Living alongside the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, we are barely a skipping stone's throw above sea level. And much of the neighborhood woods is swampy. Water rises in pools, then disappears. This arrangement seems to dictate the forms of tree growth we see when out on a ramble. See what Roy and I found on New Year's Day 2012:
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First, an overview of the large, conservation land fields
beside the wetlands. Note the complete lack of snow.
A year ago we had nearly 2 feet of snow. |
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| A trace of ice in the ditch provides a clue to the season. |
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| A downed tree acts like a hedgehog. |
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| A toppled tree lay across our path. |
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| A bent and broken tree bows before a barren fir. |
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Beavers had worked and worked to fell this large tree,
only to see it fall into the crotch of another tree --
well up out of reach for lodge or dam building. |
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We've reached the water. The sun is declining.
Time to turn around. |
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A wider angled lens would show you
this was not just a downed tree, but a marsh serpent
across our return path. Oh, no. |
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We made it past all obstacles, heading
back toward the car and home. |
