i am the lorax and i speak for the trees. the trees say "why don't you call?"

I have been hiking a lot recently. Mostly because I go back to the child mines on Monday, a job that precludes me from taking off into the woods for three hours on a random Tuesday morning. Partly because the local silviculture plot just opened up 700 acres for public exploration (with the caveat "do not enter unless you have orienteering and wilderness experience," because there are absolutely no signs and the trails are more suggestion than direction), and to me that's just a backyard. Gremlin, a bona fide City Boy, loves a good hike but is a novice in the ways of Forest. He is one of the people at whom the "do not enter without wilderness experience" warning is aimed. He is always amazed, when we hike, that I can name nearly any plant he points to. (Aside: No, I can't. I can reasonably guess the *family* of nearly any plant. Gremlin somehow thinks this is akin to knowing an individual species and its backstory, when really it's more like knowing the city someone lives in but not…