November 14

Tuesday, I drove 5 miles west to Warner Rd. and parked next to the Meijer Heartland Trail to resume my hike toward Alma. The early morning weather was overcast, hazy with a temperature of 30 degrees and no wind. Heading east, I noticed that most of the leaves scattered on this section of the path were from nearby Quaking Aspen trees that were now bare and won’t “quake” again until next spring when their leaves grow back. On the edge of the asphalt path, I spotted patches of moss and thought about how this amazing plant can drive its root-like rhizoids into the rock hard substrate to anchor itself and extract water as well as minerals so it can not only grow but also thrive. Continuing east, I observed that while most of the deciduous vegetation along the path was leafless, some still displayed lush, green foliage including: Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive and Goldenrod. Moving on, I paused to look and listen as water flowed south from a farmer’s drain tile under the trail and continued in an open drainage ditch. In my opinion, this scene is symbolic of the highly questionable history of government officials allocating huge amounts of public money to drain ecologically important wetlands and dredge natural streams in order to provide influential farmers with well-drained fields and clean ditches. In addition, this method ignores earth’s natural filtration while facilitating the concentration and funneling of pollutants into the Pine River. Nearby, I spotted a Ground Cherry plant with its lantern-like husks while a few yards away another one of these plants displayed its cherry tomato-like edible fruit. After hiking a mile, I reached Bliss Rd., turned around and headed west where the woody red branches of Red-Osier Dogwood caught my eye as well as the thin red berry stems of Gray Dogwood. Continuing west, I noticed several fresh buck rubs that reminded me that hunting season opens tomorrow. Finally, I came to the car and headed home.

Journey’s over

Seasonal sight

Fluttering wings

Flashing white

Eyes of coal

Feathers of slate

Winter wonder

Food locate

Leafless brush

To and fro

Welcome Junco

Bird of the snow

D. DeGraaf