Green is the color of New England in the summer. So many shades and hues of this comforting color. Of course finding a bit of the green that lives in my wallet would be nice and that is happening as some of the costume jewelry I am selling on ebay is fetching some of that bank note green.
I took a trip up Adams Hill Rd. to look for the nickel mine. The quarry wasn't too hard to find and held some interest in the form of serpentinite and what looked like a green muscovite known as fuchsite. But I wanted a little more purity and since the temperature was approaching a humid 90 degrees, a walk up the middle of Adams Creek seemed like a good idea. As we ascended the low flowing stream, it jogged to the northwest, away from the quarry, but it doesn't take much chemistry in the earth to create changes. A little bit of nickel in a geologic environment can create the aforementioned green. About a 1//2 mile from the starting point, things got interesting. The rocks were showing significant mineralization and a little poking around revealed the desired color. My experience made me think chrysocolla, but environmental context said otherwise. This green mineral is most likely garnierite. Finding these seams is exciting. There is no real value to the mineral (unless you have megatons of it), but how often do you find something so unique and in the ancient rock of Vermont? After a quick refreshing swim in a deep waterhole, we headed out a little heavier than when we came in.
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Ah, family. You can't choose them, though I would choose many of these folks. Many families drove hours to get here, others flew from all corners of the country. We've been doing this for at least 4 years now and each time it is great. The problem is getting to spend quality time with all those you want to talk to.
We reminisced about growing up together and how different it is for our children. A core group of 12-14 cousins were together almost every weekend and in the summer we were inseparable. Our parents, 6 siblings, loved being together themselves and lived within 1.5 hours of each other. The things we did; camping out on Bobcat Mtn, climbing the "cliff", heading down to the lake to swim, canoe, fish, shoot frogs, skate, play hockey and generally be kids. We grew up in a time where worry was a long way away from us and our parents. I agree times are different, but are they better? I would be hard pressed to say they are better today. And it is sad. There is much to worry about in today's world and the young are different. All of us loved being out in the natural world. That signified freedom to us and did we take advantage of it. Most of our time was unstructured and filled with thought, curiosity, energy and optimism. Slowly and insidiously, organized sports and activities crept into our world and sucked the imagination out of living. Being human and part of an opinionated community, we felt guilty if we didn't participate. Our kids would be missing out on opportunities and the places we chose to settle were a little more gentrified and judgemental. So unstructured play was at a minimum and less parents chose to let their children "run wild" anyway, so we, us and our children marched into the world of organized everything. Perhaps more to come on this topic as it makes me feel bad as a parent. The key difference between "animals" and humans is our desire to always want more. What we have is never enough. This is the reason we have thrift stores, yard sales, storage units, 3 car garages, McMansions and terms like "downsizing", jobs like professional organizers, hoarders and tiny houses. Even animals that defend their territory don't go looking to gain more territory, just defend what they have. For good reason too. If they let other predators into their area then the food source will be diminished and now everyone has to go looking for a new area. This strategy of defending terrain works because it keeps things in balance. Enough pressure to keep prey healthy and thriving so a predator can live in the area for years. Thinking of the concept of communication as a difference, we know there are ample examples of communication in nature and I just filled the bird feeders after 2 days of being empty. There was no bird activity all morning. Then up the ladders to dump some seed. Sit back with a cuppa and watch. A lone chickadee visits and disappears. Honestly, less than 10 mins. later it seems to be raining birds. I doubt they were lurking in the trees watching for the smelly old human to offer free treats, so that chickadee somehow communicated that there was food at the Sumner Lane site. As I said in an earlier post that I wasn't sure both eaglets had fledged, but this proves they have. This pair seems about a week ahead of schedule. Watching them take to wing from the aerie is exciting; so dynamic, so powerful, then smooth and serene. After some showing off they departed to other parts of the lake. I waited in the kayak hoping they would return. It was such a lovely evening sitting back in the setting sun with placid water all around me was not difficult. 20 minutes later, out of that same setting sun that lent comfort and beauty to my experience, came an eagle in silhouette. The other was sure to follow. But no. This was an adult with dinner. Well, no surprise as to what would happen next. Just like when your mom would go grocery shopping and no sooner would she walk in the door than we would be in the bags looking for goodies to eat, the eaglets were a few minutes behind waiting to see what they could eat. Harking back to the words about defending territories, eagles are such a species. They even defend their lake from their own offspring. Harriman Reservoir is 8 miles long and they are the only nesting pair of eagles on it. They produced numerous healthy eaglets over the years. Where have they all gone? Those of us nerdy enough to discuss such things wonder why there are no other nesting pairs in the vicinity. Certainly the lake is big enough for at least one more pair. Obviously we don't know a lot, but do enjoy the show put on by these perennial parents who successfully raise many offspring to populate the east coast with our national symbol.
