New path, wonder anew.
And so it was earlier this week. Given the almost glacial temperatures of recent days, the last hurrah! of winter, not to mention squally showers, I wasn't too keen on visiting the pond near Notre-Dame-au-Bois where the yellow iris would be.
I was looking over the Stevens 1917 map of the Forest to confirm the route I would take, and then, just to the left of the pond, I saw ‘Bouquet jubilaire’ written and the tell-tale dots representing the trees. I have previously visited the sites of two others, but this one was new to me.
The Forest was beckoning.
These stands of trees, single species, were planted to commemorate anniversaries of the birth of Belgium in 1830. I hope that this practice renews for the next one, the 200th. I fancy a new stèle as well.
These bouquets jubilaires have suffered over the years, most have been felled either by storm or saw, so I didn’t expect to see much. The completionist in me wanted to cross it off.
Unsurprisingly, there were scarcely any of the celebratory trees to be seen. A couple of beech seemed to be of the right age, but otherwise the site gave nothing away.
And then I saw a stèle.
