Environmental_Science – Page 3

DINO Tracks

On a recent trip to New Mexico, before we had to hustle back home, we visited an exposed dinosaur trackway in the north-east corner of the state.

For me visiting these sites is an experience in time travel as much as it is in science. The tracks at Clayton Lake State Park were made in the early Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago. At this time in Earth’s geology, the main continents that we know today had been separated from the Pangea supercontinent of 250 million years earlier and were roughly in shapes that are recognizable today. At the time the tracks were made the current continent of North America was divided by a shallow sea that ran from the Arctic area to the current Gulf of Mexico. This sea is known as the Western Interior Seaway. Its western shore ran along the eastern area of the Rocky Mountains. The western portion of the Seaway covered the states of Texas, Colorado and Wyoming as well as much of Montana, Utah, and New Mexico. Throughout the 79 million years of the Cretaceous period the seaway rose and fell, receding from and later re-covering areas of shoreline.

Along this shoreline walked the dinosaurs. They lived in what was likely a marshy area of damp soils in which their footsteps would create massive footprints that can now be seen in several areas along what was the western boundary of the Western Interior Seaway. This western boundary now contains what is called the Dakota Group of rock which was laid down by the silts of the Western Interior Seaway.

The trackway at what is now known as Clayton Lake State Park was discovered after a large rain event in 1982. The dam which forms Clayton Lake was built in the 1950s and improved in the 1970s. The dam captures the water of the Seneca Creek which is held behind the dam. The dam is 92 feet high and 150 feet long with a broad walking path on the top. This path leads to the dam’s spillway on its northern end. This is where the dinosaur footprints may be seen. When the dam was built a spillway was cut out of the adjacent hillside so that the dam would not be damaged by heavy rain events. In that type of rain event, the lake may become filled to near the crest of the dam. The adjacent spillway allows water from the lake to be channeled around the side of the dam so that it is not over-topped by the rising water. In 1987 as the water rose it flowed over the spillway in torrents large enough to carry away the layers of rock and dirt that overlay the bottom of the spillway.

I imagine that I can see that storm and the rising water in the lake. The overflow from the lake flows across the spillway, cutting away material above the dinosaur footprints and exposing them. Now as I look out, I can see the herd of dinosaurs moving up the shore of the lake. Large hadrosaurs, believed to have been Iguanodons, slowly walk past me moving north along the shore of the Western Interior Seaway. They browse on the vegetation that grows along the shore . Some splash out into the shallows of the water to eat the submerged vegetation that grows there. A baby Iguanodon scurries past me looking around for its parent. As it passes, a crocodile, swims up through the shallows looking for a meal, perhaps something about the size of the small Iguanodon that just passed. The crocodile is too small to be a threat to the adults, but it is large enough so that as it lies in the shallows, watching, the adult Iguanodons move around it. As I stand watching, the beasts in the herd flow around me, large bulls, adolescents, females, and scurrying so as not to be stepped on a number of the baby Iguanodons. They move past me on their way up the shore of the vast inland seaway.

In the failing light of the day they continue their trek. I can barely see them through the mist and slight rain that seems to continually fall. Suddenly, ahead, I hear excited chirps and calls from the herd. A great roar is heard ,and the Iguanodons can be heard splashing in the shallows as they surge into the lake. A carnivore, a meat eater, known now as an Acrocanthosaurus, can be seen coming out of the taller vegetation farther from the shore, and moving slowly towards the herd. It moves north following the herd of herbivores, plant eaters. Soon the herd and the stalker disappear into the mists and failing light.

I find myself still standing on the walkway that surrounds the dinosaur footprints, looking down the footprint left by the Acrocanthosaurus. I am back in the present. I look out across the arena where these creatures walked over 100 million years ago.

Pictures of these dinosaurs may be found at; Acrocanthosaurus at http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/claytonlakestatepark.html and Iguanodons at https://www.newdinosaurs.com/131_iguanodon_raul_martin/

Information on the New Mexico Clayton Lake State park may be found at http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/claytonlakestatepark.html , https://geoinfo.nmt.edu/tour/state/clayton_lake/home.html , and https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/cretaceous/clayton.html .

Four-Points

WOW! I am still excited, even two weeks after my wonder-filled find.