There are obvious differences between the forests of the Inter-mountain West and New England. The sheer number of species in New England forests is astounding and dwarfs what Central Idaho forests contain. Precipitation being the obvious reason. The richly colorful fungi above is known as a hemlock varnish shelf mushroom (Ganoderma tsugae) This dead hemlock has been producing these yearly. This years crop is bountiful and beautiful. Last year did not produce that many and it poured incessantly. Years past were fine. Perhaps too much water is a hindrance. They are a woody species of fungi and the too much water may not allow the solidity to form.
There are studies going on right now using these mushrooms that seem to shrink tumors in some cancers (breast and colorectal). They are edible, but supposedly chewy (ya think), but native Americans did use these medicinally as a tea and a poultice. What more is out there in our natural world that will never be discovered due to our narcissistic pursuits and lack of awareness of what is truly important. Perhaps I am in need of some talking. I can go most of the day if not all of the day without uttering a word. How many people can say that? (probably more than anyone realizes). Now that I have put up a few bird feeders, I am talking to the birds, squirrels and chipmunks that visit the free food bank. The nuthatches are fun and it seems one has invited friends over because there can be 5 or 6 of these bark crawlers moving in and around the feeders.
Stella loves to wait in pounce mode for a squirrel or chippy to make for the feeders. Little does she know that they have eyes and can see this large black and white animal waiting for them, so they stay far away until she leaves, then sneak in for a snack. I can see this, then egg Stella on to get her to chase them again. I do believe all parties involved get some satisfaction out of these encounters. Amazing to see one of the eaglets in flight already. This one must have bogarted all the fish mom and dad brought to the nest, denying the other eaglet the needed nutrients. Of course I am guessing, but this is an unusually early fledging. Hopefully, the other one will gain the confidence to take wing. He/she may have done so already, but I don't watch 24/7 and so many people who frequent the lake still don't know there is a 10 ft. diameter eagles nest in a prominent white pine right behind the boat launch. There is usually a good bit of activity near sunset. The flying eaglet came in hot to the branch above the nest and nailed the landing. Then the eaglet hanging near the nest jumped--flew to the now occupied branch making for a pretty dynamic photo. It looks like an attack, but there was definitely some sibling love going on after the landing. They hung out together for some time, then an adult came swooping in and one of them hopped over to to see what treats were procured by the white headed adult. It didn't look like any. These little sequences somehow make life somewhat special. I'm sure there are those who could care less, but the few folks who inquire as to what I am watching become enraptured by the scene in the canopy. There is a sincere "oh my god" moment and it feels a little like the teaching moment when a student suddenly understands a concept.
About two months old now, these young eaglets have made the most of their protein diet and have developed the musculature and coordination to hop/fly to branches further from the nest. Coincidentally, this activity is called "branching" and is the precursor to flying. The adults will continue to provide food, but many times will not be in the nest. I have seen them eating in the trees in the park area and even on a picnic table. I look forward to this stage of development for the birds will be lower and won't leave the vicinity for a couple of months.
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Retired Educator
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