In my hometown of Edgartown, on Martha’s Vineyard, there is a heavy mix of suburbs and natural landscapes. I live right in the suburbs, but am lucky to have a protected natural area nearby, Sheriff’s Meadow.
To get to my site, you only need to walk about ten minutes into the trail loop. While you are here, suburbia seems far away. There is no evidence of the suburbs being nearby. Like Centennial Woods, there is a human presence in the natural areas. Beaten down pathways, and stone benches are present along the trail, indicating human presence. Also like my Centennial Woods site, my hometown site is accessible to those who are able to hike easy to moderate trail heads. The ecology of Sheriff’s Meadow is interesting since the landscape includes trees like scrubby and black oak, low vegetation, and cattails. There is also a pond, which means the ground is more saturated and there is a larger presence of moss. This compares to my Burlington site, in Centennial Woods, by the trees and vegetation tending to be larger. Another difference is Centennial Woods is drier and my area did not have the pond ecological system. Also in my hometown site, the leaves still had color, specifically in the Norway maples. Most of the other trees, including scrubby oak, had lost their leaves.
