This is the second of a continuing series of Profiles that paint a picture of who we are and the public lands and resources we have cared for every day and have for generations. The first profile is available here.
A Walk in the Woods – Early Spring
By Patricia Bergeron
“I get no kick from champagne,” Cole Porter famously wrote, although friends of the songwriter would probably doubt that claim. This verse is more to the point:
“I get no kick in a plane
Flying too high
With some guy in the sky is my idea of nothing to do…”
Even in this nearly-post-pandemic, almost-universally-vaccinated year, you can skip the plane ticket and still experience the novelty, beauty and fascination of a different place. You won’t need a passport, and the experience is sure to enhance your physical and mental well-being. Plus, it might be less than a tank of gas away.
Here is a brief guide to one such destination, Willard Brook State Forest, a 2,597-acre woods straddling the towns of Townsend, Ashby and Lunenburg.
If you go to Willard Brook in the early Spring, don’t expect a riot of color. Like so many other aspects of New England, Spring here takes its time, and its early palette offers modest shades of brown, gray, and the ever-greens of moss, mountain laurel and white pine. Make a mental note to come back to this forest in May to see the mountain laurels adorned with pink and white blossoms.
But for now, stop and notice form and textures. The twists and turns of one winding path will take you up a ridge to a natural landscape of shaggy tree bark, finger-like roots clinging to ledges and giant erratic rocks covered in lichen posing as fallen leaves.
The placement of shrubs, boulders and trees will be elegant, like the work of some extraterrestrial landscape architect with a talent for understatement.
Once you are far enough from the road, notice the absence of machine-made noise. No car sounds, just socially-distant greetings from a few fellow travelers.
Hear the birds’ tentative Spring calls (after all, it is early!) and listen to Willard Brook in the distance, cheerfully cascading over the erratic boulders’ smaller cousins. The sound is refreshing, a relief from the cacophony of cable news and social media we routinely endure.
After walking an hour or more, you may be tired, so slow down and look closely at the edges of the forest road. You may see tiny clumps of waxy, white flowers nestled in green leaves, heralds of Spring.
Like any avid traveler, take pictures, so you will remember every detail. You will want to return, or maybe visit one of the other state forests, some of Massachusetts’ best kept secrets.
Patricia Bergeron is a member of Massachusetts Conservation Voters