SEPTEMBER 2016
Wednesday
WARRIORS
Notes from the field JULY 20 An eight-man phalanx of Warriors wielded their manly strength and determination to continue clearing ‘our’ hill at Wolf Tree Nature Trails. The finishing touches were put on the new preserve sign. I heard through the grapevine that the absence of women allowed some free-range peeing. Honestly! It takes so little to rip the veneer of civilization from these guys!
JULY 27 This week, tempered by two womanly warriors, five of us cleared some invasive shrubs choking the fen-side of Jeptha. We were then joined by our very favorite butterfly maven Ronda who led us and a group from the Nature Center on a sunny butterfly walk. As always, she dazzled us with her ability to identify a rapidly flapping blip in the distance. I did better with the slower moving plants, enjoying the blazing star and pitcher plants. And we all enjoyed the huge, thumb-sized blackberries, perfectly ripe and sweet. Hah! Who says volunteers don’t get paid?
SPARK
27
AUGUST 3 In the vibrant hum of summer [see footnote], nine Warriors steamed into the wet and wonderful Topinabee Preserve, armed with loppers, saws, weed whip, hedge trimmers, rollers, and plucky attitude. We trimmed and hauled and wrestled the massive thorny thickets to clear the way to the viewing platform. A few alien species were subdued – freeing native loosestrife flowers from the exotic invasive version. We were joined by two local friends who steered us to a good lunch spot, where the lively conversation swirled around dyeing with native plants, pesky sisters, bees, local wineries, and other serious conservation topics. Footnote: okay, so we were talking at lunch, and I wondered what was the opposite of ‘the dead of winter.” I mean, this is the time of year when everything is bursting, blooming, growing, fruiting, basking, shining, changing, crowding. How to capture that? Putting Harry’s and Mitch’s suggestions together, I think “the vibrant hum of summer” captures it pretty well, don’t you? I discarded my entry of effulgence of summer for being too arcane and abstruse. [Mary accuses me of having an app that replaces straightforward text with all these fluffy words.] But honest, these recondite words have been rattling around in my head, pounding on the walls to be let out ever since I was a technical writer and had to rein them in. So it’s a great relief to now set them free. Thanks for your forbearance. - Kristi Chapman