Encountering Earth

  I can't believe that I haven't posted since May 23! Four months! I have had some wonderful nature experiences, but for some reason, I have writers' block. Well, Barberville Falls rushed over me and said - get with it! I went to the Falls in Poesten Kill with a friend. The guidebook says that the 92-foot falls are "spectacular"! An understatement to be sure! The volume of water from heavy rains the week before made the falls an absolute torrent! It rushed and pounded seemingly from every rock. The water was a  frothy   white like it was being whisked by an invisible hand. Tannins in the stream created a cream latte color. Water thundered over the rocks with such force that the base of the falls was churring and creating waves. These waves of water caught the wind and turned back on themselves creating rainbows in the mist. It seemed that the mist was jumping off the water with abandon, reaching up into the colors and creating more. All this under a clear blue sky...

 Spring has slid into summer. The leaves on the trees are full and green and giving shade. It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that I took a hike to Strawberry Fields over near Amsterdam. This lovely preserve is "managed" by the Mohawk/Hudson Land Conservancy. If you are local check them out; there is a preserve for everyone! As I hiked the two-mile perimeter trail, I noticed how the trees were at all different stages of leafing. Some Maples, eager to get going, were in full leaf. Magnificent in their reaching. The Oaks were a bit reticent. They usually are - the last ones to lose leaves -  hanging onto them into the Winter and early Spring; they are shy about Spring budding. Delicate amber leaves are mixed with the sepia catkins that will blossom into acorns. Standing back, looking up I was enthralled with the many shades of bronze the tree produced. There were Shagbark Hickories who were not having any of the coming-out thing! Large buds remained sealed tight. Apples w...

 Spring is the season of running water. Earth thaws, comes alive, and is exuberant to start running. Water wants to go! Last weekend a friend and I made a pilgrimage to flowing water by visiting four waterfalls in the Adirondacks: Auger Falls, Griffin Falls,  East Jimmy Creek Falls in Wells, and Beecher Creek Falls in the town of Edinburg. (I leave any commentary about the names of the Falls to another time, just mentioning that Native Americans name landforms for a quality found in them, not for some dude that stumbled on them or bought them!)  Auger Falls was cavorting through a gorge in the Sacandaga River. The water frothed and foamed in white and the clear, translucent tea color that the hemlock-stained tannins provide. The rushing, jumping, twirling movement of the river, as it lept from boulders was thunderous.  Watching the course of the water was mesmerizing, even hypnotic! A cool spray rose from the falls. With it came the smell of "cedar water" - a way of ...

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  Did you ever take a walk in an "ordinary" place where you do not expect to see something unique? I was walking in Central Park a few weeks ago and saw dozens of small birds under the pine trees. The birds were sparrow size. The male was red-orange - looking like he was dipped in color - except for his black wings. The wings had unusual white bars. The female was larger. She wore pale yellow, with the distinctive white wing bars. I looked intently at them, trying to memorize field markings and enjoying their presence. I wanted to return the next day with binoculars. It rained. The following day they were gone. The park was probably a stop-over. I discovered that they often chatter away in spruce or conifer trees, eating voraciously. According to Cornell Lab All About Birds, i ndividual White-winged Crossbills can eat up to 3,000 conifer seeds each day! (I would like to know who is counting!) Look carefully at the picture and see that their bills do "cross" so tha...

 The other day I went to Five Rivers to do a Raptor count. Before the count started I had time for a walk around the Beaver Tree Trail. The pond was still frozen - the ice looked brindled in jade and black swirls. On the opposite side of the pond, the ice was white. I know I have read explanations of what makes the ice different colors, but right now it was enough to enjoy the creativity of colors moving in elegant frozen waves. Icicles hung from the spillway. Reaching down into the water flowing beneath them. The last vestiges of winter.  Rushes were bent and broken by winter winds, snow, and ice. Soon, new growth would replace them. The earth was brown with ozzy mud. The kind that is just as slippery as ice. Hopeful trees were budded crimson against the sky. Willows flushed orange, so stark and striking. The sky was layered in soft blues, white and grey.  Dampness seeped from the ground and folded around me. The Raptor count  is a DEC project which counts the rapto...

