I was surprised at the number of people that were there for the first time…needed some orientation to the place. Right before my shift was over, a girl scout troop arrived and wanted to do a non-meadow hike; I highlighted the trail map for them - through the forest to the skunk cabbage wetland. And there were people that have come for years (and volunteered). The children of one family did cartwheels on the slope near the parking lot before heading out for their hike. A child with his grandfather already knew their way to the picnic area for their lunch. Two women arrived with their own camp chairs and walked to a picnic table near the community gardens…talking for an hour or so in the sunshine. I asked people as they headed back to their cars if they saw something interesting and got a range of answers. A small child pointed out some rocks. Some birders had seen a merlin capturing a meal. One child had searched for ‘stages’ that would work for musical performances – standing on the top of the large silver maple stump was his favorite.
The parking lot had 25-35 cars for the whole time I was there – so a very worthwhile time for a greeter to be around.
There was about 10 minutes that were ‘slow’ and I walked toward the picnic tables to take some pictures – pine cones in a tree top…and macro of pine bark.