Fern Glen Essays
What Lies Beneath...
by Judy Sullivan

It's often a matter of habit for us to look without seeing and to hear without listening. Pressed and consumed, we deprive ourselves of the wonder and inspiration that is right before our eyes. Sometimes, we simply don't know what it is that we're supposed to see. Take, for example, the IES Fern Glen.

It's so easy to hike purposefully along the trails with no more than a cursory glance at that untidy little assemblage of vegetation at our feet. After all, people are goal oriented. If our goal is simply to get from point A to point B, we have achieved locomotion. If our goal is to get from point A to A1, A2, A3, A4 and then B, we've also added appreciation.

Little do we know of the battles, the victories, the intrigue and suspense that go on just beneath our preoccupied noses. So, why not rediscover stillness? Mouse over and click around the following images to see "what lies beneath." May you be pleasantly surprised.

Just your average tree...

silvery spleenwort (Deparia acrostichoides)...

Your average "untidy" assemblage of green stuff. A closer look reveals...

Questions, comments, or other feedback to Judy Sullivan.