Waterfall - Upper Hadlock Brook

How oft in schoolboy-days, from the school’s sway
Have I run forth to Nature as to a friend,—
With some pretext of o’erwrought sight, to spend
My school-time in green meadows far away!
Careless of summoning bell, or clocks that strike,
I marked with flowers the minutes of my day:
For still the eye that shrank from hated hours,
Dazzled with decimal and dividend,
Knew each bleached alder-root that plashed across
The bubbling brook, and every mass of moss;
Could tell the month, too, by the vervain-spike,—
How far the ring of purple tiny flowers
Had climbed; just starting, may-be, with the May,
Half-light, or tapering off at Summer’s end.


How oft in schoolboy-days, from the school’s sway, by Frederick Goddard Tuckerman


To be clear, I (almost) never played hooky as a child, and if I had my environment would have been very urban. My college years, however, definitely included frequent instances of avoiding classes to go off exploring the woods back campus or riding my bike along the rural farmlands of the midwest (and yes, it did affect my grades). 

I didn't exactly play hooky today, since now I am grown up enough to secure the needed permissions before absenting myself from school. I suppose I'm more of a professional hooky player now, and know just how to escape into nature for some psychological rejuvenation when needed. 

Part of my escape involved what I call "the two bridges hike," which is not very long, but is very rewarding. The bridges in question are for carriage roads, so the only traffic across them is from bikers and horse riders. I encountered neither this morning.

Afterwards I visited the nearby Asticou Azalea Garden (see extra) for the first time. Beautiful blooms of course, but honestly I did not come away feeling like I had been missing out. It is more of a spring garden, which is nice, but it felt rather cramped, and there were too many people there to really enjoy a contemplative moment. It was home to probably the fattest and most satisfied looking bunch of bumblebees I have ever seen though, so that was a big plus. For them anyway.

Truth is I chose this excursion today because it brought me near a shop which sells very good donuts. So I, too, ended up feeling satisfied and fat. A nice morning all 'round.

(see what I did there?)