November 29

Tuesday, Remi and I traveled 10 miles west to Lumberjack Park to hike on the west section of a nature trail that I’m in the process of constructing for the park. The early morning weather was mostly sunny with a temperature of 45 degrees and a slight breeze out of the southeast. Leaving the car parked just north of the Pine River off Lumberjack Rd., we headed east through a wooded area of mixed hardwoods & pines where I spotted a tree trunk whose barked was recently stripped away by a gnawing porcupine. Continuing east, I was amazed by the number of tree trunks displaying fresh Foliose Lichens. These often-overlooked organisms are colonizers of tree bark, decaying logs, rocks, soil, leaves and manmade structures. A symbiosis of algae and fungi, they serve as food and nesting material for many birds and mammals as well as habitat for small invertebrates. Next, as the trail approached the riverbank, I paused to admire the extensive growth of Oyster fungi on a large tree trunk. Also, I noticed water from recent rains had filled the river channel as it flowed rapidly to the east. Further ahead, I gazed across the river to see an adult deer lying dead near the far edge. Without examining the carcass and since this was firearms hunting season, I wondered if it was fatally shot and wandered there to die. Spotting the morning sun peaking through the trees, I continued east before turning north through a narrow corridor of conifers with reddish trunks of Red Pine on my left and blackish trunks of White Pine on my right. Glancing skyward, I noticed wind blowing the needles in the evergreen canopy. Climbing a gradual slope, I turned east again and came to Mud Creek where one day we hope to construct a footbridge and continue the trail on the far side. However, at this time, I turned around and followed my shadow west through another corridor of conifers toward the trailhead where I spotted a tree trunk covered with Whitewash Fungi. Finally, we got back to the car and headed home.

November lets go

Autumn holds on

Nature’s panorama

Ice glazed pond

Once green canopy

Now open and bare

Once singing birds

Now songs are rare

Once lush meadow

Now drab and dry

Once a season to live

Now a season to die

D. DeGraaf