December 23

The early morning sky is overcast, air is still and the temperature is in the mid 20’s as I make my way along the edge of Hamilton Township Cemetery, 8 miles east of the village of Ithaca in Gratiot County. This location is one of only a few public access places in the county to the Upper Bad River. This minor watercourse begins its meandering journey east from Newark Township south of Ithaca. From the cemetery it flows northeasterly into Saginaw County, through the village of St. Charles where it joins the south branch and empties into the Shiawassee River, south of Saginaw. From a high bank, I move down into the flats where I notice several ice and snow covered puddles, some with raccoon and squirrel tracks. Pausing at the river’s edge, I can see that, while most of the water is ice covered, some is exposed and flowing. Continuing east through the flats, I come across a clam shell and some Raccoon scat in various stages of decomposition. Since these creatures are likely to frequent the same place to urinate and defecate, it is referred to as a Raccoon latrine. After turning around and shuffling through a thick layer of leaf litter, my attention turns to some deer scat and decaying Sycamore leaves. Focusing on the surrounding tree trunks, I spot Shagbark hickory, Hop hornbeam and a Wild Cherry complete with a pair of dark eyes looking at me. Next, I see a snag with many Pileated woodpecker holes as well as a family of Beech trees, including parents and offspring. After climbing back up the bank, I scan south over acres of agricultural land and think about how for years this river had been heavily polluted by sedimentation from uncontrolled erosion off fields like this. High bed loads and turbidity in this water created an overheated and nearly lifeless river environment. Recently, farmers in the watershed are receiving state grant money to mitigate the problem by growing cover crops, filter strips, grassed waterways and reducing tillage practices. Approaching the car, I’m pleased to see the rising sun breaking through the clouds. Since tomorrow is the beginning of astronomical winter in the northern hemisphere, I realize its elevation above the horizon is the least it will be the entire year (slightly higher than 20 degrees at noon)

Glowing orb

Cooler rays

Winter sun 

Star of days

Descent ends

Solstice phase

Winter sun

Star of days

Light of life

You I praise

Winter sun

Star of days

D. DeGraaf