Skunk cabbage and violets

Was there ever a more unexpected combination? Growing in and among the skunk cabbages are these beautiful, delicate violets. More than that, these are white violets, not the typical dark blue violets we see so many of.

The violets have such a delicate fragrance and the skunk cabbages... well, don't break one and you won't have to learn about their smell!

This scene looks like a terrarium to me. It was an overcast day. The tree branches are just beginning to bud, and the light is filtered perfectly, evenly, wonderfully down to the forest floor.

This is on the bank of the Cowhorn Creek, literally in the middle of the city. This spot is no more than 4 blocks from the busiest streets in Schenectady. Well, assuming you climbed the hundred feet or so out of the valley. But there's almost no traffic noise down here, it's easy to completely forget that I'm in the city at all, and imagine I'm in a primeval forest.

I haven't figured out how to get good photos of the birds down here yet, so that's why there haven't been any. Photos, that is. Birds there are aplenty. I saw 2 species of woodpecker, robins, cardinals, several varieties of finches I couldn't name, chickadees, nuthatches, sparrows, mallard ducks and wood ducks. No Canada geese though - they've found better feeding grounds by now.