July 8

Wednesday, my wife, Caroline and I drove to Mt. Pleasant to hike at Mission Creek Park that now includes a new dog park. The mid afternoon weather was partly cloudy with a temperature of 70 degrees and no wind. After leaving the parking lot we came to the trail entrance where I noticed a healthy patch of the attractive but invasive, Crown Vetch. The trail took us north through a dense forest of maple, oak and beech. After descending a steep slope, we arrived at the creek and paused to take in the sights and sounds of this hidden jewel of nature. We crossed the bridge, turned west and followed a narrow path on the bank where I spotted Fringed Loosestrife and Tiger Lilly. Looking south across the creek at the steep bank, I noticed an area where the dark topsoil had slid down to reveal the sandy soil underneath. Continuing west, I stopped to admire a colorful Ebony Jewelwing damselfly. Further along, I noticed a few blossoms of Agrimonia and the extremely poisonous, Water Hemlock. We turned around and headed east into a wooded flood plain shaded by oak and hemlock where I spotted a Wolf Spider web at the base of a birch snag. Next, we climbed back up the steep ravine and followed the trail west where I saw a Wood Satyr butterfly with a frayed wing resting on fern leaves. As the trail curved south toward the parking lot, my eyes caught the colorful fruit of two kinds of Bush Honeysuckle growing next to each other. Finally, we found the car and headed south toward home.

Nature in rhythm

July moves ahead

Summer sky of blue

Raspberries of red

Creatures are born

Consume and grow

Vultures fly high

Snakes lie low

Wetlands are full

Up to the brim

Beneath the surface

Mud minnows swim

D. DeGraaf