Wild plants are treasures—not simply for their beauty alone, but also for the memories they bring. Sometimes they remind us of who we are, where we have been and of wonderful times past.
Some of my fondest childhood memories were of late fall Sunday afternoon trips to the country. We packed into the family car with our buckets and sacks and drove to the country in search of hickory nuts, walnuts and bittersweet vine. I loved the drives down dusty gravel roads on those golden late fall days. The sun shone brightly against the clear azure sky, and the treetops were ablaze with red, yellow and orange leaves. The air was crisp, the colors vivid, and the weather perfect—cool, frosty mornings and warm afternoons, with just a hint of winter in the air.