door county

sna poems #151: north bay

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well, we’ve crossed the line over 150 state natural areas visited. hadn’t thought we’d get here when this began, especially when this project started slowing down after things picked up once the worst of the pandemic was behind us. but here we are. a trip to door cty last week put us across the 150 line.

north bay sna in door cty is a varied site with undeveloped shoreline on lake michigan (rare in door cty), wetlands, springs and seeps, mesic and boreal forest. i only walked thru the coniferous woods at the beginning of the site from the dead end road, but was pleasantly surprised by the variety of plant life, club moss, et alia. got some weird vibes about a half hour in and trusted it since i was alone and turned round, but a fine afternoon jaunt nonetheless.

first id of pearly everlasting, spurred gentian, northern bugleweed, and red baneberry!

a.

so many ferns here

too few names

birch limbs all around

b.

this lune is for you,

dear lorine—

everlasting bracts

c.

how to put in words

the texture

of club moss and fir?

d.

such small minutemen

on cypress

is bear lurking near?

first day of the new academic year, here i come.

sna poems #146: moonlight bay bedrock beach

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a gem. moonlight bay bedrock beach is a dolomite beach that is sometimes covered by water and sometimes not. we had a fabulous time walking along the shore, in and out of the water, onto dolomite boulders looming out of the water, rock hopping, etc. an incredible habitat, very unique.

first ids of painted cup paintbrush, hidden spike moss, low calamint, narrow-leaved loosestrife, little green sedge, american three-square bulrush, and meadow anemone.

a.

hopkins’s flame-catcher

here and there

hunting on the bay

b.

a spare claw pale blue

gulls feeding

dolomite island

c.

just me and the toad

admiring

wind-waving paintbrush

sna poems #145: mud lake

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mud lake is a marl-bottomed lake that drains into lake michigan via rieboldt creek. i had my family drop me off on the side of hwy 57 to tromp in, but quickly ran back to the van to get a hooded sweatshirt for the deer flies—such swarming i couldn’t take it. but w/ only partial face exposed, i got back in and the sun and breeze were doing a real number on the swamp: water and cattails undulating, dragonflies everywhere, and new forbs. too short a visit, but a blessing nonetheless.

first id of bladderwort, swamp milkweed, deer flies, and smooth saw-grass.

a.

moth on swamp milkweed

and deer flies

all over my hands

b.

land of dragonflies

and monarchs

the swamp’s yellow mouths

c.

beneath tamaracks

saw-grass sways

flowering july

sna poems #144: kangaroo lake

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we’ve driven over the late-1800s causeway thrown across marl-bottomed kangaroo lake heaps of times. but we’ve never stopped to walk around, until a couple weeks ago. it was hot, and the bugs were starting to come out, but it was a fun time nonetheless. ovenbirds singing in the trees, new plants, the lakeshore, a narrow path leading thru cedars, and dryad’s saddle almost as big as my 6-year-old!

first ids of sensitive fern, and sulphur cinquefoil,

a.

the ovenbird sings

her sun song

walls of juniper

b.

blue-tongued shoreline spike

a tower

for mud-bodied frog

c.

a six-year-old pack

on my back

running to laughter

niedecker-inspired pastiche out from _boats against the current_

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publications have been in a lull for a couple months, but yesterday the independent poetry journal boats against the current brought out my series of imagistic scenes based on time in door county, wisconsin.

i was reading lots of lorine niedecker (one of my favorite poets, who grew up and lived along the river i grew up near—the rock) at the time of this retreat to the door peninsula, and the work here shows her influence.

grateful to editor mckenna themm for giving this one a home. check out the good work she’s doing on the site.

here’s a picture of the iris in question in the poem’s final scene, growing along heinz creek:

sna poems #95: logan creek

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logan creek sna lies on the northern side of clark lake and is dominated by a northern wet-mesic forest. a small prairie buffers the parking lot from the woods.

we had a fun time running thru the beeches and hemlocks, cedars and birches. critters mammalian, amphibian, and reptilian darting off the path ahead of us left and right. one of the board walks was out, and we were losing daylight, so we weren’t able to see the lake, but hopefully we’ll be back some day.

first id of ramps by the flowers.

thanks to the ridges sanctuary for tending this land!

a.

amphibians rustle and pause

reptiles in the evening sun

a grasshopper hanging low

b.

we admire the fungal beech-ring

and slumping birch graveyard,

mourn the absent hemlock

if you made it this far: here’s a good reminder to keep your wits about you. this birch fell completely along the trail. if someone had been on that bench, they’d have had quite a view of the fall…

sna poems #94: whitefish bay dunes

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it was a hot one. i visited whitefish bay dunes—what the wdnr calls “the largest and most significant Great Lakes dunescape in Wisconsin”—when it was in the mid-90s. tough going but very focused, and not many other folks on the trails. the dunes range from open beach right on the lake to heavy forest a couple dunes back.

i took the northern trail to “old baldy” (the highest dune in wisconsin at 93 ft above lake level), which came out of northern mesic forest into open glades of juniper and fern, not to mention all sorts of small, ground-hugging plants i hadn’t the slightest clue on. very unique habitat inhabited by very unique flora. after climbing up baldy i took the southern trail back, which lulls thru a forest of balsam fir, white cedar, and birch on the backside of the fore dune—very fragrant and pleasant despite the heat, especially along the hollows.

(by the way, i love that the wdnr uses the word “dunescape.”)

a.

thimble berry thick

on the midday sunning earth

dune asks nothing

b.

porcupines are there somewhere

behind aspen stumps

and miniature fountains of moss

c.

juniper and fern

are friends

in the dune-glen

d.

solitude here on tallest dune

as aspens crest-quake

no one else so foolish in the heat

e.

words are bountiful

but no smell of balsam fir

touch of outcropping

if you got this far: look at this snail doing her balancing act on top of a small forb (about six inches tall at most). it was eery and delightful.

state natural poems #20: meridian park a, b, & c

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a.

ferns waving flank

our footsteps, hornworts, bedrock

chainsaw echo on dolomite

b.

ankles ache below beech and hemlock

the sedge softness and alkaline marsh

tramping earth while we draw breath

c.

if beech trunks aflame

won’t tell us of heaven

what on earth will?

meridian state park is a forest, alkaline marsh, and sedge meadow on an isthmus between kangaroo lake and lake michigan in door county, wisconsin. the prominent outcropping of the niagra escarpment is something else, but so is the wood and the marsh. tremendous. thanks to door county for tending this land, and the workers who were there clearing trails as we walked them.

state natural area poems #19: bailey’s harbor boreal forest and wetlands

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a.

berms and hills

tumbling moss

forest going to sleep

b.

sprays of birch

over upright apes

gold in the air

c.

you push thru pines your height

and thimble berry dense

young in the boreal forest

d.

birch leaves radiant, frogs

and mushroom gills spread

moss mats thick on the ground

bailey’s harbor boreal forest and wetlands is exactly what it sounds like! a fantastic and barebones trail thru the woods with extensive bryophytes and currently-blazing fall colors. a newer section goes along the lakeshore. thanks to the wisconsin dnr for caring for this site!