 57:27 at a 9:35 per mile pace.

toadshade