 Ice. Even the sound, the hiss, the word makes as it slides over our teeth makes us edgy. Yes, we love it in summer drinks, cooling iced tea, and lemonade. But it strikes fear in our hearts as it comes down from the sky and covers the roads in terror. When it encapsulates wires and brings trees crashing down - then ice is a fiend, not a friend.  Having had a few ice-related falls, I know ice makes me tremble. But then I don my trusty microspikes and set out on icy paths with glee. That's when ice isn't intimidating but inviting. It beckons - "I have some delightful surprises for you"! Paths that lead to ice adorned creeks are so welcoming. Ice-covered branches bob happily in the water; ice-covered rocks shine in the sun. Ice sculpts itself as it clings to trees and rock faces. It has an amazing color palette. Depending on minerals seeping from tree or rock it may be amber, or jade or butterscotch or blue. It can be smooth as a mirror. It can be ridged deeply and resem...

 Breathtaking. We all have had experiences that we describe as breathtaking. A stunning sunrise, or sunset. A night sky that draws us into the cosmos with magnetic attraction. Woods that are shrouded in snow. Ice encapsulating a tree. The roaring waves of the ocean. A magnificent flower. A mountain vista. Nature gives us many opportunities to take our breath away!  This winter I have had other experiences that are breathtaking - literally. I have had the pleasure of skiing on local golf courses and bike paths. Some days it has been frigid! The wind whips down and grabs my breath and makes me work for each gulp of air. I wonder- should I stop and breathe or just catch a bit of air before it is sucked away?  On Saturday, skiing across Long Pond at Grafton, I had to stop and put on my neoprene face mask so the wind wouldn't remove my skin! The power of the wind is always breathtaking!  I watched the wind blow through the trees spreading puffs of snow over the hemlocks. ...

 A few weeks ago I took a hike at the Vischer Ferry Preserve. It was a grey day as much of January has been. I wondered if I could really see any birds since the light would not be very good, but I forged ahead. There is always something to experience in nature! I felt enveloped in a monochromatic gray. The sky was a veil of silvery clouds that reached down through the trees to the ground. Trees were etched in hues of washed-out black with brown shadows. The limbs and branches of each species sketching delicate traces or thick, dark lines across the clouds. The canal and march were frozen and the ice continued the pearly tones - white-streaked only in small places. I felt that I was lost in a Japanese watercolor! As I walked I looked more deeply and carefully. Grey was not the only color here! Muskrats had kept the water at the edge of the marsh open and brown reeds and loosestrife stood out there in the black water. The reeds towered tall and tan and rustled a song in the wind. Li...

 Why do I do it? I was hiking with a friend, so I should ask, why do we do it? Do what? Go out on a morning when the temperature is 18 degrees, but the Weather Channel has told you "feels like 9". I asked myself this question last week as I put on layers of clothing to head out. Actually, I have hiked at much colder temperatures and left the house much earlier than our 9am rendevous time. But the question still hung in the frosty air. Why? Then we got to the trailhead of the Sanders Preserve. My question evaporated as I put on my microspikes for safety. The air felt and smelled so fresh, even if a bit frigid. The trail beckoned us into the woods. Lovely hardwoods greeted us. One of the first trees I saw was an Ash, so I had to give her a special greeting since these dear trees are under assault from the Emerald Ash Borer. Many other species called to me - Shagbark Hickory, Oak, Maple and then the coniferous- Hemlock, White Pine - all friends. The Oaks were especially magnific...

