As a child I remember a wire fence separating our house and yard from that of the neighbor’s. Along this fence twined the milkweed vines so thick that we were sometimes a stop for errant monarch butterflies. And there entwined amidst these sturdy vines were the delicate strands of the honeysuckle.
A friend taught me how to harvest the nectar. Quite tasty though I did wonder how long would it take to fill a glass or even just a thimble.
Sometimes I’d attempt to braid the vines to make tiny crowns for my dolls’ heads (because my brothers would not deign to wear them). The flowers adorned play dough cakes and moist mud pies. With hindsight, I wish that I had placed them upon the dark red mulberries that I once handed to my dad on a tea set plate.
Just some of the thoughts that came to mind as I recently stood next to a wall of honeysuckle.
The snows still melt at the Brooks Estate in Medford, MA but here and there you can glimpse the earth beneath and the streams starting to flow. These photos were taken while the sun was dropping low in the sky. I was so caught up in the colors and standing still for so long that I nearly forgot that my feet were damp and already cold. Later at home, with feet tucked in warm socks, I downloaded the images and simply heightened the contrast a bit.
