So far the summer heat in July here on Roundtop feels about average, but 2008 is turning out to be wetter than has been typical over the last several years. The last several summers were especially dry ones, however, so this year may simply be a normal one again. After a few dry summers, I lose my sense of what "normal" is supposed to be.
This morning the forest is still a bit foggy after the storms of the past few days but greener than it was before the latest round of storms. I snapped this morning’s photo along the trail that runs over to the "new" pond, which is now 3-4 years old. In this photo you can’t see the pond itself, but you can see towards the back of the photo that the trees are thinner on the left side of the photo compared to the right side. The left side is where the pond is.
With all the rain, the forest should stay this lovely deep shade of emerald green for at least a week or two even if hot weather returns, which thankfully as far as I’m concerned, isn’t in the forecast.
It is now noticeably darker in the mornings than it was just a week or so ago. I don’t need my headlamp yet in the mornings when I walk Dog and Baby Dog, but that event isn’t far off. Already, I can tell the light difference by the birds I see. Gone are the robins and bluebirds when I take the morning walk. They aren’t up yet. Instead, I see only crows and hear little more than the early-rising pewees.
I am already planning this evening's walk. The storms are past now, and the forest should be drying out enough so that I can walk in it without getting soaked. I know I will see something different and unusual. I always do. If it’s one thing I’ve learned from my years of living here on the mountain, it’s that the forest changes from week to week, from storm to storm. It is never the same. Different plants bloom, different insects are out, the teenaged birds begin to appear, confident they own the world. The forest always changes, is always different. There's always something new to see, and I look forward to finding it.
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2 comments:
The days are getting shorter! We have had so much rain our trails are like a rainforest. It is very difficult to get through many paths I am used to taking. But there are different insects and birds to look at compared to our usual dry summers.
Ruth: My area isn't quite a rainforest, yet, though sometimes it feels that way to me. My wandering is limited by the lush foliage right now too. I don't care for that part too much.
Carolyn H.
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