31 Days of Kissing the Wounds :: Day 5 ~Field Trip: Butterfield Pond, Wilmot NH

damagedshellpinepoint29may2015logo31daysWelcome to Day 5 of 31 Days of Kissing the Wounds, a month of posts about the beauty, longing, and soul inherent in our damaged selves; in the world’s brokenness; in the imperfection, incompleteness, and transience of all that we love; in our recognition of each other as the walking wounded; and in the jagged, messy, splintery, deformed, sullied, unhealed parts of me, you, the natural world, our communities, the culture. Each post will look at these ideas from its own vantage point, which may not obviously connect with the others.

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I joined a small group walking into and around Butterfield Pond, in Wilmot, NH, in mid-September. It’s known as a fishing pond, with fish flown in by helicopter in spring (can’t imagine what they think as they plummet through the air), and since the walk-in to the pond is a half-mile, there are many canoes and jon boats tucked up along the shore in the woods.

While I didn’t go looking for damage, decay, and brokenness, there is plenty of it along any stretch of land anywhere, and this trail was no different. Below is a little photo journal. Enjoy!

fairy land of club moss (lycopodium) with strobili
fairy land of club moss (lycopodium) with strobili
rock wall in the woods
rock wall in the woods
bear claw marks on a beech tree
bear claw marks on a beech tree
rock with quartz vein
rock with quartz vein
greenish rock and fern
greenish rock and fern

Trees and rocks clinging together:

yellow birch hugging boulder, hanging on
yellow birch hugging boulder, hanging on
tree making do
tree making do

Damaged leaves, and otherwise:

leafcutter-eaten striped maple leaves
leafcutter-eaten striped maple leaves
damaged red oak leaves
damaged red oak leaves
maple leaf turning
maple leaf turning
fall leaves in light
fall leaves in light
trillium leaves
trillium leaves

Fruits, berries, and such:

false Solomon's seal berries
false Solomon’s seal berries
wintergreen (Gaultheria procumben) with white flowers that look more like berries
wintergreen (Gaultheria procumben) with white flowers that look more like berries
Clintonia borealis (blue-bead lily)
Clintonia borealis (blue-bead lily)
black berries of Indian cucumber root
black berries of Indian cucumber root
faded Indian cucumber root
faded Indian cucumber root

Hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides):

fall hobblebush leaves
fall hobblebush leaves
berries on hobblebush
berries on hobblebush
hobblebush buds
hobblebush buds

Fungi and moss:

fungi on log end
fungi on log end
dark mushroom with an inner light
dark mushroom with an inner light
shelf fungus -- maybe Fomitopsis pinicola (red-belt conk)
shelf fungus — maybe Fomitopsis pinicola (red-belt conk)
context: Fomitopsis cajanderi fungus on log (aka rosy conk, a kind of bracket fungus)
context: Fomitopsis cajanderi fungus on log (aka rosy conk, a kind of bracket fungus)
closer: Fomitopsis cajanderi fungus on log (aka rosy conk, a kind of bracket fungus)
closer: Fomitopsis cajanderi fungus on log (aka rosy conk, a kind of bracket fungus)
moss on log
moss on log
mossy log
mossy log

Flowers:

whorled aster
whorled aster
calico aster
calico aster
aster peeking out
aster peeking out
orange-belted bumblebee on goldenrod
orange-belted bumblebee on goldenrod

Around the pond, in the brook:

St. John's-wort
St. John’s-wort
a winterberry
a winterberry
another, different looking winterberry
another, different looking winterberry
tiny little pipewort (Eriocaulon), an aquatic plant
tiny little pipewort (Eriocaulon), an aquatic plant
lots of pipewort at edge of lake
lots of pipewort at edge of lake
pond view through trees
pond view through trees
Lysimachia terrestris (aka swamp candles aka yellow loosestrife)
Lysimachia terrestris (aka swamp candles aka yellow loosestrife)
pond
pond
pond view
pond view
water strider in Kimpton Brook
water strider in Kimpton Brook
Kimpton Brook view
Kimpton Brook view

Beech drops (Epifagus virginiana): – there are large colonies of this parasitic plant here; they don’t have any chlorophyll but get nutrients by tapping into the roots of the American beech tree, their host.

beech drops - they are hard to photograph!
beech drops – they are hard to photograph!
beech drops, close
beech drops, close

Etcetera:

dappled light on trail
dappled light on trail
hazeluts
hazeluts
hemlock and maple trees
hemlock and maple trees
mossy log bridge
mossy log bridge
wolf tree ... one that's been around a while, left for shade when the rest was cut down to pasture
wolf tree … one that’s been around a while, left for shade when the rest was cut down to pasture
boulder (maybe a glacial erratic), trees, sunlight
boulder (maybe a glacial erratic), trees, sunlight
rocky mossy trail
rocky mossy trail
evidence of a blowdown
evidence of a blowdown
ferns along trail
ferns along trail
oil beetle on leaf
oil beetle on leaf

 

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Thanks for checking in. Be sure to see what the other 31 Dayers are writing about.

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