by elizabeth5047 | Nov 11, 2010 | Uncategorized
I was out this morning with Patrick and Solomon again. We hiked the Big Woods Trail in Willsboro where there is a very active beaver community. The floodplain has a number of large sycamore trees which Solomon described as “giant chameleons disguised as trees.” Good description. The boys are incredibly bright. Patrick accurately read the story of the assassins who attacked a party of drunken forest dwellers and burned down their cabin. He could tell that the assassins made their get-away on 4-wheelers because they were overweight from eating candy bars and drinking sodas. For evidence he referred to the pile of beer cans in the middle of a scorched heap of lumber surrounded by tire tracks trailing snickers wrappers and soda cans....
by elizabeth5047 | Nov 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
Today I raked the front lawn. Earlier in the week a friend had noticed another area I had raked and with a bitter voice said she would never live in a house where she had to rake. We compared awful memories of weekends in our childhoods when we were forced, under extreme duress, to rake acres of lawn with our siblings in our respective suburban yards. No thanks, no pay, and no breaks to play. Why am I still raking? To begin with it reminds me of my decision not to make my children my servants. In addition, I find raking somewhat like sweeping a floor at the end of a busy day, or brushing the hair of a child before sleeping, or scratching the back of a worn-out friend. For the first few hours raking seems futile in a yard in the Adirondacks surrounded by maples. But I am conditioned to a do at least a little raking in the fall. I am not fully ready for the winter without a little raking. The grass looks more relaxed somehow and I feel a little more of the summer life that is not entirely withdrawn. I find treasures of orange fungus and odd seed heads. Today while the raking was underway I diverged, now free to rake at my own pace as my own boss. I trimmed the tickseed and placed an armful of the purple-brown, fern-like stems into the wheelbarrow, no less a bouquet than the lush green with bright yellow flowers that I cut in...
by elizabeth5047 | Nov 1, 2010 | Flora, Uncategorized
The forest was beautiful again today–big toothed aspen leaves that looked like giant, serrated polka-dots all over the forest floor. Interspersed were little mushrooms and other treasures. Felt the first snowflakes of the season that were big enough to stick on my...
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 27, 2010 | Flora, Uncategorized
I love the first frost on the leaves in the garden. The patterns on this lamb’s ear is crisp and soft at the same time. I brought in the last tomatoes and zucchini just across the path from the lamb’s ear the evening before this frost. I lost the basil, gambling that I’d have one more night. And though we’ve all been expecting snowflakes, it was in the 70’s and sunny today. Great for a sunny warm soccer practice this...
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 17, 2010 | Flora, Uncategorized
This afternoon I went with some friends and family to harvest sweet potatoes at Harvest Hill Farm, Mike and Laurie Davis’s farm in Willsboro. On the way we were waylaid by the sight of late season raspberries that we could not resist. Seeing them at this time of year, and seeing my almost-5-year-old friend Arden eating them with such joy, made me wonder why they are not planted in every school yard in the North Country. Eating raspberries right off the cane can make a farmer (or a fresh food, farmers’ market consumer) out of anyone. There’s also the benefit of seeing berries as the fruit of a plant, not an expensive commodity paid for with money at the grocery store. The juicy red sensation that melts over your tongue and colors your lips could not be a more affordable and healthy luxury for children who have access to fresh raspberries in...
by elizabeth5047 | Oct 11, 2010 | Uncategorized, Wildlife
Today I went to Tupper Lake to see Yvon’s hunting camp. It’s a long ride out through an area southwest of Follensby Pond. Old lumber cuts and recent rain made for lots of nice wet, early succession habitat. As we made our way through the gates toward camp he spotted a long straight row of tracks, right between the tire tracks left by a 4-wheeler. The last time I saw tracks was on Van Hoevenburg two years ago with the Westport Youth Commission hiking group. I was glad to see tracks again but would have been even happier to see the big bull himself, although not up quite as close as I got to the tracks. The track size was around 5″ x 6″ with a stride of about...
