This turtle came to visit, hanging out at the edge of the "lawn"--otherwise known as the world's greatest assortment of weeds. Reminds me of a strange episode from my Staten Island childhood. My brother Max--the nature lover!--was given a gift of a turtle he named Harvey. Well, it wasn't long before Harvey disappeared and I was led to believe that he "ran away." I pondered this for years: how exactly does a turtle run away? Aren't they slow as molasses? Harvey might have even been slow for a turtle. It wasn't until I was deemed mature enough to handle the truth that my mother confessed that Harvey had been stolen. So of course I was now left to ponder something I would never figure out: who the heck steals a turtle?

This photo is from the first day of our hike. Usually I don't post such old stuff but I am without a camera so I had to go to the files. What kind of blogger doesn't have a camera?--the kind who mooches off his teenage daughter, I guess. I was checking out somebody else's blog today and he said that nature shots are always better when there's a person in them; I remember my friend Lorena (an actual artist) saying pretty much the same thing; so maybe I'm not a people person, because I'm just as happy looking at photos completely devoid of the human mug.

Tomorrow is the last student day of school. Yippee!!! and all that. Tonight I split wood with a maul, then went for a walk (hike?) with my pack carrying a 25 lb. bag of flour. Pretty odd workout regimen, I suppose, but it was tough enough that I only felt mildly guilty about having three hot dogs and a root beer.

Hope somebody out there is eating salad greens and drinking lots of water.

Love...

love...

and more love. I am blessed, you better believe.

You may have noticed that here at Birch Wisdom the focus is typically on solitary pursuits, but we all, as 'ol Mick used to sing, need someone to lean on. Jessie, my little girl, graduates high school tomorrow. We had a party for her tonight--and I think I can say a good time was had by all!--and her friend Alex actually asked her if he could see some photos of her from her younger days. Wow, photo-sharing without Facebook. Makes a dinosaur such as yours truly happy, happy, happy...

Cozy. (On Sale at North Face: $75)

Sweaty. (Washed away with a 7 quarter shower at the Pinkham Notch visitor center)

Wild (Painted Trillium: free and priceless, courtesy of Mama Nature)

At the time I didn't have the energy to appreciate it, but looking at this photo and realizing we traversed each of these peaks--pretty nifty!

As I followed Ernie up and down the mountain (pictured here on Mt. Moriah), I'd think, "look at him, not even sweating." I guess I was too tired to see clearly-- at least he's sweating a little bit. Nevertheless, he's a fit fellow. I'm fortunate to have linked up with somebody so experienced in the ways of the back country. His patience is especially appreciated because I do have a tendency to lag. Well, perseverance, not speed, is the important thing. Hopefully we'll be back on the trail in late June. No doubt, after a few trips under my belt I'll be like an old mountain goat.

The Kingdom of God--White Mountain division.

They say God works in mysterious ways. Really? Isn't it common sense, the way the snow melts on the mountain, is filtered by rocks in rivers and streams. It's people, you ask me, who are the mysterious ones. Dumping our toxic waste into the water--which is there to sustain us; now that's mysterious. We drank from the stream pictured above. Pure, cold and wonderful.

Down in the valley it's lush with the wild growth of Spring. Kids at work ask me my favorite color. This is about what I picture when I tell them it's green.