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Green Spring Gardens - 2.0-Mile Loop (38.42/70) - 54%
One day after my port-removing procedure I knew I had to get walking again to keep my momentum up. Luckily, the most beautiful park in Fairfax is just next door, so I solved my concern by traipsing through that botanical splender-world. With my guide, Erin, we visited all the known plants that were in bloom (yes, in bloom in early January!). The park, located on Braddock Road in eastern Fairfax, is a national repository for witch hazel. There are over 100 different cultivars of witch hazel, and many were in bloom yesterday. My favorite is the American witch hazel, which I often find while hiking in the Piedmont hills or Blue Ridge - a fat leaf, laying perpendicular to the ground, growing slowly. In the winter months, the odd and delicate flowers - thin tendrils of color, emanating directly from the branches - worm-like, cozy, herald Spring a couple of months in the future. The shorter walk I completed was slightly below the average pace needed and, since I am heading out of the area the last couple of days of January, I need to aim for significantly higher distances over the next two weeks. The pink of the camellia - a Southern portent if there ever was one - caught my eye as deserving of heralding in today's color share.
