sna poems #80: waterloo quartzite outcrops

May 25, 2021 / jriyeff / 1 Comment

waterloo quartzite outcrops is a pair of sites with precambrian red quartzite and paleozoic conglomerate rock outcroppings. the northern site i visited is a clay loam island amidst wetlands along the crawfish river. the quatzite was apparently a manadnock (bare exposed rock uncovered by erosion) in the precambrian. this was my first visit in dodge county for this project, and a beautiful, foggy morning.

first i climbed the rise and saw my first mayapple blooming and a nice oak wood. on my way back to the river and amidst canada anemone, wild geranium, and virginia waterleaf stands, i came upon some of the outcroppings in secluded clearings. fabulous.

i caught sight of the first outcrop after spotting some stately mushrooms. i like when that happens. 🙂

traces of stone

under crane flight

geraniums in bloom

mayapple’s first blossom

high on the ridge where stock

and stone bide together

not mine to know

who’s splashing away

down in the hollow

a slow and mossy eruption

of brecciated quartz

smothered by soil and time

sna poems #79: crooked lake wetlands

May 12, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

crooked lake is a seepage lake surrounded by a diverse wetland complex all about (including open bogs, my favorite aside from fens…), forest, cedar lake, and other unnamed lakes—all settled amidst the interlobate morainal hills of the northern kettle moraine. crooked lake’s outlet forms a tributary of the east branch of the milwaukee river, which flows right down the hill from my place in milwaukee on its way out to lake michigan.

fantastic walk with perfect spring weather under glorious skies, and many spring ephemerals—some emerging, some at full tilt, and others already on their way out for the year. saw our first stand of bellwort, which i’ve been looking for since last march, so it was a sheer delight to lay in the soil and spend some time with them.

this was the last state natural area to explore in sheboygan county. good to have another county covered, but, as we say in wisconsin: forward!

liverwort dying back

on each and every hillside

the lake only from afar

streakt & frilling threeness

skirts trunk & frogcall

mayapple waiting to bloom

legging it past kettle bog

and eureka! you’ve found me—bellwort

riding above the muck

since i haven’t stated this here in a while: this “state natural area poems” project began last year when lockdown happened in wisconsin, in order to have something to do with my kids as well as to keep us grounded in our local and regional habitats.

it started with the idea of visiting a state natural area (the preserves with the highest protections in wisconsin), going for a walk, taking a picture, and writing a three-liner about whatever we encountered there. and the original area was milwaukee county and adjacent counties. it’s now mushroomed into the main series and two sub-series, way more counties, and usually many more than one photo and one poem per site. the natural world just gives too much for such meager making!

i’ll keep going until we run out of sites to visit (not likely) or breath leaves the body.

peace to you and yours.

sna poems, supplementum #22: indian mounds and trail park

May 2, 2021August 9, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

indian mounds and trail park lies on a slope overlooking lake koshkonong in jefferson county. the rock river flows thru the lake and it once looked like a meadow because of all the wild rice and other wetland plants that grew in it.

the mounds here were built somewhere between ca. 200 BCE to 1200 CE by the woodland peoples. some of the mounds are “conical,” while others, like those above and below, are effigy mounds in the shape of birds, and still others in the shape of water spirits.

it was a perfect spring day for a hike with family, and so many spring ephemerals and other flowers were out on display: mayapple, cut-leaved toothwort, virginia bluebells, and the first of the jack-in-the-pulpit, et al. i’d been looking to find cut-leaved toothwort since last spring, so this was a particularly exciting stop.

among the mounds, sun

breaking in. cut-leaved toothwort

low petal shower

sna poems #77: allen creek wetlands

April 30, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

allen creek wetlands is a small wetland complex of wet sedge meadow, wet prairie, and fen along allen creek, which flows into the rock river a bit south of the site. access is limited, but we were able to have some fun interaction at the wetland’s edge. a lovely stand of marsh marigolds said ‘hi’ from the ditch on the other side of star school road.

the ripe smell

of ropey gametophytes—

kids on the moss

the deeps of life

duckweed, branch

marsh marigold in sun

sna poems, supplementum anthropocenum #8: black hawk island

April 28, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

black hawk island is a strip of low-lying land on the rock river near fort atkinson, wisconsin and lake koshkonong. it also just so happens to be the nearly life-long home of wisconsin’s preeminent poet, lorine niedecker. with my growing admiration of niedecker’s work over the last few years, it was a bit of a pilgrimage to visit her cabin and be physically present for the first time where her “life by water” occurred.

