In 1942, America was fighting in the second World War, war bonds were being sold, gas rationed and Japanese Americans were being placed into internment camps. In 1942 Jimmy Hendrix, Paul McCartney, and Charlie Rose were being born. Casablanca and Bambi were first released in 1942, and "White Christmas" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" were coming across the air waves. Also, during the Spring of 1942, Elinor, a young, 14 year old farm girl from Southampton, Massachusetts started keeping a list of the wild flowers she found growing on the family farm. She has been kind enough to give me that list to see if I can find what grows 71 years later on that very same farm. It is a cold and dry beginning to this Spring of 2013, but on my first walk around some of the upper woods and fields I did happen to find two tiny flowers braving the elements.
Bird's-eye Speedwell is a treat to see in New England at this time of year because there is so little color to be found. Tennyson described it in his poem "In Memoriam" as "darling blue".
Mouse-ear Chickweed, a white flower no larger than your little finger nail is still considered a lawn weed even though it is a food source for many birds. In France it is called mouron des oiseaux, meaning, morsel for the birds, and in Latin, morus gallinae, meaning, morsel for the hens. It is called Mouse-ear because if you look closely at this little flower in the field it has little mouse-ear shaped leaves that are very hairy.
Elinor does not mention the Speedwell on her lists, but she does mention Chickweed in May.
Great blog post! Thank you for sharing the occurrences of 1942. What a treasure that must be to have the list of wildflowers that a 14 year old farm girl started. Look forward to seeing what grows 71 years later on that very farm. So glad to read your blog post again. I've missed it!
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