December 20

The mid-morning weather is sunny with temperatures in the upper 30’s and a gusty east wind as Riley and I hike north through a broadleaf woodland in Montcalm County’s Camp Cutler, looking for two unexplored lakes. Soon, I pause and face eastward to recognize the rising sun as it nears its winter solstice and the astronomical start of the winter season here in the northern hemisphere. Moving ahead, the ground reveals a cluster of aged puff ball mushrooms with their dark central pores and dried leaf litter consisting mostly of oak, maple and aspen. Evidence of recent wildlife activity include a tree trunk shredded by a Pileated Woodpecker and another rubbed by the antlers of a whitetail buck. Approaching the first lake, I'm disappointed that thick underbrush and thin ice prevents me from accessing the shoreline for a good view. Unfortunately, the same is true of the second lake. Turning around and heading back, I spot the hairy, rope-like vine of Poison Ivy clinging to a tree truck as well as a deer skull.  Nearby, I notice a small depression on the forest floor next to a 5-ft mound of dirt. This landform is the result of a large tree falling over while uplifting its huge root ball. Identified as pit and mound topography by many, loggers refer to them as “cradle knolls”. The story is that they would use these natural depressions, or cradles, to curl up in and take a nap out of the eyesight of their bosses. Instead of heading back to the car, we turn east and make our way to the scout campground where I pause on a bridge to watch water from the North Branch of the Pine River flow southeast toward its confluence with the main branch, some 1.5 miles downstream. Observing a flagpole nearby gets me thinking again about the winter solstice with the sun being at its lowest altitude (about 11 degrees) and the casting shadows being the longest. It also gets me thinking about a math lesson on how to calculate the length of a shadow. First, I estimate the flagpole to be 20 ft high. Then, I imagine a right-triangle with the flagpole as the perpendicular side, the sun beam as another side (hypotenuse) that strike the ground at an angle of 11 degrees and the base side as the length of its shadow. (stock photo). So, dividing 20 ft by the tangent of 11 degrees (.194) gives a shadow length of about 103 ft. Since, I don’t have a tape measure, I pace along the shadow from the flagpole to confirm the results. Heading back to the car, Riley and I follow our lengthy shadows.

 

Earth slumbers

Noon draws nigh

Sun of the season

Low in the sky

Deep in December

First winter days

Sun of the season

Cooler your rays

Wildlife in waiting

Nature’s content

Sun of the season

Begin your ascent

 

D. DeGraaf