One of my weirder post titles, yes.
A quick explanation: Pater and I are getting ready for a week of walking in Italy, 115 kilometres, beginning in Siena and heading South on an old pilgrim route, the Via Francigena. So right here, right now, we’ve been buying a few items that will get us comfortably through long days of walking. We’ve been breaking in new trail shoes. And we’ve been trying to fit in hours of walking. On Saturday, we managed six hours (which translated into just over 20 kilometres or 30,000 steps for me). I gave myself a recovery day on Sunday, but yesterday we wanted to fit in at least 10 kilometres, knowing that we’re going to have to get used to bouncing back when we’re walking the Via Francigena.
Spring Break for the grandkids, and we had an Eight and a Ten with us — plus a canine guest who’s with us for a couple of weeks. So we all piled into the car, clicked the seat belts, and headed to a favourite route around a local lake bordered by a large wetlands area. The drizzle never became more than a very light shower (and we all had decent rain gear); we should have brought more snacks, but managed to stretch our muffins and oranges and water sufficiently to keep complaints and tummy grumbles to a minimum; and we finished in 2.5 hours, significantly less than the signage suggesting it would take 3 hours — which puffed the kids’ tired chests considerably. Their energy was also renewed by a Pirate Pack at the nearest White Spot (mac’n’cheese for her; cheeseburger for him; burgers for the adults; fries all ’round).
Signs of Spring abounded as we walked the long circuit through woods and meadow and wetlands: frogs croaking and birds singing and squirrels scolding . . . green unfurling from tiny buttons on branches and blossoms shaking themselves out — pink Flowering Red Current (Ribes Sanguineum) and white Indian Plum or Osoberry (Oemleria Cerasiformis) . . . the occasional stand of pussy willow in furry grey bloom. . .
And if you’ve been visiting this blog for a few Springtimes, you’ll know what I was on the lookout for, at the end of March. . . In fact, I just did a search for posts featuring “skunk cabbage” and there have been a surprising number of these over the years. Including my favourite, the one I wrote the year before my Mom died, the one with the photo of her standing in a patch of these majestic yellow flares.
Her birthday is this month, she died in March as well, and this Sunday we’ll be walking another favourite walk of hers with some of my siblings and their families in her memory. So of course I shared that with the G’kids. And then we looked for the current crop of Skunk Cabbage. And found them. They weren’t yet living up to their smelly name, but the kids’ imagination liked the image of bears nibbling at the leaves. I haven’t shown them the photo of their great-grandmother standing in the Spring mud surrounding by green and yellow yet, but you know I will.
Keeping it (relatively) short this morning . . . mostly just wanted to share photos of a favourite Sign of Spring and wish you all, Best of the New Season! What are your favourite signs of Spring? Or of Autumn, if that’s what you’re moving into now?
There is a very large tree in my neighbourhood where in early spring the ground is covered in snowdrops. I look for that early in March and have not been disappointed.
Author
Ah, snowdrops! They give us hope just when we need it, right?
What a lovely walk to do with grandchildren! We leave tomorrow for most of a week in the Seattle area, for our son’s wedding, and I will keep an eye out for skunk cabbage. Beautiful!
We have beautiful wildflowers blooming in the Sonoran desert now (orange poppies and purple lupines), but my favorite spring blooms come in April, when the palo verde trees are solid masses of bright yellow blooms. How my mother loved them! I associate them with her April birthday just like you associate the skunk cabbage blooms with your mom.
Author
Lupines and poppies! Orange and purple! Thanks for that vision! I’ve never seen palo verde trees, but I’ve just been looking at images of them in full bloom — magnificent!! I can see why your mother loved them.
Enjoy your time in the PNW — what a wonderful reason to be there!
While we were washing up the lunch dishes today, my husband and I were just wondering when the skunk cabbage would arrive in our backyard. There is a brook at the base of our yard and lots of skunk cabbage arrives in the spring. There is no sign of it yet. But, what we call skunk cabbage doesn’t look anything like that. It’s green and there is no central yellow flare. Off I went to google it, and it turns out that there is a Western skunk cabbage with yellow flares and an Eastern skunk cabbage. It looks like this: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48961-Symplocarpus-foetidus. I’ll have to head to the West coast to see your version.
Enjoy your walking trip. I am looking forward to reading about it and seeing photos on Instagram.
Author
Your skunk cabbage has a spectacular superpower — do you know that it’s thermogenetic? It produces heat to melt the snow around it! Makes up for not having the yellow flare, right? Nature is SO cool!
I didn’t know that. So interesting and very cool!
That looks like a wonderful walk! We love doing walks like these as we find it’s a fantastic way to see a part of another country (rather than just exploring cities). Last year we really loved a week of walking in Piedmont. Enjoy!
We’re just venturing into Autumn so it’s the festival of colourful leaves!
Author
Fabulous! Did you do that walk with backpacks or did you have your luggage transported?
Autumn is a gorgeous season as well — enjoy!
Hi Frances,
We have done all of our walks over the years as self-guided (carrying day-packs/having our luggage transported). It’s seriously the best of both worlds for us as we get to see amazing scenery while doing the walk independently and then reaching our destination (ie an inn in a village). Last year we did this in Norway, Austria and Italy and now we’re busy planning our next hike!
Author
Oh, good to know! This is exactly what we’re doing and really looking forward to it, thinking if it works out we’ll do more. . .
