This trip to my site was quite different from ones in the past. Snow-covered the ground, so the usually green path was a blanket of white.
The snow cover changed my site quite a bit, the central area next to the footbridge that used other tall grasses growing now shows those same grasses that have turned brown and are weighed down by snow.
There are some areas that still had green plants but they seemed like they were starting to fade.
The sense of place in my site has changed, different animals are now active, plants in different states of life now dominate the ground.
It is obvious that there is a lot of water or snowmelt moving through the floodplain into the stream below. The footbridges are covered in snow and there were puddles of water on either side.
For me I feel my strongest sense of place in forests, so spending time at my phenology site definitely makes me feel connected. However, this was my first time being in a forest during the winter, while there was snow in the air and covering the ground.
So while the forests have always had a strong sense of place to me seeing a forest covered in snow disconnect me from the location. The forests I am used to remaining green year-round, so exploring the snow-covered forests is a new experience that I need to get acquainted with to establish a stronger sense of place.
My place has had many phases in its lifetime. And I’m sure that it sense of place has changed quite a bit as its uses changed. When Vermont had lots of sheep grazing and centennial woods was a part of that. My site would have been missing many of the characteristics that give it its sense of place.
Large trees would have been removed and the floodplain would have been described and grazed which would have inhibited the ability of the floodplain to drain correctly.
