stair step forest

Last fall we discovered one of my new favorite places on planet earth. It's a little county park, just a mile from our house. We had driven by for years (literally) before we finally ventured down the steps. I wrote about how we were there for the first time at the very moment my friend Mama J took her last earthly breath. And then we visited again when the leaves were falling so quickly it was as if we were caught in Times Square on New Years Eve. The leaves were like confetti fall around us.

It was on that visit that I ran into a woman while walking back up the stairs and said to her, "this place is magical." And she asked if I had seen it in the springtime yet. She said that in the spring the floor of the forest is covered in white flowers so that it looks like snow. It doesn't last but a few days, so be sure not to miss it.

Well you can imagine my anticipation all winter long. I can't imagine they stay in bloom for very long and I don't want to miss it. I thought about leaving my number on the sign up front, begging for a phone call when the flowers were blooming, but then I realized I just need to do my own investigating. So on Saturday we went and found lots of green, and just a few blooms. Then tonight (writing this on Wednesday night) we went again and found many more blooms. But I have a feeling the real show will be this weekend. Maybe early next week. And I can't wait.

Until then, I have pulled out my wildflower guide and am now adding wild flowers into the mix of discovery along with song birds. I'm not sure what is happening, but this spring God has my full attention. I am hearing things like I just got new hearing aids. And I am seeing things like I just got my first pair of glasses. The world feels so alive to me, and I'm so grateful for these heightened senses.

Learning wildflower names always reminds me of the time my Grandpa Phil took my cousin Sarah and I out on a hike in the desert when we were in 7th grade. He pointed out every flower and told us each name. And then we came to a patch of white flowers and he looked and said, "I haven't see that one before. I don't know what it is." And Sarah and I looked at each other because we knew...it was someone's popcorn they had spilled. Oh we laughed later. And Grandpa had cataract surgery soon after.