a walk through the fields
[OT] from cottage renovations]
this afternoon the light returned so I pulled on wellies and headed out to revisit the fields along the Grove's S border. it's a wonderful place but I don't go there as often as I would like because fellow trespassers are often accompanied by some large unleashed dog with aggressive tendencies, though this did not happen today.
developers and road builders have already made plans to lay the area to waste and it is already dotted with survey markers and capped-off test wells, so it makes no sense to miss any opportunity to experience it before it is lost.
here's a part of what was there (click any thumbnail for a larger image):
this branch with bright yellow fruit and sharp thorns
combines elements of allure and danger
the intricate details of this seed pod
are worthy of the architecture of the Barcelona Cathedral
[I stand corrected: these are the winter remains of the flowerheads of Queen Anne's Lace]
this bittersweet shows a riotous display of colour
but the eye is drawn to how vine encircles branch
thorn and barb won't ward off builder and bulldozer
grasping for height,
this milkweed towers above the surrounding vegetation
cattails
(no actual cats were harmed ...)
[I stand corrected: this is dried teasel]
this tree stands out from the hedgerow marking the field's perimeter
insect incubator, berry and thorn in afternoon light
[many thanks for corrections to the Grove's resident naturalist
betsy_beekeeper whose actual knowledge of these species vastly exceeds my own, which can be encapsulated as "ooh, look at the pretty flower" :) ]

Fields before destruction
(Anonymous) 2005-12-11 04:04 am (UTC)(link)