I was out in the open fields and forest edges on a warm Saturday, hiking and enjoying being outside. As I crossed a field, I saw something sticking up out of the grass ahead of me. It was about 50 yards away. The sunlight highlighted it so it stood out from the surrounding grasses even though it was not much higher that the brown stalks.

The area where I do most of my local hiking has a rather large white-tailed deer population. There are several herds that populate the area with numerous males of all ages.

One of the aspects of the white-tail deer, which every school child knows, is the male’s antlers are shed each year in the late Spring. Each year, each male deer will grow a new set of antlers. The antlers grow through the Spring and Summer, reaching their full size at beginning of the deer’s mating season known as “the rut”. As the male deer grows older his antlers grow larger with each passing year. A young male may only grow antlers that come to a single point. These are also known as spikes.

An older male will grow more massive antlers with numerous points. The antlers remain on the male until after the mating season is over. At that time the male deer’s body chemistry begins to change which signals his body that the antlers are no longer needed. His antlers become less firmly attached to his skull, and they prepare to fall off. This physiological change takes place in the late Winter and early Spring.

The antlers may fall off as the buck is walking through the woods where the antlers may be brushed off by low branches. They may fall off due to a jolt, if the deer is involved in a late season battle with another male deer. They may fall off as the buck runs and jumps across a field.

In the part of Virginia where I hike this change and the shedding of antlers generally happens after mid-February. If you are out in the woods and fields where deer roam and browse, you may find a single antler, or in some cases a pair of antlers. Finding a pair is rather rare, as the antlers fall off at different times. The pair may be far apart across a field or patch of woods. Sometimes though they fall off on a used trail, so that even if they are shed on different days they may be found at locations on the same trail. It’s a random pattern depending on where the deer goes, his body chemistry, and whether there is an event that causes the antlers to be knocked or brushed off his head.

Then the forest or field takes over. These “sheds” are not just useless bone. Small forest creatures will gnaw on the antlers as they are a source of phosphorous and calcium and other minerals for these creatures. These may be mice emerging from their winter tunnels, or foxes and coyotes.

And of course, there are people who may pick them up. These people, like me, enjoy walking across the fields and up through the woods looking for whatever they might see and enjoying the peace of the natural surroundings.

I have found small sheds before, but this find was certainly different with its polished four points. When I picked it up, I was surprised by how heavy it was. It weighed about four pounds. I have been out to the area where I found it twice more to see if its mate will turn up. It has not. It might not have fallen off yet. Or it has fallen off and some forest creature, or another walker, has carried it off.

BRIDGE

During this “Winter-Without-Snow” I have taken advantage of the record-setting weather to wander fields and forest lanes which I would not usually go onto. Many of these places are not available to me Spring through Fall when the hay is growing and the ticks are more active. Right now, the hay has been cut and most insects are dormant due to their season .

Last week I went to what was for me an unexplored field surrounded by woods. I intended to walk the perimeter which was two miles around its full circuit. When I added in my excursions into the woods surrounding the field, my walk was a very pleasant three miles – and maybe a bit more. As I walked the edges of the field, I would walk down into the surrounding woods to look at some item that had caught my eye. Perhaps it was an old bottle reflecting the sun, or a particularly interesting shape of a tree, or a stand of bushes full of bright red winter-berries.

I was drawn further into the woods by a stream that flowed near the edge of the woods. The rains of the week before had mostly drained out of the hilly woods surrounding the field. The stream was flowing quietly. It carried a sparkling brightness in the filtered sunlight and was worth exploration. The woods were not dark like northern coniferous forests full of evergreens. This was a bright, southern mixed hardwood forest of bare branches and filtered sunlight. The branches, bare of leaves, allowed the sunlight to penetrate through what in summer is a darkening canopy and brighten the area below. It was bright and inviting so I directed my trek along the course of the stream.

It was easy to tell that the stream would sometimes run high and fast as the banks of the stream were steep and without much growth. Further up the hill into the forest I could see something that stretched across the stream. When I got to it, I found it was an abandoned foot-bridge. But it was not a bridge that could be used. It was missing boards. A few were in place, but other dangled above the narrow stream. Only one of the natural-timber cross-pieces was still in place, spanning the stream to the opposite bank. No animal other than a raccoon or a mouse would be able to cross it easily.

