Clinton River Trail

The Magic of May: A Time to Discover Nature’s Way

Oakland County, MI Government Leave a comment

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

Rains on the first day of May accelerated the growth of delicate woodland wildflowers and the spring prize of the fungi world, morel mushrooms. It sent frogs to every puddle and pond, and skunks meandering for grubs at dusk. May sees Sandhill Cranes and Osprey back on their nests. Turkey Vultures now perch on rural barn roofs to catch the morning sun. Turtles bask on logs and goslings explore their shoreline world. Snapping turtles and northern water snakes swim through the shallows. Fawns wobble in dappled sunlight, and beavers come on shore in the cover of darkness to fell trees for their home improvement projects. This is the way of the magical month of growth and birth and renewal, a month we call May, a time to discover and share nature’s way. Continue reading →

Oakland County College Series: Rochester College

Oakland County, MI Government Leave a comment

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Rochester College, located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, offers a liberal arts curriculum in a Christian setting that focuses on academic excellence, principled character, servant leadership, and global awareness. Its students receive a rigorous educational experience that integrates liberal arts and professional studies within an inclusive Christian heritage. Undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered, as well as athletics and specialty programs that include studying abroad, honors programs and more. Continue reading →

Spring Beauty of the Woodlands: Round-lobed Hepatica

Oakland County, MI Government 1 Comment

WILDER SIDE OF OAKLAND COUNTY

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My love affair with a delicate spring wildflower, the round-lobed hepatica, transports memories back to my nature-embracing, hill-trekking, wide-eyed freshman days at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont. The farm fields, meadows and wooded hillsides of the Green Mountain State became my nature discovery center. Seasons in Vermont progressed rapidly. Winter melted into maple sugar and mud season, and the amazing ephemeral wildflower season then followed. I quickly discovered hepatica my first spring in Vermont. Hepatica was a wild and free flower, so unlike what I knew from my suburban home, with closely cropped grass and flowers planted in neat rows. In Vermont, hepatica was called liverleaf, and it was this wildflower, that is now approaching peak bloom in the dappled sunlight of the oak woods on the Wilder Side of Oakland County, that helped set me on the path I still follow. Continue reading →