Remnants of the Path

I took another vacation day Friday. It reached 80 degrees. Heather and I walked into town in the morning. She had a meeting and I had nothing. So I explored East Hillsborough along the Eno. I had cleared a trail along the river three years ago for a Walkable Hillsborough Day celebration. At that time it was mostly underbrush, brier, and poison ivy. I have not walked that "trail" since then. On Friday I was pleasantly surprised to find remnants of the path I had bushwhacked. Granted, Spring growth is yet to explode this season, and I'll bet, this time next month, there will be more briers. But for now I enjoyed a walk along the riverbank and on the edge of the Indian fields. The low May Apples twisted out of the ground, opened their green umbrellas. I tried not to step on them. The bugs are not bad yet and the spiders have not set their traps. The pollen has not been released. I stood on a high bank, leaned against an Ironwood and watched a pair of Canada Geese guarding a nest. They will not fly north this season, but will attempt to bring up a young one in Hillsborough. Walking back to town I stopped on the edge of the Indian field and listened to the fieldbirds. I see a few more vacation days in the near future.