November 23, 2018

I went back home for Thanksgiving break. Home is Middleton, Wisconsin, right outside of Madison. Being in Wisconsin, it seems right to write in Aldo Leopold’s style, I mean the street that runs perpendicular to my own is named Aldo Leopold Way.

I’ve become so familiar with the area that my temporary phenology spot is in that I could probably close my eyes and draw a detailed map of the land. The spot is in a relatively large prairie. Most of Southern Wisconsin used to be a prairie, a continuous stretch of wetlands and oak savannahs, but now the land is mostly used for agriculture. Still, the prairie holds its own amongst the endless fields of corn and soybeans, but only with the help of the Friends of Pheasant Branch, the organization that protects the land. My actual phenology site is at the base of Frederick’s Hill in the prairie, or just known as “the hill” to anyone in my neighborhood. Even in late November, native prairie plants such as goldenrod and bluestem reach up high, sometimes blocking my view of silos in the distance. Under my feet though, I am reminded that this place is not untouched by humans. There is a path that allows me to be less intrusive in the prairie, but overgrown, dying, and non-native Kentucky blue grass carpets it. Besides the flora, the most frequent visitors of the prairie might just be people. There is a popular gravel trail that runs a loop through the conservancy, which is always frequented by runners, walkers, and bikers. But, if you move just off the trail the fauna encompasses many birds, including cardinals, and red-winged black birds in the spring that have been known to swoop at the occasional person. It was quiet when I was visiting, though. It was a classic November day in the Midwest: cold and gray with high skies. Not the cheeriest of scenes, but in a place that is so familiar, the deluded colors feel more homey than anything else.

This temporary phenology site appears to have little in common with my site in Burlington right away. There are few trees in the prairie, no overpowering lake, and the land is not very rocky. There are certainly no cliffs. Under the surface the land is different too. My phenology site in Burlington has soil that is described as “extremely rocky loam.” However, the site in Wisconsin has more of a sandy-loam soil. The main vegetation is different too. At Rock Point in Burlington the land has many northern white cedars, but at the base of Frederick’s Hill there are deep rooted prairie plants. The only thing that seems similar right away is the cold temperature and wind that both Burlington, Vermont and Madison, Wisconsin are familiar with. However, there are more similarities. One that stands out is the  dramatic presence of white oak trees. Standing out amongst the cedars at Rock Point, there is a white oak tree stretching its branches into the canopy. At the base of Frederick’s Hill there are no white oaks, but a look up to the top of the hill reveals a skyline of oaks. In November they are bare, and their twisting, intertwined branches sketched against the gray sky. The white oaks at these places are dramatic and landscape-defining. They are what connects places 1,000 miles apart.

The location of my phenology spot.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Unnamed+Road,+Middleton,+WI+53562/@43.1242265,-89.487814,566m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x8807a96e0e3c33b1:0x53621f5a139352ea!2m2!1d-89.487946!2d43.1242972

A panorama including Frederick’s Hill (above), and looking the other way (below).

The path (above), prairie plants (below left), and the oaks on the hill (below right).

All photos are mine.

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