Mistletoe and Plant Walk

December 8, 2012:  On a beautiful December morning visitors enjoyed the Mistletoe and Plant Walk at The Reserve.  There was much to appreciate as we walked the Sycamore Loop Trail, with its curves and gentle slopes giving us new sights at every turn.  We learned all about the science, myths and legends of the mistletoe hanging from our local sycamore trees.  The many seasonal changes were evident everywhere.  The toyon bushes were dressed their best in red berries, the coyote brush had on its coat of fluffy white seeds and the deerweed were just beginning to don their suits of little green leaves.  The sycamores were dropping their yellow-gold leaves at our feet even as we walked by.  Animal evidence like deer and coyote tracks was fun to find while hawks and songbirds flew overhead.  The crisp, calm, clear air, the splashes of color from berries and leaves, the mushrooms popping up, and other subtleties of the season, gave us glimpses into the private world of plants as winter draws near.   After the walk everyone picked out the mistletoe sprigs they wanted and used ribbons, bells, and other adornments to make a take-home decoration to hang over their doorways as a remembrance of a fun and beautiful December day walking through The Reserve.