We don’t have the yellow kind, its very glamorous! I do like to see the big leaves flaunting their bright green when most of the rest of the wet lands are still in winter mode.
Our spring tradition with the kids and my parents was to walk out along a creek (Bull Run if anyone is a US Civil War buff, I’m not) to see the Virginia bluebells and spring beauties bloom. Its a bit early for them, maybe we’ll look for them the second week in April.
Your Italian adventure sounds great; I hear its quite warm there already.
Ceci
Author
See my response to Dottie re your eastern skunk cabbage’s secret superpower — I’ve always been a bit envious!
Oh, and I also envy those bluebells, even though you have to wait a bit longer for your spring…
Your walking holiday sounds wonderful . It isn’t just about the scenery when you’re walking is it ? You’ll meet & interact with so many people who would just pass you by in the city . If you are really nosey , like me you’ll learn a little about their lives & collect lots of memories . I can’t do the distances I used to . We used to have long walks & short rests but are getting to the other way round now ! Ten K a day is about my maximum ( & our old dog’s too ) I don’t know whether you use a hiking stick . I resisted for a long time but find them so useful on rough ground & for knocking brambles aside . I’m looking forward to the photos.
Author
I’m looking forward to exactly those interactions you speak of. As for the hiking stick, so far I don’t use one (and it would be awkward to travel with, as I imagine it anyway) . . . but I do have poles that I occasionally use for hiking if there are steep-ish slopes and rough paths involved. The section we’re doing is not supposed to be very “technical,” but I guess we’ll see . . .
Crocus, daffodils and some small yellow flowers are beginning to emerge in the neighborhood. The magnolia tree is usually the first of the trees to bloom, only last year just as it was about to burst open a frigid spell killed off all the emerging buds. I was surprised at how deep a sense of loss I felt. I consoled myself that spring would come again, although at that time is seemed so far away, and at my stage of life another journey around the sun is not a given. Yet here we are, the tree is in bloom, so here’s hoping.
Your trip sounds wonderful!
Author
Wonderful! I’m so glad to know that your magnolia is blooming again. I would have felt that loss deeply as well. Now you can really rejoice in this Spring as a rebirth!
Via Francigena….what an amazing plan! Brave Pilgrims!
I’ve heard about Skunk Cabbage here for the first time and it will always be connected in my memory with you and your Mom. Walking her favourite walk in her memory is such a sweet thing. And your little Pilgrims did well,too!
First signs of the spring are usually snowdrops and little wild violets with a wonderful smell in my garden and safrans/crocuses in Maksimir Park. Years ago, there were yellow,magenta and white ones,like a carpet -last couple of years there are only white glowers.I’ve found only maybe up to ten magenta flowers this year
Dottoressa
Author
That’s so sweet, K, that you remember my mother through skunk cabbage as well, even though you never met her (nor ever met a skunk cabbage 😉
Those little wild violets will be so pretty mixed with the snowdrops — violet, green, and white together, looking so fresh. And when the sun warms those violets, what a glorious fragrance!
Interesting that the magenta crocuses didn’t naturalize as well and the white and yellow took over. . . (have I visited Maksimir Park, I wonder?)
I’m not sure,we were not together there…Maksimir was a park with a zoo between your apartment and my house
D.
Author
Hmmm, I don’t remember a zoo, so probably not…
*flowers,sorry
D
Author
I knew what you meant! 😉
Your trip sounds wonderful!
Practically simultaneous with your description I received this from a website I follow: https://www.visittuscany.com/en/itineraries/via-francigena-toscana/
I then looked it up and found that La Foce is on the route. We made a trip there after reading the inspiring story War in Val d’Orcia by Iris Origo. A lovely memory.
Author
Okay, now I’ve put Iris Origo’s book on hold at the library — probably won’t be my turn until we get back.
What a coincidence that you’d have got that information on the Via Francigena just as I was posting here. And thanks for sending along the link. I think we’ll be starting a bit South of this but we hope to do more of the route later, so who knows? Chissà?!
Since we’re still buried in snow here on the prairie, I’m enjoying your signs of spring! I’m also very excited to hear about your upcoming walk in Italy and look forward to hearing all about it when the time comes.
That sounds an amazing experience of a walk you have coming up. I’ll look forward to hearing about it in great detail. Having done a (short) 60 mile pilgrim walk a few years ago from Melrose to Lindisfarne with my daughter and a friend, I love reading about pilgrim routes. Most of all I love reading about the Canterbury to Rome route. There are some great blogs here: https://whatifwewalked.com/category/via-francigena/
and here: https://pilgrimstorome.org.uk/pilgrim-blogs-2/
Our much! shorter St Cuthbert Way over 5 days (there were hills!) was done with baggage transfer and accommodation booked by the wonderful Absolute Escapes: https://www.absoluteescapes.com/ . It was a quite transcendental experience – there was no other purpose to each day than to walk, and become attuned at a micro level to the countryside around it to the extent that we became part of it. I am so envious of you!
Author
I remember when you did that walk and I’ve also kept Absolute Escapes in mind since you mentioned it. We’re also having bags transferred and accommodation booked and really looking forward to that luxury!
I discovered What If We Walked a few weeks ago — it’s a great resource! Wish they’d kept the blog going,tbh. I’ll check out Pilgrims to Rome, thank you!