Daring
April Ambles: Reflections of a Philosophical Forager — Day 14
Today I traveled to the depths of Turtle Island to lead a group of enthusiasts into the world of wine…in the woods. Earthy, chalky, flinty, oaky, tannic, brambly, dense, stark, minerally, fruity, granitic…these are but some of the flavors sought as we sipped among the trees, towering endlessly above us.
Beside the wines were spring-sized bites, ornamented with findings from the woodlands: trout lily leaves, ramps, violets, bittercress…
As we wandered from cabin to cabin, beside rushing streams, across rickety bridges, through the underbrush, I wondered if the world opened to these fellow foragers, new to the challenge, would grab any of them as it has me.
Here we paused by a firepit, there we lingered over the distinctions between laurel and rhododendron, yet again we sat on a porch swing or paused by a blacksmith’s anvil. Each step might have seemed random, and yet it was significant in that it joined us together.
Finishing up by oil lamp, the rush of the mountain stream and the song of spring peepers alive in our brains, we headed back up winding roads to our pad of the night.
Daring, this venture to introduce others to the elements I love? Yes, every step of the way. I never know what the response might be. If it is enthusiasm, I feel I am in the right place. If it is apathy, I wonder if I have gone astray.
We never know in advance. We are validated or we are torn apart. And yet we continue to delve into the unknown, to share our passion with those who would savor it. Daring? Yes!
For more amblings from the author, check out Child of the Woods: An Appalachian Odyssey.
