I take a hurried walk on Nature Conservancy land in a slot of time between working hours and a planning commission meeting. I duck beneath the electric fence and wander up an old farm road and discover the most enchanting sight I’ve seen in a long time.
Bright blue forget-me-nots sprinkle the unmown road. Heifers graze in pasture on the other side of enormous sugar maples. The pasture glows amber in the late afternoon, humid light. It’s cool enough this afternoon that I’ve pulled on jeans beneath my dress, and my sandals have been switched for hiking boots. The woods are deep and lush.
This is Wallace Stegner land. He loved this Vermont town and lies buried in a town cemetery on the other side of the lake. As I walk, I’m reminded of his famous lines.
“We simply need that wild country available to us…. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope.”
~ Wallace Stegner
This space of wildness wraps all around where I live, winding in and around these Vermont towns. Mighty — these trees and fields — but just as dear are these tiny blossoms, sprinkled all through the forest, far up in the woods where they disappear from sight.
Stony Soil Vermont 
Beautiful.
Thank you!
Thank you, thank you. Such calming imagery; the poetic grace of the words and imagery just washed over and carried me away to that lovely setting!
Thanks so much for your kind words!
You are fortunate indeed to have these natural spaces to nourish your soul, Brett Ann.
I am lucky — I hope all of you have this good luck, too. 🙂
I love forget-me-nots…and we love Barr Hill. And, for that matter, I love Wallace Stegner’s writing & descriptions of that area. And yours, too😊
I just saw a huge swath of woodland forget-me-nots in Cabot. They were fantastic!
So magical these wild forget-me-nots. Glad to hear you found some, too!
Love your writing, Brett. You commented on my blog and I never responded. So sorry…. I left all social media behind this past year.
No need to apologize. Always good to take a long break from the digital world.