Yes, I do have a life outside of jazz saxophone and storm chasing, and from time to time I like to let it leak out. While Stormhorn.com focuses on the above two interests, it’s good to break away now and then. So join me on a leisurely stroll through one of my favorite nearby natural areas: the Middleville Fen. Orchids are in the forecast, along with golden evening light filtering through tamaracks, dancing on a dimpled stream, and stretching long rays across meadows of rippling marsh grass.

Early June is the time when the showy ladyslipper, Cypripedium reginae, unfolds its creamy pink-and-white blossoms. Also known as the queen ladyslipper–hence the Latin name reginae–this plant is indeed a regal beauty, presiding in stately splendor over the Michigan wetlands.

Like most wild orchids, it is selective about its haunts–but then, finickiness is the privilege of royalty. Remember the story of “The Princess and the Pea.” You can’t expect a queen to rest her roots just anywhere. However, six miles down the road from me she has found a satisfactory place of repose among the red osier dogwood, shrubby cinquefoil, and marsh asters.

The trail into the Middleville Fen begins at the north edge of a park on the south end of town. Walk in 100 feet or so, look to your right, and you’ll see the queen ladyslipper holding court among the shrubs. Look, admire, but don’t

pick. Like every wild orchid, C. reginae is uncommon and protected in the state of Michigan. For that matter, you’re smart to not even touch her. The hairy leaves and stems are known to cause a nasty rash similar to poison ivy.

The showy ladyslipper is unquestionably the drawing card of the fen in early to mid June. But other, subtler attractions abound: tiny, insectivorous roundleaf sundew plants crowding the stream banks. Feathery tamaracks arching across the trail. In the autumn, fringed gentians nestled pointillistically among the cinquefoil like fragments of September sky.

A few years ago, purple loosestrife threatened to take over this magnificent little jewel of a wetland. But thanks to a tiny beetle with an appetite for loosestrife, released into the fen by a wetland conservation group, the invader appears to have been repelled and the Middleville Fen remains a diverse and beautiful haven for unusual plants and wildlife.

The trail is little more than a quarter-mile long and easy to hike, with a picturesque wooden boardwalk and bridges to keep your feet from getting wet. Bring your camera, a half-hour or so of your time, and an eye for nature. Your sense of wonder will be awakened and rewarded. Especially now, when the queen is in her royal robes.