Once in times past, the bridge had spanned the stream. It went from one place to another. It had lain at some point further up the stream. Then a day of heavy rain and high water, perhaps in a hurricane, had lifted the bridge and pushed it to this current spot. On my side of the stream the bridge was open. On the opposite bank the timber span ended at the base of a large tree.

Even though the bridge could not now be crossed, it still caused me to wonder. What is on the other side? I could easily see the other side just across the small gully; the distance was less than 30 feet. But if I could have walked across the bridge, what would I actually see? I would see the same trees on that far bank that I could see from my current spot. But on that far side I would be able to reach out and touch those trees. I would experience that distant shore.

I have never seen a bridge that I did not want to cross in order to touch the other side.

And that has made all the difference. (1)

Borrowing the closing from Robert Frost’s, The Road Not Taken.

Stone Artifact – The Road Back

Continued from earlier article, “The Road Out”

When we last left our heroes they had made the trek out to the edge of the marsh and they were sitting on the shell bed next to the river.

The shells in the shell bed were mainly oyster shells that had been bleached white by the sun. The river was a tidal river so the banks were completely over-washed at high tide and the shells would be tumbled and top shells replaced by others. If I dug down seven inches there were only other bleached shells. There was no mud base perhaps until much deeper. The shells were often exposed to the sun so all the shells in these top several inches were bleached white. The oysters shells were large most of them over six inches in length and some might have even reached a foot in length. Mixed in with the oyster shells were other shells of snails and small bivalves that lived in the marsh grasses and in the mud. And there were other stranger items as well.

I stood up and walked to the end of the 30 feet or so of bleached shells to where the bank sloped down into the marsh. I walked back, shuffling my feet to move the shells around so I could see what might be buried in the shells. I knew if I went along the edge of the island causeway from the mainland I would find items dumped to make the road bed, old broken plates, odd items of military accoutrements, and other scrap metal and rubble.

As I shuffled through the bank I overturned something that was brick red, but not brick shaped. I picked it up and examined it. It was a handle from a clay pot made of red mud from some upstream clay bed. It was obviously a handle and still attached to it was a small piece of the jug that it once supported. The shape and thickness of the handle had strengthened and protected the handle from whatever fate broke the pot. On the handle there remained some of the old glaze that had overlaid the pot after its firing. It was a bright yet translucent yellow, like the sunrise over the marsh on a hot summer day.

I put the handle in my pocket and continued my search. I picked up a few of the snail shells and looked at their design and the coloration of the seams of the shell as they spiraled up from the opening to its peak. I dropped these small shells back onto the shell bed. They clattered as they hit and bounced to a standstill, caught in the cups of the larger shells. I picked up a large canine tooth from some creature. I looked it over and slipped it into my pocket.

Then as I pushed shells away with my foot I uncovered what I initially thought was a spear point. I was amazed at my good fortune, and I picked it up. It was about eight inches long. One end tapered to a point and other was broken off exposing the stone from which it had been made. I looked around to see if there might be other pieces lying among the shells. I did not see any. I looked back at my find and considered what it might be. The shape was certainly like a spear point but the item was nearly ¾ of an inch thick, and made of a soft stone. The soft stone had been likely been worked into a tool shape long ago. But what tool and for what purpose?

Liking my new treasure, I slipped it into my pocket along with the brick-red handle. My dog was still lying on the shell bed patiently waiting for me to be ready to move on to our next adventure. But first we had to re-cross the marsh. We stepped onto the boards. I turned and I took a final look back at the shell bed and the dark river flowing swiftly past. Then I turned back to our task of getting back to shore.

I kept those treasures for years. But all except the tooth are now gone. I can recall their shape and their feel in my hand. But I am no longer sure of what happened to them. I think I gave the handle to a friend who collected old bits of pottery. The fashioned stone artifact stay with me for long time. I would find it in a drawer periodically and take it out and wonder at it. I finally came to the conclusion that it was some sort of tool for planting and cultivating crops in ancient times. It might have been used for digging or a seed drill for planting seed. Its pointed end was rounded from years of digging in the soil, or being twisted in the earth to make a seed hole, or dragged through the loose top soil to make a small trench. But I have lost that old treasure.

It came back to my mind when I read an article about a man in North Carolina who had found a similar item. He had talked with people at a museum and they concluded it was a hand adz. It was also probably used in agriculture. A sketch of my memory of my stone artifact is sketched below.