 I am enjoying a few days with my family in South Jersey. One morning this road sign caught my eye. I never noticed it here before so I think it is new since the last time I visited in early Sept. The sign made me think about my family's presence here in the Pine Barrens. Gatto is my paternal grandmother's maiden name. My great-grandfather, Francesco Gatto has been here since he and his wife, Cecelia came from Italy in  1882. He cleared the land, by hand and planted black diamonds, a blackberry with large thorns, and dewberries. My grandfather Thomas Neil came back here from Waterford, NJ after marrying my grandmother, Amy. So here is the intersection of Gatto and Neil Roads and a slice of our history on this land. I am not sure who owned the land before my Gatto relatives, but for thousands of years, the Lenni-Lenape Native peoples lived in what we call New Jersey. They were hunters and agriculturalists. Unfortunately, they were driven off by European settlers. My dad would f...

 Yesterday I went snowshoeing with a friend at a local preserve- the Lisha Kill. The woods was deep in snow- over three feet of it. Whiteness spoke from everywhere - the towering hemlocks, the leaf-bare oaks, and every fallen tree. Blue sky broke in among the topmost branches. Sunlight filtered down, dancing on the white boughs. But it was a cold, white world. Silence blanketed the woods deeper than the snow. Everywhere we looked we were "whelmed- over" by the beauty of this winter woods.  At times like these, I know that poetry suits me better than prose. I was reminded of a poem I wrote on another winter hike and I share it here: Silent stories in the snow of mice and men and creatures in between. Common tales of tiny prints, seeking shelter, seeking food. Long shadows cast: tree and bush weave their yarns. Snows drift in flowing waves- voiceless myths embrace the land. Ice holds council with rock in hushed whispers,   shares the lore of eons...

  On a hike in the Bozen Kill Preserve, we came across a Rhododendron plant. I was surprised because these shrubs are cultivated and not usually found in the woods. Their cousins, the laurels, are found in wooded places. These flowers are stunning - bundles of white cups trimmed in pink. Their scent is absolutely heady and I have been transported on many June hikes to Nirvana by just standing and taking in the delicious smell! Well, here is new learning for me - it seems that rhododendrons and laurel are " Often mistaken for one another, mountain laurel and rhododendron are flowering, evergreen shrubs that share more similarities than differences. These plants are often found growing side-by-side in wooded, mountainous areas throughout the eastern United States." ( https://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-mountain-laurel-rhododendrons-67203.html) So there goes my theory of cultivated and wild!   But the wonder of this plant was its green leaves in the midst of a ...

  Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Prayer: Gratitude Is Eternal. (adapted from https://indiancountrytoday.com) As this day of Thanksgiving dawns, the words of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)  Thanksgiving Prayer can echo deeply within us. Beginning with all people and progressing to the Earth Mother, Grandmother Moon and Big Brother Sun, the prayer pays homage to everything that sustains us. It reminds us to take care of these things and through that, ourselves and each other. The address is very long. It is used not only for Thanksgiving Day but at Native gatherings. When the people gather, they begin with gratitude. “Today we get together to remind ourselves that we were given a responsibility to live in balance and harmony with one another and with all the living things of Mother Earth,” the prayer begins. “We think of the people we met and the ones we haven’t met as yet. We remember that all of the people who live on every part of Mother Earth are all connected, related and b...

 This morning I took a walk in Central Park which is close to my home. It is a "poetry" morning - I can see Haikus everywhere in the lowering clouds and trees giving forth their last bit of color. The feel is soft- warm; Fall wants to be gentle today until the rain comes in later. I walked past a few Sycamore trees and my eye caught the underside of a  huge leaf. I walked by. But then the leaf called out to me, "Come back, pay attention, I want to tell you something!" It is a huge leaf (20" across!) and I thought of the story it could tell, so I picked it up. The first story it told was about what we share in common. The veins in the leaf were so distinctive, they bulged up and fanned out. I looked at the back of my hand- my veins too are bulging as they fan out. A sign of aging hands. The leaf told a story of color - green and yellow had given way to brown. There is blessing in this process of budding leaf, to summer bright green, to Fall yellow. There is bles...

