On the Edge

 Tuesday I posted a couple of photos of the first Iris buds in my front yard, and today, the first one bloomed.  Here are three views.  By the way, mine are about a month behind the same variety growing downtown, only three blocks away.

 There is something about peering down the hairy "throat" of an Iris that makes it seem like a wildflower, even though this is a domesticated variety that has been growing on its own ever since we bought the house six years ago.  I'll occasionally pull some weeds or wild grasses from around it, but I don't water or fertilize it.  It seems to be rugged enough to survive without human intervention.

A side view, just for variety's sake.  Nearby, another unnatural phenomenon, a species of non-native clover growing in my lawn.  It bloomed profusely very soon after my Sunday mowing.  I love those

survivors.  As I wandered around my front yard in the morning, taking note of some plants other than native wildflowers, I thought about the fact that I live right on the edge.  That is, the edge of town next to the edge of the National Forest.  There's a phenomenon known in ecology as the Edge Effect.  That is, when two major biomes (a large region of more or less similar dominant species and climatic conditions) come together, there's usually a region of overlap that includes many of the species from each of the neighboring biomes as well as some species unique to the overlap area which is known as an ecotone.  This meditation reminded of an old acquaintance who lived in Genessee some 30 years ago.  He considered Genessee to be "on the edge."  That is, the edge between more or less domesticated life of downtown Taylorsville, Quincy, and communities beyond in one direction, and many miles of National Forest via dirt road in the other direction.  He found things to like in both directions, but preferred to live on the edge.  We got into a conversation about the impending paving of the road toward the popular camping, fishing and hunting site of Antelope Lake.  It was apparent that the "edge" was going to move.  There would be more traffic, and all that implies.  I asked him what he was going to do when the edge moved.  He said he would move, and he did.
I like living on the edge, too, but I'm more reluctant to move than I once was.  I do tend be be "on edge" a lot about the speed with which edges move and how natural areas are getting overwhelmed with development, even so-called sustainable development, one of my favorite oxymorons.  One of my goals for this blog is to raise awareness of and sensitivity to beautiful plants, animals, fungi, and interrelationships going on all around us that are often overlooked or undervalued in the course of our too busy and materialistic lives.  Thought for the day: Take a walk, a slow walk, without headphones.