I spent my break in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It is about an hour north of Boston. I chose for my phenology place to be in Ravenswood Park, a quiet reserve near my house. As soon as you walk into Ravenswood, you notice boulders lining the edge of the main path.
These boulders are the remnants of what used to be an old main road through farmland. The boulders marked where the road ended, and farmland began. There were a lot of these boulders around the trail where we hiked. About a mile into the main trail, I found where my phenology spot would be. It is the former site of the cabin of the Hermit of Gloucester. He was a lover of nature and lived secluded in the area for thirty-three years. He lived in Ravenswood until he died in 1917. I found this story very cool so I chose for my spot to be at the remains of his cabin.
Link To Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/AH94m4u91u4MhmTU6
Behind the boulder, you can see the stones that mark where his house was. I think that this location is special because it is a prime example of someone who enjoyed nature and worked the land. I think it’s very cool to imagine the farmland that used to be right near my house. After learning about the stone walls and land-use in class, it put my hike into a totally new perspective.
The ecology and phenology of my spot at home were similar to my spot in Burlington. There were many oak trees that had lost their leaves, and American Beech trees clinging to their last leaves. In my home place, there was a stream nearby that I could hear, but not locate. My Burlington place has a stream very close by. Both places had pine trees and other evergreens giving the area a little bit of color, but other than that, they were both pretty cold, dark, and colorless. However, my two places also have their differences. At my Ravenswood, I didn’t see a single maple tree. This is very different from my place in Centennial Woods, where maples are definitely the most common tree. There was also snow on the ground in Burlington when I left, and my hometown has not gotten any snow yet. Needless to say, Burlington is much colder than Gloucester.
In the passage Honorable Harvest from Braiding Sweetgrass, the guidelines for an honorable harvest are listed, one of them being “share”. I think that sharing is an important part of not just harvesting and consuming food, but an important part of land use as well. I am very lucky to have an easily accessible public hiking area right near my house. Whenever I hike there, I feel the beauty of nature all around me and I wish to conserve and help the land. I think that hiking and having this feeling is amazing, and something that should be shared with the entire public. Sharing experiences like this is important in getting people to care about conservation. In this way, “what’s good for the land is also good for the people”, as is stated in Braiding Sweetgrass.