I never recrossed the marsh to search for more treasures. But I have continued to pick up odds and ends when I walk along a river shore, or in the woods, and I pick items up and wonder what they might have been and who was the person that used them when they walked this same way.

The article mentioned may be found at: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article238425048.html

Stone Artifact – The Road Out

When I was younger my family lived at Parris Island, South Carolina. Its in the area of the Palmetto State that’s known as the “low country”. Its low in the sense that it is covered with the marshes of the coastal tidal rivers. Islands large and small dot the landscape and at high tides are surrounded by the brackish water. The area is rich in teeming aquatic life. The banks of the rivers are marsh and sulfur rich mud. Marshes grasses and snails and tiny “fiddler” crabs fill the marsh area along with many other creatures. On my river, the area between the flowing water and these marshes were lined with empty oyster shells. These shell banks were wide and deep. If you dug down there were just more shells. All were bleached white by the South Carolina sun. Today, when I look at those rivers on Google Earth I see the same brackish water and the banks still have some white borders but it’s hard to tell if they are the shell banks that I recall.

At this time in my youth these shell banks were my goal. I wondered what treasures might lie there among the bleached oyster shells. But between me and those banks lay a hundred yards of marsh mud. The mud would support a fiddler crab, but if I set my foot on it I would sink up to my knees in the soft “pluff mud.” At the same time I was rewarded for my effort with the stench of rotten eggs/sulfur from small air pockets formed beneath the surface of the mud from the processes involved in the decay of organic matter. It was a truly distinctive odor.

Neither my dog or I liked the smell, but we were drawn to the marsh and the distant river bank. We had tried to slog our way out but it was exhausting for both of us. With each step I would have to full my foot free of the sticky, smelly mud only to sink back up to my knee with the next step. My dog would be up to his chest with all four legs stuck in the mud, but together we gamily slogged on. But we were not to make it. I had to lift my dog out of the mud and together get back to the solid land beyond the marsh grasses. I clearly remember the reception we got at home when we arrived dirty and smelling of the mud. We had to clean up in the back yard with the hose.

There had to be a better way. After much thought I came up with a plan using boards that I could find washed up in the marsh. Using several boards, I could build a walk-way that I could move with me out over the mud to the white shoreline beside the river. It required that I move the boards with me. I would place the first board and walking along it place the second board at the end. Then I would stand on the second board and pick up the board I have just left. I would carry that board to the end of the second board I was walking on and place it into position. I repeated this process over and over. It took me half an hour to cross 100 yards of sucking mud and reach the shell banks next to the river.

My dog would walk on the planks as well -sometimes. A couple of time he jumped into the mud to investigate something, and I had to pull him out. This was no mean feat as he was a full-grown pointer, and I was just in my twelfth year.

I was difficult work, including a few slips of my own. But we made it. ¹

We stepped out onto the shell bed. The shells shifted and crunched with each step. We had made it to the river. The brown swiftly flowing water was only a few feet away. As I walked towards it, the shells would shift and slid into the muddy water.

I stood and gazed out across the river and savored my success. Then I sat on the shell bed and looked out across the broad river. My dog sat down next to me.

To Be Continued in a follow-on article, “The Road Back.”

1-Years later I would read Larry Niven’s science fiction stories and his Tales of Known Space, which included a planet of this name. I would recall my walk across the Mud.

Fall Burning

It was a nice week-day in the late Fall, a perfect day for a hike at one of my favorite spots. The fields beyond the Brawner Farm at the Manassas National Battlefield Park (NBP) were calling to me.

I wanted to get out and hike around. I also wanted to see how the Prescribed Fire that the Park had set in the previous week had done its job. Prescribed Fire is a technique used by the National Park Service (NPS) and other federal, state, and private land managers to aid in managing the types of plants on the land.

A Prescribed Fire is used to burn off invasive plants that have choked out native plants. This aids in the recovery of native plants once the invasive species have been burned off. Burning the landscape in a Prescribed Fire can also be used to enhance the visual aspects of a site. This is often called a “viewshed” as it improved the view of the historic site for visitors. It will enable the visitors to have a better sense of how the land looked at the time of a historical event. In the case of this area, the burn can restore the lay of the battlefield as it was at the time of the Second Battle of Manassas fought August 28-30, 1862. At that time the area was pastoral. It was a series of connecting farm lands. The portion being restored by Prescribed Fire is known as the Brawner Farm. The Brawner family owned and farmed the land before and after the battle. The battle began from the front yard of the Brawner’s house and raged around the house and across their farm for three days.

