This space is so close to being undisturbed nature. The first thing I always notice when trying to immerse myself in a space is the sound. The tweets and chirps of birds I cannot name sound faint, yet close by. They’re hiding somewhere in these woods, probably where the foliage is denser.
The wind here is still and quiet, even without leaves on the trees and so much exposed bedrock. I suppose the massive stone wall does a good job at sheltering the quarry from it. Things scamper around the underbrush, rustling the remaining leaves, and something keeps plopping into the water. It could be a fish, though I doubt it. I suspect acorns.
More than whats sounding in the woods, I can hear whats outside of it. Even though the only roads nearby are slow residential streets, they get enough volume that the sound of cars never truly leaves the space. However, I wasn’t aware how disruptive the barking of the neighborhood dogs would be, showing up right when I was deepest in thought. The sounds of this place betray its lack of wilderness. The quarry is a sizable piece of mostly untouched land, but it’s thin, and the lack of width hinders its ability to keep out the outside world.
More leaves are gone, and plants that I’d hoped to identify were suddenly all bark. What leaves are left are either evergreen, bright yellow, or a rotting brown.
I also usually like to immerse myself in the smells of a place, but I’m sick and sniffly this week. So sight will have to do. The colors are brighter than the last time I was here, though i suspect it’s mostly because it’s not rainy this time. More leaves are gone, and plants that I’d hoped to identify were suddenly all bark. What leaves are left are either evergreen, bright yellow, or a rotting brown. The berries on the many buckthorns are starting to dry and shrivel, and i think they’ll fall off soon. What was really surprising to me is the lack of changes in the willow.
This ancient behemoth is on the edge of my area but it’s too prominent and interesting a feature not to include. The leaves are still green somehow, when everything else lost them long ago. I thought this was a native willow tree, but the fact that the leaves are sticking around so long makes me suspicious. It might be a weeping willow, which is invasive, but it’s surprisingly difficult to get answers online about the different types of willows you can find in Vermont. The trunk of this tree is simply massive, making me guess that it’s at least 100 years old. Whatever it is, I’ll be keeping a close eye on it in the future.