 Last weekend a friend of mine and I went to the Adirondacks. I haven't been there for a while, but it always feels like a homecoming, like visiting the house of an old friend. No matter what is happening in the world, Giant Mountain guards the Keene Valley, the Ausable River runs from the Lake under Route 73 and Chapel Pond is more glorious than any cathedral I have ever visited. We decided to hike from South Meadow to the Marcy Dam, which actually was wiped out by Hurricane Irene, but will always mark that spot which is the gateway to many of the high peaks. It is a very modest hike, but my friend is very patient and I am ecstatic to be hiking in the Adirondacks.  The path is really along a road of sorts. I say of sorts because it is probably just enough road to accommodate emergency vehicles and trail crews. The path is lined with woods - deciduous trees that have given up their leaves and sturdy conifers who stand in green hope all year long. The road is crisscrossed with ...

 Today I took a Sunday walk through the Reist Preserve that is about five minutes from my home. It is the perfect Fall day. Gentle sunlight was filtering through the trees and touching the leaves making them shimmer in yellow, red, and orange. That light seemed to be the very fingers of Creator reaching down to remind me of the love and care that fills creation. Leaves carpeted the forest floor giving color and texture and the dear crunch that comes making music under my feet.  Then I saw one of my favorite trees - witch hazel. I usually make a pilgrimage to these woods in Autumn to see this flowering tree. Today, I had forgotten about it until I got on the trail. Last year I found a few trees and now I couldn't remember where I had spotted them. But now I was in awe before a whole stand of them right in front of me! The flowers are so delicate- they look like small yellow stars at the end of each branch and twig. To get under the limbs and look up at the flowers with the back...

 I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted! In the meantime, summer has slipped into Autumn, the moon has been full, birds are migrating and leaves are changing. Nature is always in flux, always working, always resting, always Being.  This Fall seems to have such vibrant colors! It seems that the cold snap we had set the sugars and is helping to really make the colors pop! I went for a hike in the Albany Pine Bush on Sunday and I was amazed that the understory was a blaze of reds, orange, copper and yellow. The sumacs are such a deep burgundy! Virginia creeper is a lovely red. The Asian bittersweet (a really terrible invasive) is awash in yellow and soon its berries will be a vibrant orange. The maples are beginning to turn- there are some striking ones that are tri-colored now! I will have to wait a while for my favorite - the copper oaks that hold their leaves til the very end of winter. Sumac is another favorite of mine. The leaves are so incredibly scarlet and ...

  Hiking in the Albany Pine Bush has been fascinating! There are so many species of plants. Yes, some are invasives and they need to be cut and weeded out. This is a terrible job considering that things like Asian bittersweet are choking out native plants and smothering bushes and even trees! But the battle to stop the invasives so that native plants can thrive continues and it is well worth it!  For example, we found Dotted Horsemint. Just a couple of plants by the side of the trial. I emailed the Albany Pine Bush Commission to find out what it was because I couldn't find it in my wildflower book. The woman who responded described it so well, she said,  "I really do love the pale purple color of the modified leaves around the flower whorls."   Yes, it was amazing! On another hike, we saw whole patches of the horsemint. The open fields were covered with so many varieties of plants and the horsemint stood out as it turned from purple to white in its "aging" proce...

Summer flowers are bursting out everywhere! The roadsides are lined with colors and textures of the many wildflowers: the periwinkle blue of chickory, the soft white of Queen Anne's Lace, the pearly pink of swamp milkweed, the sunshine yellow of bird's foot trefoil, the bouncy orange of tiger lilies. Summer flowers are boisterous! They shout their presence, unlike the fragile and quiet Spring wildflowers that must be pursued, like a hide and seek game, in the understory of the woods.  Many of the flowers of Summer are like flags waving me down: Joe-Pye weed that can be taller than I am, huge purple thistle and goldenrod. I need to pay more attention to these Summer flowers. In the Spring I often take out a magnifying lens and look deeply into the heart of fringed polygala or spring beauties. But now I give a cursory glance as I caught myself doing yesterday on a walk. Pause I say to myself, look deeply, see the color and texture, notice the bees rolling blissfully in the heart ...