A Walk Around Greenfield Lake



Wisteria along the edge of Greenfield Lake

 I am still on break and my blog surfing will be limited till next week (when it will be limited by me trying to catch up at work)… Hang in there, I’ll be back. Until then, here is another post of an afternoon walk.




There is nothing like spring down east in North Carolina, when the dogwoods, azaleas and wisteria are in bloom and the weather is warm, but not yet hot and sticky like it’ll be in another few months. This is the perfect weather for a stroll around Greenfield Lake. It’s a nice walk, somewhere betwee four and five miles, but the steps do bring back a lot of memories. Thirty years ago, I lived across the street from this lake in an apartment complex and have walked and ridden a bicycle around this waters more times than I can count.

Some azaleas are blooming 

Cypress with Spanish Moss



It’s a good thing it’s not a summer night, for the ghosts of my past haunt these water.  Memories of walking around the lake with my ex-wife, on warm and humid evenings when the magnolia blooms and the flowers of honeysuckles scent the air and the Spanish moss dangling from the branches of the large and unruly live oaks create dark shadows.  All the feelings come back to me on this late afternoon stroll.  I also remember the day I encountered an alligator sunning on the bank and when I tried to get a better look, he made a threatening move toward me.  I quickly back stepped and enjoyed watching him from a distant.  But it’s not yet warm enough for alligators or snakes today.  And the honeysuckle and magnolia blooms are still a ways off.  Today, only the dogwoods and wisteria are in full bloom.  There are a few camellias blooming, but their blossoms are waning.   These plants began to show their colors when the rest of the country is still shoveling snow.  Some of the early azaleas are also blooming, but the peak is still a week or two away.  Then, the entire lake will be encircled with red flowers of the giant Formosa azaleas.  At one time, the park boasted having over a million azaleas planted around the lake.



Yep, there are alligators



  

I walk, enjoying the sights and looking out upon cypress growing in the lake that once housed a gristmill. The mill was gone long before I came along and today, despite the ghosts of the past, these peaceful waters provide a wonderful respite.

Azaleas in bloom