The National Park Service (NPS) uses Prescribed Fires to satisfy both natural and cultural goals for the Parks of the United States. However, as stated by the management of the Manassas NBP, “safety is the main concern”. According the NPS web-page on Prescribed Fire the Park must develop its strategic management plan which provides the background and need for Prescribed Fires. In addition, each burn must have a specific “burn plan” which establishes the conditions that must be met before a burn is executed. For example, a burn would not be started on a windy day that might cause the fire to spread to other areas not intended to be burned. During the burn the fire is monitored by on -site staff who are trained in managing and suppressing fires in grass lands.

The burn has been completed, and I can walk the trails again. I and other visitors to the battlefield can now see in the distance the railroad cut along which the battle on the second day was fought. We can gain a sense of the openness of the fields across which that the Union troops charged while exposed to Confederate rifle and cannon fire.

The native grasses will return along with other native plants including blackberry vines and ground roses. These roses are sometimes called a rose for Wisconsin, in honor of the stand made by the Iron Brigade in the twilight on Brawner’s Farm. These wild roses (Rosa virginiana) grow close to the ground in fields where hay is cut. They may be found across Brawner Farm, growing beneath the scythe.

As the native grasses return, it is hoped that the population of Bob White quail (Colinus virginianus) will increase. The call of the coveys can sometimes be heard across the battlefield in the early mornings.

During the three-day battle 2,800 men were killed and over 14,00 were wounded. Today the land is peaceful again. But a walker who pauses to read the NPS signs can be aware of the pace and horror of the battle.

Information on the Park and on the Prescribed Burns may be found at: http://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2019/11/21/park-service-starts-prescribed-burns-at-manassas-battlefield/ ; https://www.nps.gov/mana/learn/news/prescribed-fire-april-2019.htm ; https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1965/wildfires-prescribed-fires-fuels.htm ; https://www.nps.gov/articles/600182.htm#4/35.46/-98.57

Beetles in the Fog

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.

I can only imagine that it is a curious sight. The first curious image is fog rolling onto and across a desert. A second, desert beetles facing into whatever breeze might be pushing the fog, with their beetle heads down and their beetle rears lifted upward so the fog, water laden, is pushed along its back.

These curious beetles are the Namib Desert Beetle (Stenocara gracilip) which face the breeze from the ocean and expose the wing-cases along their backs to the incoming fog and collect water from the fog that is condensed on its wing cases. Then due to the beetle’s curious posture the water droplets flow downward to the beetle’s mouth.

In the arid Namib desert on the south west coast of Africa, plants and animals must find a means to get water to survive. This is also true of many people around the world. Using methods similar to those of the beetle, devices have been constructed so some people in arid regions can harvest water from the moisture in fog. A project in Morocco has been under development since 2005. The project won a United Nations Climate Change award for the supplying villages with water from new water taps and supply line, and also for alleviating the burden on women who had to spend hours a day in drawing and hauling water from wells to supply their homes. Similar projects have been used in other arid locales that are close to an ocean.

More recently two papers were given at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics in Seattle Washington which took place earlier this month (November 2019). One was on the capability of gathering water characteristics of a single wire in a study related to the collection capabilities of designed projects. The other paper was based on a study conducted by Hunter King, of the University of Akron in Ohio, and colleagues which investigated how the Namib Desert Beetle collects water along its back. The abstracts of these two papers may be found at http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD19/Session/Q25.7 and http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD19/Session/Q30.1, respectively.

For the beetle the study shows how microscopic ridges, bumps and pits along the beetle’s hard wing case allow it to achieve an improved rate of water collection from the fog. The study included the development of 3D printed spheres with manufactured ridges, bumps, and pits of different configuration for testing in a wind tunnel. These test showed that the microscopic texture of the surface influences the behavior of the collected water droplets. In the case of the beetle these differences in the roughness and smoothness of the surface of the hard shell wing-case on the beetle’s back influenced the movement of the water droplets to the beetle’s mouth. The beetle is able to gather and consume water to enhance its survival in the arid desert. And it must be a wondrous sight to see.

It is through the investigation of different technologies that we, the people, will be able to find solutions to alleviate thirst, hunger, and illness around the world.

