LIFE: Friendship Woods

We made the most of the sunshine and the cooler air that came after the Friday downpours here in south eastern Michigan by taking a wander to one of the out of the way places on our doorstep. Friendship Woods is literally yards away from one of the busiest freeways yet you'd think you were in the middle of the countryside. No longer can you hear cars - just trees creaking in the wind, birds tweeting and animals rustling around in the soil.

With a mile circular walk it was nice just to escape city life - we got to see crazy amounts of mushrooms, some wild flowers, plenty of Michigan's native trees [Oaks a plenty] and sit a while watching some fishes in the pond. There's also a Nature Center which would have been great to have looked inside but randomly it's closed on Saturdays [not really sure how that works out for the better?!].

On many of our walks we come across plenty of marshlands, ponds and swamps. Being known as one of the Great Lakes regions the early settlers found Oakland County to be rather inhospitable [at least until the 1850s] and these parks make the most of returning the land to it's natural form. I love looking into vernal ponds [final image] which become the breeding habitats especially for ducks and turtles in the couple of months in which they fill up after snow and spring downpours. Sadly the only wildlife we saw was some robins, fish and bumble bees.

Where are your favorite hidden away place(s)? 

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