by Jean Larson
December 16, 2012
Last week on December 10, we had a big rain, 3.5 inches in one day. Usually heavy rain like that falls in the summer, not this late in the year when many of the plants are going dormant. Big rains after periods of drought like we have been having lead to trees falling down and rushing streams carving deeply in sand spots across the flood plain. During this rain, the Royal Park Creek which enters the meeting property at the northwest corner, gouged a pit on the north side of a stump that sits near at the intersection of the Royal Park Creek with the ditch that runs from the north west side of Temple Shir Shalom onto our property. The stump is in an open area just past the segment in which the creek is bound by clear walls and since it appeared there the water shifted from flowing east and south to flowing north and east into the old meeting for worship in nature area and into the pond. After this heavy rain, a tree limb fell into the garden with coral beans just west of the meeting for worship room. Walter helped me lift it out and together we carried the 10 foot limb into the woods where it will continue to decompose.
There are flowers blooming near the meeting house, including dune sun flower (Helianthus debilis) along the front walk, the Georgia calamint (Calamintha georgiana) around the peace pole, the conradina on the slope below the ramp, and the golden rod sprawling out of the garden boxes along the ramp to the First Day School Room and supporting itself on the guide rails. All of these have been blooming for a long time, but the flowers that start the earliest, last the longest and are loved by butterflies are the beggarticks (Bidens alba) that snag our clothes so easily.
Now that much of the fall leaf drop has occurred, the woods are more open and filled with light. As I looked out into the woods in this morning I enjoyed the light illuminating the long drifts of spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides). A butterfly wafted along the drive, a light spot of yellow brightening my day. As I prepared to settle in for meeting for worship this morning I spotted three flowers on the camellia bush Bart donated that is planted west of the meeting house. May you also find occasions of brightness in this holiday season.