my own early life was supported and shaped by the same river, downstream, flowing past the edge of the glacial outwash fan i grew up on, and i admit to a certain naive camaraderie with lorine on account of this riparian confluence. either way, it was fantastic to have a few spare moments where she lived and made.

we found

ourselves there—

water

everywhere

sna poems #75: butler lake flynn’s spring

April 26, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

set in kettle-moraine state forest’s northern unit, butler lake is a 7-acre marl-bottomed lake with surrounding sedge meadow, and flynn’s spring is a small spring brook that flows into the lake. a former tamarack swamp has all but died off, tho’ tamaracks are growing in other sites now.

rising above the western shore is parnell esker, which is four miles long, is 5-35 ft. tall, and was formed by a sub-glacial river that filled in with gravel and other sediment during the last glaciation.

i hope to get back to spend more time here some day, since i had to get back to the city fairly quickly after i climbed to the eskertop. (continuing note: this was the last flip-phone visit, so these images are still low-res.)

the sedge’s show

quiet and waving

sun out from clouds

footfalls and lamb’s ear

on the eskertop—

some are soft, some rough

do you hear the tamaracks

sing as they drown?

birdsong on the water

sna poems #73: muehl springs

April 24, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

muehl springs is largely a sedge meadow formed by springs, with some woods nearby. the whole is situated on rolling ground moraine and very near the more dramatic interlobate moraine that features so dominantly in the area.

it was a nice, quiet visit with mushrooms, mayapple, and lots of sedge.

birch and oak share

a sloping glacier’s gift

of gravel and ten-thousand years

the sedge-maze and cattail alleys

we defer to crane and goose—

redwing flashing trill

sna poems #72: rhine center bog

April 23, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

rhine center bog is a bog lake formed within a kettle, the depression left by a melting block of buried glacial ice. tamaracks to the south, a mesic hardwood forest on the uplands, and dense, boggy ground all about.

my trip was punctuated by light submersion in the peat (with appropriate footwear) and by the leavings of animal and bird corpses—the latter a poignant reminder of the aspect of nature walks we don’t often like to think about. and caution: a few pictures of the remains (not too graphic) appear after the final three-liner.

(note again: still on the excursion with the flip-phone, so photos aren’t all that clear.)

the bog exhales with each step

under marsh wren’s tone-spray,

here where piling tussocks reign

skunk cabbage

deer scat:

sphagnum perch

yellow birch conspired with moss,

offered an island for human bones—

no names for birds all around

fungus and tooth

would make quick work

if i fell and didn’t get up

sna poems #71: cedar grove hawk research station

April 22, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

positioned on a broad beach of glacial lake algonquin, cedar grove hawk research station is an active area for raptor migrations and has served as a banding and recording site for research for over 60 years. i learned that it has the longest running activity of banding and recording in north america, which is something.

there were a great many birds singing the day i visited, and while i’ll admit i couldn’t identify a number of them by their songs, i’ll also submit i simply didn’t care as i sat on the hillside in the morning air.

as this is a more sensitive site, i’m very grateful to the wisconsin dnr for permitting me to visit!

(note again: photo quality won’t be as high as normal here and in the next few posts, as i used the old flip-phone for this excursion. though in ways i like the lower res for this project sometimes; it seems to fit the immediacy and spontaneity i’m aiming for here. and i like to use old technology anyway—i still listen to audio cassettes and things like that…)

past sand pipers

over graves to this place

where the downed trees lie

i keep to the ridgeline

shore of a now-gone sea

grown thick and hoary with birdsong

thorns pierce on hillside

gathering damp toward the pines

warbling on above

sna poems, supplementum #20: amsterdam dunes preservation area

April 21, 2021 / jriyeff / Leave a comment

amsterdam dunes preservation area is a 328-acre preserve made up of lake michigan shoreline, rare sand dunes, forest, and wetland areas. somehow it avoided development. there’s also a little playground. direct access to dunes on lake michigan this far south in wisconsin is uncommon, so thanks to sheboygan county for tending this piece of land and opening it to the public!

(note: photo quality won’t be as high as normal here and in the next few posts, as i used the old flip-phone for this excursion. though in ways i like the lower res for this project sometimes; it seems to fit the immediacy and spontaneity i’m aiming for here. and i like to use old technology anyway—i still listen to audio cassettes and things like that…)

spine against dune

cormorants over waves

the sun shining now