Not quite what the Beatles had in mind, sorry…

I love doing personal field trips (spoken like a true teacher, I know) to visit places near home.  Yesterday, mom and I, along with another friend, drove fifteen minutes to a nature preserve called Mianus River Gorge.  The “river” is actually an embarassingly small creek, but maybe if it rains a LOT it could be called an embarassingly small river.  The gorge, though, holds a secret, and I was determined to find it and show mom and friend.

About a mile in of easy walking, there is an off-shoot path to a mineral outcropping. That part of the path is littered with small quartz crystals, black mica and other shiny rocks.  As you walk, the sun hits the path and it lights up in glittery glory. You really feel like you are in another land, in a fairy tale you read about long ago.  Then you come around a turn and there is an entire wall of minerals towering about 40 feet over your head.  We didn’t hit it yesterday, but if you get there as the sun is in just the right position, that wall is so bright with reflected light it is blinding.  We oohed and aahed over seemingly millions of crystals in an incredible variety of colors and shapes.  Mom was more than tempted to pocket a few, but resisted so that the place would be untouched for the next wanderers.

The rest of our walk was also lovely, with bird songs to guide us through the cool leafy forest refuge, and the hope of seeing at least one bambi  (an unrealized hope even though the end of June is perfect bambi time.)   We arrived back at the car, each with our private sense of accomplishment: just having done the two miles was a big deal for our friend who is building up her strength after a tough year for her health; being in the woods is beyond enjoyable for city-girl mom; and I was happy to have been able to explore that special, unique place.