Today a group of the land trust people met for a hike on some property in the town of Newburg. I must admit, I have not felt at all attached to the property, in fact the other times I went there I decided I didn’t like it. The town owns the land and it appears to have been heavily logged so much of it is covered in young growth. Because of that, there are not many views and the trail is ATV and snowmobile-wide, which I don’t like. I went today with the idea to look for the little things that are beautiful, and I found them.
First, upon stepping out of the truck, I spotted a few ripe wild strawberries. The field abounded in strawberry and raspberry plants. It will be good raspberry picking in a few more weeks. There were many ferns and wildflowers. I spotted Indian Cucumber and we tasted a piece of the root, for those that had never tried it before. I also found some Chaga (sp?)--a fungus that grows on birch which you can boil to make a tea. My sister gave me some for Christmas, and I have been trying to find it in the wild since then. No one wanted to try some, even though I could attest to its goodness; it must be that word “fungus”. As I said earlier, I was looking for the little things; much of the moss had their sporophytes up, little capsules with which they will spread their spores to reproduce. The tops were still tightly on, but it was worth a few photos. We came upon the dry remains of what looked to be a great vernal pool, and a larger view of farm fields and the hills of Dixmont.
After the trek though the woods we drove back to the president’s (of the land trust) house and had splendid and hearty potluck. It was a nice end to the excursion, with business and laughter on a breezy deck.
I came home after that luncheon feeling a bit lazy. I puttered in the garden pulling weeds with not much vigor or purpose. I began to hear the rumblings of thunder coming closer until it was close overhead. At that I looked up to see ominously black clouds to the north-west. I meandered to the porch to await the storm and watch from the comfort of the chair. The wind did begin to howl and the rain poured down in a deluge, while the thunder continued to rumble. I’ve yet to get that new TV I thought about getting when the world went digital. Who needs it!
The property north of mine was very heavily logged about ten years ago, and, at first, it was awful--slash all around, sunlight where there had been deep forest, all our trails torn up, buried, and lost.
ReplyDeleteTen years is a long time, though, and the woods have had no trouble figuring out how to regenerate. The first-year views of Swan Lake and Mt Waldo are now long gone. I'm not much for snowmobiles or 4 wheelers, but they have kept a couple of decent trails open we can use for horses and dogs, so... at least no one built or posted the land or turned it into a gravel pit.
Tomorrow is my day to weed. I had my first pea harvest yesterday (and another today)--eleven days earlier than 2009 which was itself 4 days earlier than 2008.
Incremental signs of global warming?
ReplyDeleteAt this rate, I'll be planting peas on Valentine's Day, harvesting on Patriot's Day. I'm no fan of global warming, but peas this early is a thrill. I also notice my half-grown tomatoes are throwing blossoms. Should I cut them now or let them go? I should have the first new potatoes within a month--weird! Event he few okra plants I've babied along seem to be starting to grow.
ReplyDeleteI once wrote about an exceptional experience I had some years ago when I paddled through a yukky, mosquitoey mire of muddy brown water full of leeches and gawd only knows what else, had I only dared put my hand into it to find out. Since this swamp was big enough that folks had to name it something, it became known as "Sucker Lake". What else? This was the kind of place where we have to look a little closer to see its attractiveness because Nature does not assign beauty or value by size. And so it is that sometimes the smaller our field of vision becomes, the more wonderful are the things we see.
ReplyDeleteI won't go into why my paddle through Sucker Lake was so memorable because this is your space - but I'm certain you can imagine well enough why. You have those kind of eyes too.