magnolia bluff is the second highest point in rock county, in the county’s western uplands area. the undisturbed cliff-side reveals the two primary forms of bedrock in the county: st. peter sandstone and dolomite limestone. the western ridge also harbors a population of the endangered plant, kitten tails(!).
a.
here limestone and sandstone meet,
bare themselves for all
naked to the eye and light
b.
standing on the place-rock
the winter sun sets
we are mammals seeking warmth
from paleozoic seabed to chisel and hammer
hewn sandstone grains, frosted, become
a wayside. wild carrot patrons now
this little building on the highway between janesville and edgerton in wisconsin is said to be an old tavern. an ancestor who lived west of here is rumored to have had a few too many in the old establishment one night before going off down hurd road and throwing ties on a track to derail train no. 143 from madison to chicago. the latter part is not rumor but documented. the record says no one was hurt, but he did some time.
the sandstone structure is beyond dilapidation now.
a.
down the power-line corridor
blue-stem, sleeping blazing-star—
jumping mouse gotta jump
b.
along the creek, old friends:
warm metamorphic stone
below box-elder canopy
c.
sun-shower on bass creek
peninsula, sand and loam
the stream’s great gift
kessler railroad prairie is just what it sounds like. an old rail line was ripped up and prairie restored out between hanover and afton in rock county. it’s a fun 13-acre strip of land along massive power lines, and how great that the corridor was made back into a place that could shelter so many species of native plants, rodents, and voles. bass creek runs thru. a welcome, windy visit to the grasslands this afternoon.
a.
winter sun glints
off marsh-ice below savanna
humble light for the world
b.
the hills swell and keel, breaking
for kettle hummocks. lone
hickory leaf tumbles down the incline
c.
the scent of scorched earth,
shock of tree-fall—
nuthatches keeping alive
fair meadows is a delightful patch of land with savanna, wet prairie, shrub-carr, and marsh communities. the land is well tended, especially with an eye toward increasing an endangered plant’s population. a fabulous walk, complete with getting “marshed” in ankle-deep water—completely worth it!
a special ‘thank you’ to the private owners of this sna for welcoming us onto their earthy treasure.
a.
heron tracks in the snow
wings in the air. the swamp
asks me to remember
b.
water everywhere—
in boots, ‘cross the path—a reminder
of our desire for comfort
c.
every dry leaf shaking
on the shagbark hickory
like God’s holy rattle
koshkonong corners is a 62-acre stretch of land contiguous with the lake koshkonong flood plain. a wonderful area, it has oak savanna, hard-wood swamp, sedge meadow, and wet-mesic prairie. restoration has been underway and continues to preserve a rare plant species and expand its population.
a very gracious ‘thank you’ to the private owner of koshkonong corners for allowing me to walk the land and take it all in on a gorgeous december morning.
a.
up the river valley we’ve come
to glacial world’s end
out-wash, kettle, ice-work
b.
tree-corpses glazed with snow
cold water driving granite
glimpse of bullrushes—ah! bogland
c.
the muskrats live a whole world here
their little neighborhood circled by tamarack
hunkering down now for winter
lima bog is a four-acre hard water bog lake surrounded by forest. tamarack and muskrat lodges greeted us as we came out of the wood to the open wetland area. early morning in the bog with the lowing of cows in the distance: can’t beat it.
fields of extinct prairie
on the way to scharines—
snout of the green bay lobe
the johnstown terminal moraine is the edge where the green bay lobe of the last glaciation left the final heap of rock and sediment of glacial till. it’s out near johnstown in rock county (my home county), and continues up to northern wisconsin. yet another example of how my and my family’s lives have been shaped by glaciation, the road we took to go see it is the road my wife used to drive up as a young girl to get her dad’s paychecks! here’re views of the approach and the moraine itself (and work) from inside the van.
Well: the original project of visiting all 28 State Natural Areas in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, and Racine Counties that I imagined when COVID-shutdown commenced is complete as of this morning with a visit to Fairy Chasm SNA. The original idea (visit each area, take one picture, write one three-line poem) blossomed out into many more pictures and poems, and two sub-series.
A HUGE thank you to my wife and kids (who’ve visited almost all of them with me), and to everyone who’s stopped here to read one, two, or all of them!
So: the original projection is done. But of course there are hundreds more SNAs, and I will press on visiting them and keep this project going as I’m able, since it has helped me to learn so much about the geology, natural history, and plant, animal, moss, lichen, and fungal communities of the world around me here in southeastern Wisconsin. But most of all, to forge connections with the earth itself (with all its various systems) and all these creatures who share our common home. So stay tuned if you like. 🙂
Here’s more:
a.
owls and kinglets at dawn
the chickadees keep us company—
rivulets into streams into seas
b.
we march along ridges
sky-jewel burning thru birches
logs thru translucent ice
c.
limestone my childhood’s rock
tumbled off unarticulated till—
death is worth this sedimentary brotherhood
d.
a downy woodpecker ensouls the sky
frost feathers leaf and moss
glaciers give bountiful gifts
e.
nature’s an abstraction. rock
and sand, water, bark and bird—
these touch the hand, creature the heart.
fairy chasm state natural area is a 22-acre plot of land surrounding—you guessed it—fairy chasm, a gorge thru which runs fish creek. the creek has worn thru unconsolidated glacial till and drains directly into lake michigan. the north side of the gorge has a micro-climate amenable to more northerly species, and a wood of white pine, white cedar, birches, and beech. the south side is gentler with juniper ground cover.
no wood-meres, water-elves, or other fairy-folk were spotted.
(i also took a detour into donges bay gorge natural area, since i parked there to get to fairy chasm…)
brilliant ochre plumes
ride beneath oak, walnut
peat deepens under sun
b.
small flowage
over peat and stone—
starlings, no cranes
peat lake is a very shallow lake with a mucky bottom, with sedge meadow and cattail marsh stretches. lots of birds, not many fish. a delightful walk all around. and the lichen growing on the iron bar of the gate near the wildlife refuge area was stunning.
this site and the chiwaukee prairie were our first s.n.a.’s in kenosha county—two more to go! thanks to the wisconsin dnr for preserving this site.
a.
east wind blowing
speaks in dried grass
straw and tan tones
b.
blade and stem
anchor earth
bluestem charm
chiwaukee prairie is one of the largest prairie complexes in wisconsin and one of the state’s most intact coastal wetlands. it spans thru-out a series of streets and houses, but has large segments of unbroken land too. it sits on swale and and ridge topography where lake michigan’s shoreline has receded in stages since the last ice age. over 400 species of plants find a home here.
tho’ mainly dormant now in late novemeber, the plant cover is still lovely in its dryness, especially in the winds off the lake. thanks to the wdnr for caring for this land, and to uw-parkside and the nature conservancy with helping acquire the land from developers.
Jacob Riyeff 