Happy Earth Day!
Because of the COVID-19 Virus and social distancing, I have found myself thrust back closer to nature than I have been since I was a child.
Five weeks ago I traveled with some AERO staff members to visit their relatives in Virginia. It was to be a three-day visit. But Mother Nature had a different idea. While we were here all hell broke out where my home is on Long Island. It became dangerous to go back. Eventually the AERO staff members went back but I stayed here. I’m in the demographic most vulnerable to the virus, although I have maintained a very healthy diet for a long time.
The people I am staying with live in a community quite close to a pond. It has walking paths around it. So every day I go for a walk to try to stay in good physical condition, making sure that I maintain social distancing with the handful of people I encounter along the way. As time has gone on I’ve noticed that have become friendlier and friendlier, even as we give each other a wide berth. We sometimes have conversations from 10 feet away.
But another thing I have noticed is how dramatically different the pond is every day. It seems that each time I go there I see something amazing.
The most dramatic events have to do with the fish and the animals, but the constantly changing weather and light patterns are also breathtaking.
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Houses reflecting in pond
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Early on I saw a sad event; Along the side of the pond, near where the water flows out of it and into a rivulet into the woods, I saw a dead deer. I don’t know how the deer died.
Nearby I saw some big, black birds circling. I found out that they were vultures. Later on, as I walked around the other side of the pond, I saw what looked like a very tall, skinny bird statue a few feet into the water. Then the statue flapped its wings and flew gracefully away. I found out that it was a blue heron.
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Fish about to be thrown back
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People are allowed to fish in the pond, but must throw the fish back. One day I brought some bread and saw dozens of large mouth bass come up to the pier that jutted out into the pond. On another day I saw someone catch a small fish he called a crappie and then throw it back.
Many people fished from the pier with lures for long periods of time and caught nothing. It seems that the fish are on to avoiding lures.
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Petrified Snapping turtle
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But one day I saw someone fishing with hot dogs (a good use of them) and catch a pretty big catfish. It fought for a while, and after the young fisherman reeled it in, he had to work quite hard, with pliers, taking care not to be bitten, to remove the hook and throw it back in.
The next day, after seeing the dead deer, I was shocked to see that the vultures had practically picked it clean, with not much but a skeleton left. On succeeding days I saw that the vultures came back, time and time again, somehow getting more and more out of the carcass and bones, even dragging it a bit up the stone beach.
I decided to walk around the pond, not on the paths, but through the underbrush. Suddenly I was shocked to see a snapping turtle on the path. But on closer inspection I saw that it was dead and dried out. I still poked to make sure.
Watching this ebb and flow of life was very profound.
I saw a variety of other birds including ducks, geese, and robins. They seemed to coexist pretty well.
I began to see more of the blue herons (there seemed to be a pair). One day I saw one circle around and land on the fishing pier. Standing right on the railing where human fisherman fly fished, he stood absolutely still, even allowing me to walk up the wooden walkway, getting quite close to him. Then suddenly he dived into the water and with a whoosh he emerged with a big fish and flew away. Clearly his technique was much better than the humans, and he did not throw the fish back!
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The people I was staying with knew something about wild foods and we sometimes gathered wild chive and chickweed, which is a delicious green.
It is spring and the light green leaves have gradually been appearing on the trees, along with the beautiful cherry blossoms.
One day when we were walking we saw, deep into the woods, what we thought was a fox, and shortly after, a deer. Perhaps that’s what happened to the dead deer I saw at the side of the pond. More recently I saw the fox quite close up, with a big, bushy, red tail.
One of the most wonderful sights was heralded by the quacking of a duck, coming out from under the bridge by the outflow of the pond. She was closely followed by seven ducklings. Pretty soon another duck, perhaps the father, took the rear guard. When a third duck began to intrude on them, the two began to chase and herd him away, eventually forcing him to cross the street into the outflow area of the pond.
I’ve seen the mother with her chicks several times since then. The last time was just after dusk. I was happy to see them because it was just after I had seen the fox in the same area.
New life is fragile and precious in this time of the education revolution!
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Ducklings with deer skeleton in foreground
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