I came home from work Monday, fed everyone and then went outside to bring some wood in. It started to rain and I started to wander. On past the raised beds, the orchard area, along the path to upper blueberry hill. Then past it and on to the back 20. I checked out the clear cut (maybe 5-6 acres)
and then wandered on back around to upper blueberry hill. All the bushes in this picture with reddish branches are blueberry bushes. Some as high as 10 feet, some waist high, and some only ankle high. There is an apple tree in the left-center of the picture. The moss is soft and spongy.
I saw some big scat. Each pellet was maybe 3/4 inch long. You can see my finger for scale.
This stone wall is immediately north of upper blueberry hill, going east-west.
The blueberry bushes are beginning to bud.
Turning towards home I can see the house and the path along another stone wall.
A third stone wall separating the wildness from the orchard area and the last patches of snow.
And a fourth marking the return into the south yard and home. Jon Katz has been writing about and taking pictures of stone walls, which makes me notice them more today, think a bit about the people that made them and what clearing the rocks off parts of this land did for them.
The only sound on this walk is the soft rain (and Maggie frantically barking for me). I used to be a little terrified of this wild, and I can't say that I'm friends with it yet. But I am not uncomfortable any more. I never did bring any wood in. But that's OK. This time.
Looks a lot like deer scat to me. Mmmmmm - venison!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like moose droppings to this Alaskan. Do you have moose where you are?
ReplyDeleteAaah, moose! Yes, we do have moose around here. The previous owner saw one at the end of the driveway, although I don't think they'd come that close with my dog making an infernal racket. I *thought* the poops were awful big for deer.
ReplyDeleteMoose poop is actually kind of weird stuff--mostly sawdust (i.e., ground up twigs and branches).
ReplyDelete