Llife and death in the spring

Wild violets

Bloodroots

   Henry David Thoreau had the whole Zen Master thing down cold.
    In his two years at Walden Pond he reveled in the idea of “mindfulness” -- slowing down to absorb nature. He often went to a spot as the sun rose, sat down and barely moved until it got dark , absorbing what nature presented.
    I have trouble sitting still for long, but taking pause in our valley in the spring to look at the rebirth and new life has its rewards.
    With our unusual spring, the wildflowers are making their appearance early. But if you don’t stop and look, you’ll miss most of them. The tiny bloodroots and wild violets are making their showy displays -- as pretty as any flowers we spend money on and toil over in our gardens. 
    But death is prevalent in the spring as well. Baby birds and animals succumbing to the hazards, early buds frozen to death and mighty and healthy trees felled by ravenous beaver emerging from their  winter semi-hibernation. The freshly gnawed, downed trees litter the river banks in the area.
    A beaver can supposedly take down up to 200 trees a year. From what I've seen of their work, it sounds about right. I have a history with beaver; a long war carried on at our cabin north of Brainerd.  I surrendered long ago.
    Trying to trap, shoot and harass beaver seems only to amuse them. There are reportedly more beaver in the U.S. today than there were before settlement. They have a tenacity and work ethic we can’t match.
    Best to just sit down along the river bank and admire their handiwork .

The beaver have been busy at Minneopa State Park.