of the Odenwald The places in the Odenwald I love most are populated by beech trees. I love the fresh green in the spring, the luscious dark canopy in the summer, and then the leaves turning to gold in the autumn, even when they turn … Continue reading A Few Walks in the Woods
I was in Frankfurt this weekend meeting up with friends. I had taken Wynona along and decided to cycle back a small part of the way (the small part turned into the whole 80km because when I wanted to take the train I was informed … Continue reading A Woodsy Encounter
Yes, that’s a bastardised Shakespeare line. This is how sonnett no. 73 starts properly: That time of year thou mayst in me beholdWhen yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hangUpon those boughs which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds … Continue reading When Yellow Leaves Do Hang upon Those Boughs
In 1871 a baron decided that he wanted a forest full of unusual trees so he started to plant trees not native to the area in his backyard. He didn’t just plant one tree of every kind but in groups of hundreds. In ten years he planted (or rather had planted) more than 12,000 trees on the grounds behind his castle in Weinheim an der Bergstraße, 1460 of the trees were sequoias. In 1955 the family sold the area to the State of Baden-Württemberg and the care of the “Exotic Forest” fell to official foresters. Today it is open woodland like any other public forest in Germany. Over the years more and more species were introduced and now more than 130 non-native species can be found species, most of them thriving in large groups.
Although I am most attracted to the sequoias other species have their charm like this American tulip tree. Information boards are displayed next to the paths.
Animals are few and far between because of the many visitors but one can get lucky.
Sometimes it’s hard to cross the path because of the amount of traffic. Heedful snails look left and right before they cross.
Occasionally though, one can meet a more threatening member of the animal population. This one was aggressively lunging at me:
I went exploring yesterday in a new area which was dismal. Still brown and grey and no colours anway. But the overgrown path looked as if it wanted to suck me into a tunnel.
The only thing that hinted at the end of winter were the little white blooms on the blackthorns, the earliest bloomers in the woods.
Yet there was something in the air that promised more colours to come (see the hint of blue in the sky?).
The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Out in Nature
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The old man and the trees
More trees, more people.
And two cute little monkeys in a tree.
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