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Arose this morning, packed the truck and split.
Spontaneous. An irresistible impulse. Very unlike me.
No maps. Dead reckoning this time, to an old hangout.
Lumpkin County, Siloam Church Road. Etowah River headwaters.
To Rufus Despain’s grave. He’s a World War I vet.
I always visit when the site is decorated with Birdfoot Violets.
Warm sun, clear sky. The Spring Line strolls along
Hardly speaking, leaf buds peaking.
I doze by the creek and wake myself snoring.
Find nodding trillium, foam flower, golden star,
Wind flower, wood vetch, smaller pussytoes, bloodroot,
Toad trillium, early buttercup, and wild columbine
By the road to Cooper Gap.
Cross the ridge, the Appalachian Trail is quite busy
with the early departures headed to Maine.
Then drop down into Union County, by the Toccoa River
pausing at Pleasant Valley Church.
The gravel parking lot is sprinkled with Red-eyed bluet.
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Bloodroot. Sanguinaria canadensis
Red-eyed Bluet. Houstonia pusilla
Lumpkin and Union County, Georgia
Friday 9 April 2010
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