We, the fortunate few who have the most, should express or thanks always for what we have. We should also seek out ways to help our brothers and sisters who do not have the resources that we so often take for granted.

Art work above is a modification of picture borrowed from http://morawatersystems.com/biomimicry-the-namib-desert-beetle-a-source-of-inspiration/

Other articles include: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3949572/The-fog-catchers-Sahara-make-water-AIR-hundreds-people.html ; https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2016/09/197525/moroccan-fog-water-harvesting-project-wins-united-nations-award/ ; https://www.wired.com/2012/11/namib-beetle-bottle/ ; https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-20465982

Forest Triptych

There are three main levels in a forest. There is the base or ground level on which you enter the forest. There is the mid-level of the tree trunks and undergrowth of bushes, vines, and immature trees. And upper most there is the canopy of leaves.

At this time of year when I enter the forest, even on a well-trodden path, with every step there is a rustling of leaves beneath my feet. If there is a breeze up, there may be the quiet fall of the last leaves as they leave their summer perch in the trees and drift to the base, the floor of the forest. The loss of the leaves allows the distant drumming and raucous call of the Pileated Woodpecker to be heard through out the forest. At the edge of the forest where there is an old Pear tree, there is the drone of wasps as they fly around the rotting fruit as it lies on the ground. And if you are there in the rain there is the wandering, light sound of the rain drops as they fall from the lofty canopy onto the forest floor with its cover of leaves. The path into the forest is covered in leaves from Oak and Ash and Poplar and from the unnamed multitude of lower elevation eastern hardwoods. The leaves scatter with a slight rattle as I walk the path under the trees.

The forest takes on a different smell in the Fall. The Summer is more dry as the heat of the day evaporates the moisture and dries out the leaf litter and other detritus on the forest floor. In the Fall the forest may be wetter as the moisture is not evaporated as quickly because of coolness of the season. The pears by the forest entrance lend a heavy sweetness. The leaves as they give up their moisture give an earthy odor to the air. The sap in the trees is being drawn down into the roots. As it goes down the Poplar and Tulip trees do not give the same Summer richness in the forest. The Fall is a time of rest and decay which give rise to the new forests of Springs and Summers yet to come.

During the Fall, the canopy and the understory and on the forest floor each have a wash of a multitude of colors. The canopies of the various trees carry a new palate of color as it is lit from above by the sun and viewed from below. In Fall with its cooler temperatures and shorter days, the tree’s process of photosynthesis slows and then stops. The leaves no longer take up carbon dioxide from the air, nor release oxygen. The leaves no longer are making the sugars necessary for the tree to grow. As a factory, the tree is shutting down; it will restart in the Spring. Now the chlorophyll which gives the leaves their green color and which is the driver for photosynthesis, breaks down, and other pigments are revealed. The carotene and the xanthophyll which will give the leaves their red, to orange, to yellow colors are revealed. Walking below the multi-hued canopy on a sunny day is like walking inside a kaleidoscope. Colors that no one knows the names of (1) are thrown into the air.

All of these speak to the coming of Winter, and to the promise of Spring.

1. Wasn’t Born to Follow – The Byrds, https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wasn%27t+born+to+follow+easy+rider&view=detail&mid=48DFAEA971D863977A6948DFAEA971D863977A69&FORM=VIRE

Shot with the song in Easy Rider (1969) is at Sunset Crater National Monument, Arizona

Earthworms on Parade

I could hardly believe my luck. On my morning science news from the American Academy for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) list was not one – but two articles on earth worms. I am a fan! I can’t remember the first time I picked up an earthworm from the sidewalk after a rain. Which, by the way, I still do. But there is no way that I can get them all, yet I hate seeing their little desiccated carcasses lying on the sidewalk the next day. It seems that they are often caught between a rock (the sidewalk) and a hard place (the dirt). After a rain the layer of ground which they normally inhabit can become saturated and the tunnels the worms make as they move about become flooded. Just like you and me, the earth worms cannot breathe under water. They breathe, as in taking in oxygen, through their skin, not through their mouths. So they will often come to the surface of the ground and wander onto the sidewalk. If they stay in the grass they are pretty much ok.

