Howdy!
After a slow-moving Friday full of studying for upcoming exams and getting distracted by the bright orange trees outside my window, I took a break to visit the spot I’ve chosen for my phenology project: Salmon Hole. Salmon Hole is on the city’s east side, nestled comfortably between Burlington and Winooski on the Winooski River. If I’m honest, I chose this spot on a whim. When I ran down to the river one day, having never gone that way, I stumbled across Salmon Hole, and I immediately knew I wanted it to be the location for my phenology project.
On a Friday afternoon in mid-October, I made my way down Colchester Ave, past the Domino’s I have contributed to financially more than I would care to admit, and down the winding path covered with fallen maple leaves to my chosen phenology spot. From a small clearing, I can see the river, rushing swollen and muddy from the rain these last few days. I can hear the water flowing furiously over the rocks, accompanied by the soft song of crickets in the brush and the drone of cars on the thoroughfare. Where the water slows as it is shunted into the Hole, there is a white swirling foam collecting on its surface, so different from the clear, reflective deep blue it shone last week when I visited. The fall air is starting to get chilly, noticeable in how the wind picks up when I walk out to the rocky point that protrudes into the river.
The stony banks of the river on this side are covered in lichen and various sedges. There are small plants here and there, growing up between the cracks, but nothing too ambitious. Father back from the bank the trees get taller and denser. There are woody boxelder, common and glossy buckthorn, river grape vines, and an abundance of staghorn sumac bushes that turn the understory a dark, bright red. Above me, the light shines down through the warm shades of an overstory composed of sugar maples, Norway maples, and American beech.
That’s all for now. See you soon!