Week #9

It's been hot and dry for the last few days so the path through the forest today was hard packed with only a few damp remnants of mud. The yellow light of late afternoon seemed to illuminate a thin coating of golden dust on branches and trees trunks enhancing the dry feeling. I tried to be aware of patterns and immediately noticed the bleached white of maple leaves standing out in an almost checkerboard pattern from the browns and orange of pine needles and red oak leaves. I'm pretty sure this is because Oak leaves have more tannin in them and are therefore bitter tasting to decomposers who prefer the sweeter maple leaves. Oak leaves are also leathery and tougher than maple leaves. When I arrived at my spot I noticed another patterns. On the south bank of the small stream the white pine seemed evenly spaced and sized. Judging by the whirls they were around 40-60 years old and stand very tall and straight. On the opposite side of the ravine the pine are more variable in age and more twisted and gnarled, the canopy is also more open. There are some fallen trees that look like wind-throw lying across the ravine pointing south to north so perhaps wind from the south catches the trees on the north bank of the ravine with more force and opened the canopy preventing an even aged stand from developing. Or perhaps there are just different land use histories. My presence in the woods today may have disrupted another patten. I've found piles of pine cone shingles under the tree where I sit and as I sat there a red squirrel approached seeming very agitated. He darted around above my head chattering as though I had stolen his favorite dinner spot. I moved away to see if he would come down but he darted away and I didn't see him again so maybe he was just curious about this strange interloper.