I decided to check some of what I thought I knew and ended up at the University of Illinois Extension Service where Herman the Worm holds forth on all things worm-ish, https://web.extension.illinois.edu/worms/anatomy/index.html . The site states that worms like moist environments as their skin must stay moist in order to be able to absorb oxygen. So, wet ground is good for their skin, so they can breathe easier. But saturated ground is not good; it does not allow air to penetrate to the levels of the worms. They will drown. They will escape to the surface. Earthworms also come to the surface to mate. Both are important functions for these little creatures.

But back to the main line. The first time my grandfather took me fishing, I wanted to look for worms. He took me out under a old sycamore tree on his farm and told me to dig. I was fascinated by the worms I uncovered in the dark moist soil. My grandfather told me to leave them alone, that he had other bait to use for the fish. So I took a parting look at the worms, and off we went to his boat on the river bank.

All of us have probably found worms when we have dug into the soil. And because they like to be moist it would make sense that they prefer shaded places where the earth is soft and not dried out. But where in the world are they all? Both of the articles in my AAAS science news link mentioned a coordinated study of scientists which included 6693 sites in 57 nations across the globe. The study asked about their work with earthworms. Personally, I have found that worms always show up to work on time.

And what an amazing amount of work they do. We all most likely remember a science class in grammar school in which we learned that worms are an important constituent in soil health. They aerate the soil as they tunnel about. Their tunnels allow the flow of water into deeper levels of the soils. Their droppings (known as castings) fertilize the soil. All of these; fertilizer, water , and air are important aspects of plant root growth for healthy and robust crop production.

We salute you, little worms, and out of respect I will continue to help you off the sidewalk.

Two sites with information about worms and agriculture:

University of Illinois: https://web.extension.illinois.edu/worms/anatomy/index.html

Pennsylvania State University: https://extension.psu.edu/earthworms

Information about extension services:

https://nifa.usda.gov/extension

First Drive Out

Not in ever, but today was my first drive-out since my accident and recovery. Under the laws of my State if a driver has a medical emergency of a certain type while driving, they must relinquish their driving privileges for six months. The first two months were spent in the hospital and recovering at home. But whether it is six months or four months, for someone like myself who is used to the freedom that a car gives; it was a long time.

Although I could get rides to the store or the doctor, I could not drive myself to the park for a morning walk or to the woods for a hike.

But today, the six months were done, and I could get into my car and drive myself out to the woods and fields beyond my City for a walk.

You may have noticed that I have not characterize the length or the intensity of my walk or hike. Right now, that is not what matters. I am preparing myself once again for a long hike. So, I need to engage in re-conditioning. I am preparing for a mountainous hike; a hike with both length and intensity. But I have to start with a simple walk in fields and wooded hills. I will build up to the longer, more arduous hike. My preparation is physical, and it is mental – and perhaps also spiritual.

My walk today, through woods and open fields, was my first in six months. And the drive by myself out to these woods was also my first in six months. My first drive-out was for my first walk-out. A drive in my car should not be just for the drive itself. In these days of changing climate, my drive should have a higher purpose. Each of us must be aware of and reduce our impact on the atmosphere which is driving the changing climate of our Earth. Does my simple drive out to the woods tip the scales? I don’t think so. But I must be aware that my short drive, added to your short drive, plus his and her short drives, multiplied by several billion short drives, has a significant, multiple, negative impact on the atmosphere and on the climate of our world.

But I consider my drive worthwhile. For me it is part of my physical, mental, and spiritual recovery. My walk took me back into familiar patterns and into familiar places. I walked down to the foot bridge that crosses a stream that can swell in rainy weather, but is now a wandering rivulet. My return path took me past the small wetland that resides on the back side of the upward slope of a hill. On its upward slope the hill is covered in grasses and wild flowers. It is a browsing ground for the local white-tailed deer. At a point on the far side where the woods line the open field, a stream enters from the woods. This stream on the lower part of the hill has created a wetland. The wetland resides on both sides of the the course of the meandering stream. Horse Tails and Broom Sedge dot the wetland among the other wet grasses. It is is bordered with the last of the late summer flowers, Red Clover and Queen Anne’s Lace, along its margins.

My path takes me from hill top to stream to wetland to hilltop.

It was a grand, first walk-out.

The art work is from pictures I captured this morning. In it my shadow is superimposed on red clover (an introduced fodder plant) in the field.

There is also a picture of the Chinese Chestnut at the hill top.

Wetland plants identification using https://plants.usda.gov/core/wetlandSearch