sna poems #89: parfrey’s glen (first sna created!)

June 14, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

parfrey’s glen is a sandstone conglomerate gorge thru which runs the appropriately named parfrey’s glen creek. located on the south flank of the baraboo hills, a precambrian monadnock ring in southcentral wisconsin and one of my favorite places on earth. the glen, due to the cavernous shade and seeps of the walls, supports plant species usually found more northerly in wisconsin, as well as rare plant and insect species.

the end of the formerly well-groomed trail was destroyed by a flood several years back, but the sure-footed are still permitted to press on up the stream to a small waterfall and pool. the enveloping of stone and water is something else.

parfrey’s glen was also the first designated state natural area in wisconsin, so it felt even more relevant visiting this time, as this project has drawn on over the last year+. my first spottings of solomon’s seal, false solomon’s seal, and goat’s beard in the field to boot!

grasshopper spray

and

new forb friends

we haven’t

enough words

for water

sna poems #88: lost lake

June 13, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

lost lake is a kettle-like depression in a ravine, surrounded by alder thicket and oak woods. my walk was mainly on the slope headed down into the thicket wetland area. once i got into the hollow i didn’t have the proper footwear to keep going into the muck, so i trekked back up the slope to some larger quartzite boulders along a rivulet to take in the woods a bit.

tho’ i’ve never lived in columbia or sauk counties, my grandparents used to live in sauk, so my childhood impressions of the natural world are very much caught up in the sights and smells of this area. right when i got out of the car and into the woods, the scents made a very welcome homecoming. an excellent early-morning start.

(b.n.: i was trying out a new hand-held camera on this trip, so some shots are blurrier than i wanted or color a bit off…the experiment goes on.)

boulders and fern

smells of childhood

green silhouetted

me and the columbine

on this streamed

quartzite perch

here is the hollow

where

skunkcabbage reigns

sna poems, #87: new munster bog island

June 10, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

new munster bog island is sandy knoll of hardwoods surrounded by shrub-carr and tamarack bog. the kids were along for this one, and a couple did try to bushwhack with me, but that shrub-carr was tough, and we got turned back before we reached the knoll.

however, after some time crawling around in the mud and moss, we went back and enjoyed the habitat around and in palmer creek, which lies between the sna and the parking area. saw waxwings and herons, springs under bold spring skies. lovely.

i did find a patch of watercress (thanks to the wdnr and british poet geraldine clarckson for the i.d.), which was very pretty, but also a non-native that can choke out other plants in cold-water springs. and it was in a spring run. next time i’ll forage it, giving other plants some room and us some food direct from the earth.

mud-sea

moss-mat

holds afar

we’re grendels

in the mere—

bog monsters

waxwing in the willow

your form

to the pine crown

sna poems #86: texas island woods

June 8, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

texas island woods is a mature hardwood forest inhabiting an “island” upland surrounded by marsh and shrub swamp in jefferson county, wisconsin. access is via a causeway path, which i assume is man-made. this was my last hike of the day, and it had gotten really hot for the first time this year.

that wasn’t so bad, but the fact that the woods is surrounded by wetlands meant there was also a serious number of mosquitoes—while this is wisconsin and i should be prepared for them, it was early enough in the year that this was the first time i’d been swarmed. trying to take pictures, my hands were covered by 8-10 mosquitoes by the time i was able to close the (digital) shutter…

but a delightful wood with what appears to be a healthy under story, with lots of large-flowered trillium and mayapple. the highlight of the trip was getting close enough to the wood’s edge to see that it was in fact an “island” by the break in trees and water/marsh plants beyond (as above). this was the last sna to visit in jefferson county!

here is the misstep, the weak-knee

it’s late in the day

among the shagbark and trillium

mosquitoes cloud

and thorns tear

in this island wood

sna poems #85: jefferson tamarack swamp

June 5, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

jefferson tamarack swamp holds the largest forested wetland in jefferson county. tamarack stands, sedge meadow, areas covered with sphagnum (not the spots i visited on my briefer walk), some uplands that are drier (where i walked). the dnr page for this sna notes that there is a large effigy mound on an oak island, but i was not able to search it out this time—one of the best reasons to come back!

got to share my visit with deer and cranes, as well as “weed” species underfoot that i had a particular affection for all of a sudden. they’re just creatures trying to survive too. 🙂

campion and culms

for four-footed ruminants

over hills, under sun

in the sedges

they’re stately—

but the bounding colt!

dandelion and clover

are forbs as well

bearing the image of God

sna poems #84: faville prairie

June 4, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

one of the largest low prairie remnants in wisconsin, faville prairie was once a part of the 2,500-acre crawfish prairie. shifted hydrology in the area has led to drier conditions in part with more woody species, and a wetter sedge area.

this was one of the sites whose preservation aldo leopold fought for, and it became a sna in 1952. it was a terrific stop, with several first-time id’s of forbs for me. thanks to the uw-madison arboretum for allowing me to walk this land, as visits are restricted.

deer break/

wing blur/

there: spiderwort

a southwind trembles the prairie

swirls of whorled lousewort

and clutches of hoary puccoon

cranes and spotted frogs

phlox and shooting star,

all give a nod to aldo

sna poems #83: waterloo prairie

June 2, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

waterloo prairie is a couple parcels of land along stony brook, one with a fen and many seepages, the other with a larger wet prairie meadow. i visited the latter, moving thru a small wood with wet, boggy patches thru-out to get out into the open.

as was the theme of the day, sandhill crane calls rattled back and forth over the meadow’s expanse.

ruddy partners

calling out

in the wet meadow

from prairie to edge

wood to boggy patch

boggy patch detail

sna poems, supplementum anthropocenum #10: island road b/t reals lane and setz lane

June 1, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

on the way between two state natural areas in dodge county, wisconsin, i spotted a bird flying that looked duck-like, but it’s neck was far too long. then after a couple turns i spotted an unexpected sight: a green heron perched on a power-line along the highway.

couldn’t help stopping to have a look and take a picture, even if, as i keep saying with regard to bird photos, the camera i’ve got just won’t capture them well. time well spent.

silent heron angled

off coursing parallel lines:

her electric sedes

New Elf-charm translation in _Ancient Exchanges_

May 29, 2021 / jriyeff / 2 Comments

One thing I enjoy about the early medieval period is that folks still recognized elves, mares (think: “night-mare”), dwarves, etc. as existing. Not as a throwback or counter-cultural belief, but it was “just the way things were”—to the point that they had medical recipes and “charms” or incantations or spells (or something!) called galdru (singular: galdor) to help those who fell victim to them.

I’ve been translating several of these verse compositions in Old English that deal with how to handle elves, dwarves, worts (plants), in ways that are what most of us would refer to as “magical.” Several are forthcoming, but here’s the first in the journal Ancient Exchanges, with text and audio: “Against the Water-Elf-Disease.”

sna poems #82: chub lake oak savanna

May 28, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

chub lake oak savanna is a 21-acre plot south of chub lake. large oaks and shagbark hickory dominate the area, but the regeneration of trees here has made a thicker canopy, which has led to overgrowth in the understory. parts looked like densely grown forest.

but it was a nice, secluded place for a walk and to enjoy the muddy lakeshore. partway thru i spotted an inchworm on my vest, and he ended up on my rough papers, which was a treat. more cranes.