mumma yaga

June 25 If asked, I would have said I was walking north-northwest, towards the central creek and the lower cross-path.  I opened my compass: I was facing south-south west! In the woods I had turned around without realizing it. This is the trouble with going off-path. You can so easily, with weaving between branches and swampy places, turn yourself in entirely the wrong direction. You might walk in circles for a long time.   Could have sworn I was facing north! In these woods, even without a compass, you could probably find your way to one of the barriers of the land, the road, the paths, the creeks. Following a permanent creek one way or another will probably take you to a path or road. However, I was not hitting the creek which I thought was to my left; yes, for those who, like me, sometimes don't know left from right, it was really left. Except that I think sub-consciously I was aware that the sun wasn't right somehow. I don't know why else I would have thought to check m

  June 25 I thought I would walk up the second meadow, I  might see something new. I  looked under a log, which I do from time to time to see if there is a salamander under it. At the edge of the meadow, just by the trees the yellow-spotted salamander can be found. I was surprised to find a tiny red salamander i have never seen the likes of before! It is the Eastern Newt, in its juvenile stage.  "They live in terrestrial forest habitats for two to seven years during their juvenile stage . Even though they generally remain hidden under moist leaf litter and debris, you may see them moving about on rainy days and nights, foraging insects, worms, and spiders. This is the stage of life you’re most likely to see an Eastern Newt.  If you spot one, be careful – they have glands that secrete a potent neurotoxin when they’re threatened." (From BirdwatchingHQ.com)  I found a second one the next day! They are tiny, about two inches long.  Is that what called me up the meadow? We look fo

 June 16 2023 Rain The old pond swamp: The old pond dried up several years ago, before we came here. It was perhaps twenty feet deep and lovely for swimming. I have not figured out why, whether a stream from the west was diverted to the other side of the ridge by human or nature, or a crack formed in the foundation. All that is left is this small place, smaller this year than last. Bull rushes grow here though, which is a good thing. They are safe for now from the invading grasses, hidden so far from human traffic.  I found this tiny fern on the rise there. It is the brittle bladderfern. It is a citizen of the world - you can see on the map that it grows everywhere. I wonder how common it is for a plant to be so widespread, the same exact species. Ferns are old, yes, but I would be surprised that they had not evolved into different species, in the two hundred million years since Pangaea existed, before the continents drifted apart. Yet if they have changed in that time, then they someh