Wild Sweet Orange

Into the 'Wild' of Bethel

Quietly nestled behind several homes on Walnut Hill Road is a quarter mile section of Bethel’s Enchanted Trail.  The Enchanted Trail, created and built by the Bethel Land Trust, meanders north/south through the western side of town with a trailhead near the bridge in Bennett Park.  The trail rambles through the Education Park, along Taylor and Wolfpit Roads, and finally culminates on Aunt Patty’s Lane West just short of Huntington State Park (hike to the end of Aunt Patty’s and you will find an obscure trail that takes you into the park) after wandering through Wolfpit Preserve.

 This little known segment begins at a pull off on the left side of Walnut Hill about 200 yards after turning off of Plum Trees.  Though only a little over a quarter of a mile in length, once you leave the road it feels as if you have been transported to a magical land of brush and cattails.  If it weren’t for the isolated hum of an automobile you would believe yourself to be deep in a Canadian marshland.  Quiet with only the rustling of the phragmites and cattails, sporadic fluttering of wings as numerous birds fly invisibly between brush and small trees.

The first third of footpath is a boardwalk built by the Land Trust over the wetland.  All along this portion you will observe the ubiquitous skunk cabbage mixed with stands of softly beautiful yet invasive phragmites just beginning to show its feathered top.  In between these plants you catch a glimpse of the water below the walkway.  To the right, roadways, are several forty foot tall white pines, towering over all, mingled with a few thirty foot weeping willows.  All of these trees and plants work as a huge muffler blocking out the sounds of surrounding civilization.  At the end of the boardwalk is a lovely deck with two short benches.  Though not tired I sat for a couple of moments to soak up the peaceful environs, lost in the “wild.”

Not a master of fritillaria I saw a beautiful golden brown butterfly with orange trim around its wings that alit on the rail across from the bench.  The slurred kong ka ree ter ree of numerous redwing blackbirds permeated the air from their abundant marshland habitat.  I also heard the cooing of a pair of mourning doves sitting high in one of the willows.

A lone brown headed cowbird swooped over my head as I continued along the path.  From this point on the trail was mostly dry and somewhat overgrown with meadow grass and wild strawberry bushes though still easy to follow.  I will warn you now to check yourself thoroughly for tics after exiting in Bennett Park.  You are constantly brushed by plants the remainder of the trail.

in ALL caps: Insert witty title here. [3fer Edition]

Again I come across a band and album that I love only to discover that they have broken up already. Wild Sweet Orange, from Alabama, released We Have Cause To Be Uneasy in 2008. They announced their breakup September 2010. when did I discover them? March 30th, 2001. It's a bummer, but that should stop you from becoming a fan. Uneasy is such a great album, that it's worth the disappointment of knowing that there will be no other albums from this band. Who knows, the purchasing power of the fans of this bloog could resurrect the band with a reuinion tour and a new album. Stranger things have happened. This is supposedly a bogus version of Kanye West's much speculated-about song Mama's Boyfriend. We had heard a capella versions of it when Kanye was doing rhymes at facebook and twitter headquarters. It was supposed to be on the album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Dark Fantasy , or as a Bonus Track. It was not released as either. Word was that the song meant so much to him that he wanted it to be perfect before it was released. Having it released the way it has was really fired Kanye up. Here is the note from the label about it: The version of the Kanye West recording “Mama’s Boy” that arrived on blog sites earlier this week is entirely bogus and unsanctioned, and violates the artist’s creative intentions. As is often the unfortunate case, an unknown party or parties got a hold of Kanye West’s vocal track and added their own soundbed to it, effectively and falsely releasing it as a Kanye West track from the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy sessions. The result in no way resembles the final song Kanye West intended his fans to hear, and he is deeply disappointed that one of the most personal, meaningful and special songs he has ever written would reach people in this way. Needless to say, measures are being taken to identify and prosecute the persons responsible for leaking this material.