Fallen Giants

When we first found this land, the mix of wooded slopes and former fields just seemed to fit our planned retirement lifestyle.  Time spent here has been filled with a variety of experiences with both nature's creatures and plants.  Trees of mature size gave this place the feeling of permanence and we expected them to outlast our time here.  The good news is that we are still here but sadly many of the huge trees are failing to both wind and disease.  Both are way beyond our control so we just watch what happens.  This red maple has been dead for the past several years.  Now we can watch just how it is falling to the ground.  Its trunk is still standing while the crown has fallen in various sized pieces.  We have not walked near this tree in years since even the smaller branches could be deadly when they fall.

A nearby tree's upper branches have fallen across a deer path that we use for hikes.  The white pine in the foreground is still healthy.  Its dead lower branches are just part of the trees' natural life cycle.  They can fuel a ferocious campfire but our picnic area is far away from here.  A return visit with my bow saw will allow me to cut the fallen branches into pieces small enough for me to move.  They will be dragged and dropped on the downhill slope near the trail.  Then both the deer and I can return to our former route to the south woods.

March Has Arrived

This first day of March featured both garden work and a walk in the woods.  At our age we need to vary our activities to limit the impact of various physical impairments.  Today we got it right.  After activity ice on the hips was all that was needed to control the pain following outside work.  If we can stay smart, we may get to work every day weather permitting.

Partridge Berry is a native wildflower that persists in our dry woods.  When we happen upon it, the patches are usually small or limited to a single plant.  We encountered a huge group of these plants while exploring a nearby waterfall.  Conditions there favored its growth.  Here the plant is in competition with escaped pasture grasses.  There is little doubt about which plant will survive.  The consequences of early farming activity continues to inhibit the occurrences of our native plants.

These plants were growing under the fallen tree leaves.  I simply cannot understand how covered plants continue to function when fallen leaves block their exposure to life giving sunlight.  Jane has told us of finding arbutus plants in bloom when the only clue to their existence was their scent drifting on the breeze.  She brushed aside the covering leaves to find arbutus plants in full bloom despite the blanket that had hidden them.  Willing to take no chances, I keep my arbutus clear of fallen leaves with careful hand picking.

We planted snow drops near the memorial bench built to mark the final  resting place of Becky's parents.  The pictured plants self seeded from the introduced plants.  They have pushed their new growth above the leaf cover in most spots.  Some leaves have been pierced by the new growth.  The serious bad news here is the appearance of a garlic mustard plant.  We have recently read that garlic mustard puts a chemical into the soil that may limit the growth of desired plants.  It directly attacks the mycorrhizae fungi that aide wildflowers in extracting nutrition from poor woodland soil.  This garlic mustard will have to go.  Garlic mustard is on the eradicate list for 2017.

The mechanics of how seeds naturally dropped on the soil surface form underground bulbs has always puzzled me.  Here bulbs were found growing above the ground.  They were carefully pushed into the soft moist soil.

Becky found this hemlock tree with two trunks growing in the back woods.  The near trunk is dead and it was likely opened by a Pileated Woodpecker.  We frequently hear the sounds of their drilling echoing from the ridges but rarely see them.  The fascinating texture of the exposed dead wood needed to be photographed.  We wonder what creature will find this opening to be a suitable home site.

This tree had the misfortune of taking root along the line separating a field from the woods.  A fence was set to keep the cows in the pasture.  The tree simply grew around the wire.  Seven strands of barbed wire seems excessive but as original strands weakened with rust new wire was simply added.  The fallen fence post shows that the tree survives long after the artificial posts rotted and fell.  We will need leaves to identify the type of tree still growing here.  Scars in the bark limit accurate identification.  The tree is showing buds so identification should be possible when they open.

A Winter Walk In The Woods

Calm air and dwindling snow cover suggested that it was time for a walk in the woods.  Walking on thin new snow leaves footprints that can help the rescue squad find me if need be or help me find my way out should I venture too far into the forest.  Despite inadequate preparations for a long walk, the experience was safely concluded and pleasant in every way.  The stillness that fills a snow covered forest soon extends deep inside the hiker and quiets his very soul.

Our most reliable spring run prompted the first picture.  A large bedrock slab covers the origin of the water flow and is itself covered with green growth that flourishes in this favorable spot.  The rock provides a dry path over this moist area.  Uphill from here is a small shallow pond that has its overflow blocked by slightly higher ground.  That pond is most likely the source of our spring water.

This galvanized wire cage smashes the natural aspect of a walk in the wild.  During our first year here, Becky found dwarf ginseng in bloom on this spot but we were unable to find it again for many years. When the lost was finally found, the cage was added for protection and to mark the spot.  The plant continues to grow here but with no increase in its numbers.
 

Permission was granted by the farmer to our east for me to walk on his wooded ridge.  It looks like he has begun to open a roadway between his two farms.  The downed trees grew on the other side of the fence so a wind of unusual direction must have toppled them.  The number of posted signs facing each other here is large and created a feeling that I was walking in a no man's land.  No shots were fired while I was there but the signs did dampen the tranquil feelings of a quiet walk in the woods.

A glacial erratic never fails to catch my eye.  The enormity of the forces required to move one contrasted with the apparently gentle nature of the transport that left the stone intact seems to me to be a basic contradiction.  If this is not one rock resting atop another, then I am confused by the different angles of the bedding planes.  The basic question of exactly how this rock was formed lacks a complete answer by me.

Iron in some form colored the sediments that formed this red rock.  The varying thickness of the layers is a record of the relative severity of the rain storms that sent the sediments roaring into the sea.  A storm lasting many days might have preceded the formation of the thick layer.  Now lichens and moss are feeding on the surface of the rock creating new soil.  Weathering is opening up the tiny voids between layers.  A cause of the diagonal crack was not apparent to me.  The surface of the stone looks somewhat soft but I saw no need to investigate its hardness with a scratch.  Except for an occasional protective wire cage, we prefer to leave things as we found them.