Carving Out an
Existence
December 2018
December 5
December 17
It has been a good number of years now
(since early 2013) that I have been keeping track of this place I
call Cottonwood Pond, and its environs, watching, noticing, and
recording all the changes that I could find, from obvious to subtle.
Sometimes, changes that started out subtly became much larger and
more important later on, through the evolution of this area.
Such as it is with anything else in
history – we can try to predict, but we don't absolutely know what
small things may loom large later on.
It all started out with a large
Cottonwood tree in the bottom of the woods falling down, its top
lodging in the “v” of a double-trunk Red Oak uphill.
December 17
The large ball of roots of the
Cottonwood pulled up all the soil bound into them, leaving a
good-sized bowl beneath, which filled with water.
In the beginning, this bowl was
well-defined, fairly deep, and substantial. My main interest was in
the development of this little pond, and what life might “take
root” in it to live there. The soil under the bowl was not very
permeable, so the bowl could fill up with water from precipitation,
snow melt, and, perhaps, some water flowing in from elsewhere. The
Creek flowed by all on its own, passing the pond a few feet away,
bubbling along with no obvious connection to that bowl of water.
How things have changed! The bowl I
called a “pond” has become narrower, and more shallow.
December 17
The Root Ball has lost much of it soil
to the bowl. New tree saplings (none of them Cottonwood) are growing
from the Root Ball and other places nearby. Substantial stretches of
wood (the Cottonwood Trunk, the Very Rotten Log, the Barkless Log,
the Bent Blue Beech) have succumbed to the march of time and its
ravaging helpers, or they are in the process of doing so.
December 17: looking along the remains of the Very Rotten Log, from Creek to pond
December 17: The broken end of the Very Rotten Log, just above the Creek (where it used to span the Creek)
December 17: Cottonwood Pond seen from the southeast - the Barkless Log below, and the Broken Blue Beech (formerly Bent Blue Beech) sticking out above
Whenever there has been heavy water
flow, from strong rains or the melt of deep layers of snow, new flow
paths have been carved toward the “pond” and the Creek.
December 17: The Creek just upstream from the Barkless Log, showing new flow paths around the main Creek
December 17: The northern end of the pond area, showing flow around the edge of the Root Ball (top) and well as across the ground toward the Creek (middle and left)
December 17: Looking down the flow path of the Seep (overflow from the northwest corner of the pond) to the Creek, where it empties
December 17: Where the Seep enters the Creek
The bowl gradually received more water
from surrounding areas, and flow paths in leaves and soil showed how
that was happening.
December 17: The Inlet, where water enters the southeast end of the pond, under the Barkless Log - this has developed over time from one small point of entry to a clear passage
Over time, the main “pond”, “little
pond” on the other side of the Root Ball, the Creek, the Swampy
Spot (fed by Temporary Creek #1 to the east/southeast) and other
spots have developed connections they didn't appear to have before.
The whole area became an obvious network of water flow, one place
feeding into another, and into another, from various directions.
December 30: From left to right - Cottonwood Pond, the Barkless Log/Inlet, the Creek - above right is the Swampy Spot
December 17: Temporary Creek #1, which feeds into the Swampy Spot, which eventually feeds into Cottonwood Pond from two directions (through the Inlet and under the Trunk)
December 17: The Swampy Spot
December 17: Where water flows from the Swampy Spot (beyond), under the Cottonwood Trunk, and into "little pond" (right)
December 17: "little pond" at the top side of the Root Ball, seen from the north - there is a flow path from it to the foreground (called Temporary Creek #2) that eventually flows into the main Creek
December 17: "little pond"
December 17: Flow paths from the Swampy Spot toward the Inlet and Creek (the path toward the Creek is newest)
December 17: Bottom - pattern carved through leaves by water, near Inlet
December 17: Mark where I slipped in the mud, near the Inlet - this, also, can cause a change in the area
At no time is this more easily seen
than in the winter, when the view is clear. Then the shape of the
landscape becomes visible, as well as the sinuous lines of the Creek.
December 17: Canopy over Cottonwood Pond
December 5
December 5: Looking up the Cottonwood Trunk
December 5: The Creek upstream of the Barkless Log
December 17: The Creek in the woods bottom (upstream from Cottonwood Pond)
December 17: A "dam" in the Creek created by a fallen limb - slowing the flow from active (right) to calm (left)
Leaves are off the trees and on the
ground, where they help illustrate water flow as they have been
pushed aside, or covered in sediment. Mud, also, belies the action of
water earlier in the day or night, etched with designs that tell the
story.
December 17: Silt-covered leaves near the Inlet, showing where water had flowed beyond its normal banks
December 17 - Evidence that the Creek water had been higher
So, too, these changes have their
effects on life forms in the area. Rotting wood yields to fungus,
mosses, small plants, and feeds the soil around them. This enables a
wider variety of tiny animals to inhabit these places, which attracts
ever larger animals. The growing proliferation of saplings provides
shelter and food.
December 17: A smear of white fungus growing near the base of the fallen Cottonwood Trunk
December 17: Remnants of fallen autumn leaves on the Cottonwood Trunk, which is now devoid of bark
December 17: As the wood of the Barkless Log rots and softens, holes and indentations develop, collecting seeds and other items - this hole has filled with Tuliptree seeds - perhaps one will sprout and grow here.
December 17: Moss has found a good substrate to grow on the decaying Barkless Log, even sporting sporophytes in the winter - also there are purple jelly fungi. Tiny animals, some microscopic, find a moss a good place to dwell, partly due to the moisture it retains.
December 17: Tree saplings growing from the top of the Root Ball (looking over the Root Ball toward the far slope, to the west) - Blue Beech (American Hornbeam), White Ash, Sugar Maple
Niches carved into the Root Ball and
other places have also provided spots for shelter, or have enabled
some animals other routes of traveling through. It is a constant
interplay, bringing about ever-fascinating changes to explore.
December 17: holes in the exposed mud along the Creek, made by small animals (worms?)
December 17: Near Cottonwood Pond, and animal has reached into the leaf layer and into the soil
What is this place? Or, what has it
become? It seems to have had various forms of existence over the
years, all carved and shaped by the power of water.
December 17: The power of water - leaves stacked on a limb over the Creek, showing that the water was flowing higher and stronger
December 23
