When I returned on November 5, I noticed that the water level was significantly higher than it had been on previous visits. Though I’ve heard that autumn is Vermont’s dry season, it’s rained pretty frequently over the past few weeks. I also noticed that with the new water level came a change in its flow pattern. Where water used to flow freely on either side of my central rock, now there was a pool of mostly stationary water. Additionally, almost all of the deciduous trees had lost their leaves, which had fallen to the ground and painted it yellow.