Springtime Comes to the Barrens . . . Sort Of

What a strange day for weather! My husband had the good idea of walking up Tow Hill to the Barrens, so that he could go for a jog. I accompanied him, with camera. The day started out rather spring-like, and sort of went downhill from there.

We got to the Barrens, and I decided to go a route I know, down over a little knife edge to visit some of the Tow Hill ponds, as they are sometimes known. This is a shot of the big pond at the bottom of that knife edge. It is WAY bigger than usual, and the water is all the way down the trail. (If you go, wear your Gore-Tex!) You've seen a wee bit of this pond recently, back on a day when we experienced some of our first delusions of springtime.

This pond is featured on the back of the latest Purple Lizard Map of the Scotia Barrens. It is recognizable by that orange pile of stuff by that pine tree to the right. While lots of the ponds in the Barrens are actually vernal pools that dry up sometime during the year, this one, a former ore pit from back in the Andrew Carnegie iron ore mining days, does not. (BTW, Carnegie was from Scotland; Scotia = "little Scotland.") This pond is lined with clay, and it collects springwater throughout the year.

That big tree in the middle left of the shot is usually the very edge of this pond. But as you can see, the water is all the way over HERE, too. Now, stop and take another look at the bottom of that big tree. Do you see the blue? Those are springtails on the top of the water. They are little bugs that help process the decay of organic matter. And yes, they are BLUE.

I turned and went to my left; walked down to one of our favorite beaver ponds. It too was open water, and chock full of springtails and reflections. I had thought about walking over to the skinny little wooden bridge I love there, but I'm glad I didn't. From my vantage point above, I could see that both ends of the bridge were under water. That'll be a definite No Go!!!

It has been winter time here, and I did not often make it to these ponds during that season. So it felt very good to be back. I spent a happy hour wandering around, and even stopped to take a selfie at the top of my knife edge. I smiled big. It felt so good to be here. I thought to myself when I saw it: "You can take the girl out of the Barrens, but you can't take the Barrens out of the girl."  It sounded like something my dad might say. Hmm - what? My interior monologue is speaking with HIS voice now?

And I suddenly realized, that after wandering around these woods in the Scotia Barrens these past 20 years (yes, I bought the house here in May of 2004!), this next-door-to-home wild place has become a part of me that can never be taken away. It's what I think about. It's where I walk. It's what I do. Magic lives here.

I met my husband at the gate as he finished his jog. "What a beautiful day," he said, as the sun came out. We lingered in the parking lot. "I'm in no hurry to go home," he said, as he stood in a sunbeam, began to take his jacket off. Suddenly, everything I had on was too warm for me.

But I spotted dark clouds coming toward us; pointed them out to him. As a cloud took our sunshine, we hastened our step, back down Tow Hill, toward home. We made it about half-way down the hill before the rain hit.

Suddenly, the sky opened up and it POURED AND POURED! And then the wind blew! And it came from every direction at once! I had had the good sense to bring my umbrella, so I whipped it out, and tried my best to keep the rain off of me and my camera. Did all right. Next came the snow buds! Then bright sunshine again! We experienced ALL FOUR SEASONS in about 20 minutes. It was unbelievable! But really, really neat!

It is my custom to include a soundtrack song and I've got a war going on in my head between these two, so I'll include them both. These songs are for this place which has become part of me. It has become my second home. First is Glenn Frey, with Part of Me, Part of You, from Thelma & Louise. Second is Bonnie Raitt, with Feels Like Home. Enjoy them both!