Spring flowers at Vento Nature Sanctuary

The princess and I went over to Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary (BVNS) to see if the spring flowers were out and to see the places where she and her MCC crew planted bushes and trees last year. It was a beautiful spring day in one of the warmest Aprils on record. The predominant flower was the marsh marigold, much like the ones that I photographed at Crosby Farm last week. They were growing in profusion where the ground was wet. The ones pictured below were on the bank of one of the ponds, and PP stood beside them for scale. I'm trying to learn the names of a few new native plants, and I think I've got marsh marigold down cold. I'll probably never call them bog daffodils again. Probably.



The other plant that seems to be out in profusion is burdock. This one is easier to remember because it is very close to Burdick - some people who I knew well while in college and a few years afterward. Bert and Burdick are now gone to their reward, but they were good people and good to me. This Burdock, however, is kind of a weed, but a vigorous weed and one that I may be able to remember. I've got a good memory, but sometimes it's very, very short.


Thursday night is tennis night with the hardcore girls and Jerry. Hardcore Barb wasn't able to participate tonight, but we recruited Heidi to play with Jerry. They're going to play in a tournament together this weekend, so they wanted to have some time playing together. We managed to get in three sets, pretty good competition and fun to play. Jerry and Heidi play a lot differently from each other, but they are pretty effective. She hits softer, but is very consistent and persistent. Jerry usually hits hard and goes all out. They also bicker with each other sometimes when things aren't going well. It's pretty amusing, because they aren't married to each other.

A good night of tennis was followed by an order of Yang's Singapore Rice Noodles from the restaurant in Woodbury. I brought it home and shared it with the princess.