As I walk along Van Saun Mill Brook on a trail many feet wide, I see many stories playing out in front of my eyes. The first, and most visible, is that of a refuge, designed to provide the residents of suburbia with a place to get away from life. Between the oaks, sycamores, poplars, and maples are benches, birdhouses, and many other items placed by humans in an attempt to make the area more welcoming to both human and non-human visitors.
The second story is one of a place struggling to hold on to the little bit of wildness it has left. Across the brook, you can see the backs of stores, hear the highway, and smell the curry made by the nearby Indian restaurant. Nestled in the scrubby vegetation along the banks are bottles, cans, and other litter. The trees are covered in graffiti. Clearly, this area is used not only by those looking to get away from suburbia, but also by those who see the woods as an extension of suburbia. While these groups may seem different, they both want freedom, with the first group looking for a place to be free from everyday suburban life and the second group looking for a place where they can freely drink and do drugs without facing any of the social stigmas or legal implications that are often associated with this sort of activity.
Immediately after stepping foot on the Mill Brook Nature Trail, there are many visible physical differences between it and Centennial Woods. For example, my spot in Centennial Woods is on top of a hill, but the Mill Brook Nature Trail is very low lying, with very damp soil. The composition of the forest is also very different. In Centennial Woods, the trees are primarily White Birches and Red and Sugar Maples, with some Eastern White Pines towering over all the other trees. Other than these trees, there are some ferns, but not a whole lot of ground cover. On the other hand, the Mill Brook Nature Trail is mostly Pin Oaks and Silver Maples, with a few other trees that do well in damp environments, such as Tulip Poplars and American Sycamores. There are also a lot of small scrubby bushes that cover a lot of the ground not occupied by trees, especially along the banks of the river. There are also a lot of Poison Ivy vines on the trees.
The two locations are also at very different points phenologically. In Centennial Woods, most of the trees have lost their leaves but on the Mill Brook Nature Trail, most of the leaves are still on the trees. A reason for this could be the weather in each area. In Vermont, there have been quite a few overnight freezes, but in River Edge, NJ, which is almost 300 miles south of Burlington, has not experienced as low temperatures.