Ann Guenther has been leading a “Signs of Spring Walk” at Spring Farm each year for the past two and a half decades. I was happy, and honored, to fill in for her on the 25th anniversary of this tradition. Though the challenge of finding 25 signs of spring (we ended up with 15) with snow and ice on the ground, and chilly winds gusting, was a bit daunting at first, I soon “warmed” to the idea. In fact, I returned for another walk at Spring Farm the day after my public program to find two more remarkable signs: a firefly (of a species that overwinters as an adult, and does not glow, being active by day), and an inch-long wolf spider, both of them on the snow surface, sunning themselves. I returned from this solitary “signs of spring” walk feeling grateful to Ann, to the folks who had participated in the program here and to Mohonk Preserve. They had given me new eyes for the smallest of portents. To see a fly, or a stonefly, or even a single blade of green grass, in the austere landscape of winter, with a blank canvas of snow for a backdrop, is to see each of those things as if for the first time, the way a child sees them. This, I realized, is the most precious “million-dollar view” Spring Farm has to offer.
Richard Parisio is a lifelong naturalist, educator and writer. He currently leads field trips for school classes at Mohonk Preserve, teaches courses about John Burroughs and conducts tours of Slabsides and the John Burroughs Sanctuary for groups and individuals by request. Rich is New York State coordinator for River of Words, a national poetry and art program on the theme of watersheds, and teaches River of Words programs for school classes, grades K-12, by request. Contact Rich ([email protected]) with questions, comments, or suggestions for Nature at Your Doorstep.
