A Naturalist at Woodend

I visited Woodend in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Sunday following my Iyengar yoga class and thought I would share with you some interesting photos.

First, let me put to rest the questions you no doubt have about the difference between a naturalist and a naturist.

A naturalist is a handy person to have around when you’re lost in the woods for any length of time and get a bit hungry, as they can tell you all the many names of things and what you can eat without turning blue and dying. A naturist is probably not someone you want to spent a lot of time with in the woods (unless you like them quite a lot) since they have the alarming tendency to shuck their clothes and prance around au naturale, so to speak. What we are talking about in this blog are naturalists. There are no naked people here.

(As an aside: There is a consultant I work with from time to time who did some strategic planning work with a naturist association whose members did their hard thinking in the buff. She said that it gave a whole new meaning to the importance of eye contact when addressing a group! Hah!)

Anyway….Woodend is the headquarters of the Audubon Naturalist (not Naturist) Society. I happened on it because of one of those handy little brown signs that often signal a place of interest. Hal, my on-board navigator (so named because he sounds like the computer in Space Odyssey 2001), handily helped me find the place not five minutes from the yoga studio.

The historic home was donated to the society in the 1960s by the estate of some “captain” and his wife. The society’s headquarters is now located in the home. It obviously has seen better days although it seems to do a brisk trade in the wedding reception business, which no doubt brings in a tidy sum for the society.

I dropped into the gift shop first since there were signs warning me that the house and grounds were closed for a special event. They have an amazingly excellent selection of books on birds, gardens and nature. I purchased the Thayer Birding Software’s Guide to Birds of North America, so you can look forward to all kinds of interesting bird facts in future journal entries.

The extremely kind shop lady and her very-well-informed-handsome-young-man-assistant told me that there was a wedding planned later in the day. Nevertheless, she offered to show me the house and sign me up as a member. How could I refuse?

The house is mostly empty, which I’m sure suits the brides and grooms who prefer to have tables laden with steamed shrimp and steamboat round to dainty furniture. It’s a bit shabby, but the society probably doesn’t have the big bucks for a major overhaul since they’re busy taking care of nature and all.

The gift shop lady showed me the Members Library. I truly wish I had not left my camera in the car and was too embarrassed to ask if I could go and fetch it. I can only tell you that it was like stepping back in time to some old men’s’ hunting club. It was dusty. There was a big old oriental carpet on the floor. There were many books that members could borrow on the honor system. A big table for member meetings and some winged chairs to pontificate from. And the walls were lined with HUNDREDS of STUFFED BIRDS. Extremely creepy that.

Anyway, back to the other stuff…

I was told to help myself to the grounds now that I was a properly registered member. They had some nature trails that took me on a meandering path past some interesting specimens of moss that I’ll share at some later date. I was most intrigued by some of the flowers flourishing in the shade. (Note to self: Identify flowers flourishing in the shade.)

But the most fascinating part of the whole visit was the hemlock grove. This grove of trees is arranged in a rectangle of extremely flat ground. Today it is used for wedding ceremonies, but speculation is that at one time the ground was a clay tennis court.

The hemlocks are truly amazing, as you can see for yourselves from the photos. They are architectural and artistic. I believe they have been given a bad rap by the whole Socrates episode.

Also, there was also a HUMONGOUS black walnut tree, but my photos don’t nearly do it justice.

Anyway, if you’re ever in the neighborhood, be a good naturalist and visit Woodend. (Naturists not welcomed.)