Hepatica, Wyassup

I'm not Christian, so Easter doesn't arrive with a lot of spiritual impact. But we could all use a miracle or two—the small "m" is, as will be apparent, deliberate... and apt—so after preparing a fine weekend of religion-inspired feasts, Passover and Easter, respectively, I headed off to the woods to see if, after more than two decades of trying, I could finally spot a wildflower known as Hepatica in full bloom. I knew approximately where they were, and I knew, based on last week's trek in search of the Holy Botanical Grail, that they had to be close to blossoming. I also felt that, for whatever mysterious reason, that today could be the day, so off I went down the Narragansett Trail west of Wyassup Lake. Sure enough, atop a quartzite hill just past the spot where the Trout Lily leaves were emerging from the leaf litter, there were the off-white blooms rising a few inches above the mottled, three-round-lobed foliage that the ancients thought resembled a liver and could cure all things hepatic. The Hepatica isn't particularly efficacious for those kinds of ailments, but finding this wildflower after so long a search certainly provided another kind of miracle cure.