At last the sun has come out in full force and finally I can feel the warmth of it on my skin, the force of it in my bones, the lightness of it in my being. I had begun to feel a downward spiral into a darkness of self that was not good. I wake this morning to discover it is now mostly gone. Again the sun is shining two full days and I am good again.
Poisonous Red Berries
I have been walking a tremendous amount. Averaging over two miles a day despite the rain. A neighbor walks by with DJ she tells me amidst the joyful barks of Sancho, that she saw me walking the other day “so far away”. She said she couldn’t believe how far I walk. I remember when I first stated walking, I was scared of the distance, the funny thing is that it is not that far. My legs are strong. I can feel the muscles even when I am at rest. I count in my head. I have walked nearly twenty miles this week.
Woody Nightshade
As I walk, this time with camera in hand, for some reason poisonous plants are coming to me. I ignore the shining new leaves of the grapes, coiling outward like a hand, in favor of the woody nightshade. Once several years ago, when I contracted shigella on a trip to Toronto they gave me bella donna nightshade in pill form to counteract the doubling over stomach cramps that might have killed me had I not insisted to the doctor, after a two week stint of eating nothing but Lucky Charms since it was the only thing that didn’t make the cramps too bad, that I did not have the flu. Instead I dealt with many months of what appeared to be IBS but really was just my gut recovering from the infection. I see the snake berries, brilliant red in the sunlight. The thistle with its sharp thorns, not poisonous, in fact the opposite, quite good for clearing the liver of toxins. I spy a mass of purple and as I get closer it manifests into another variety of thistle. While I am there taking pictures the dog is exploring this edge of the field; he discovers a new path and stands next to it. He is looking at me and the instant I say okay buddy lets go that way, he turns into it bounding ahead.
Pasture Thistle
Canada Thistle
I think that I have been walking here quite a bit in the last couple days, but I haven’t seen many birds. I have heard them but not really seen them, at this instant a shadow glides over me and I look up and see a Great Blue Heron winging over me. His feet stretched out behind him, his impossibly long wings. I laugh softly to myself and give thanks to the universe. It has heard my thoughts today.
Your second picture is not of ‘Bella Donna Night Shade’. It is of Solanum dulcamara, woody nightshade. Atropa belladonna, deadly nightshade, has small deep purple flowers which turn into berries which are almost black.
Woody nightshade berries are bright red.
Thank you for the correction!!