A walk down to Beaver Town

With the arrival of fall, it's getting a bit brisk here in the Crooked Wood. Since moving Wholehearted House this spring, I have not set the woodstove back up or unwrapped the chimney that was covered in plastic and tuck tape a year ago. Although cooking on the propane stove is a source of warmth, it isn't very efficient to use it to try to heat my whole house.

I'll be moving to my winter accommodations soon, but I'm loathe to leave the peace and quiet of this place (even though I know my winter housemate and I have lots of good times ahead – many wonderful meals, cribbage games and conversations).

Still, for a couple more weeks, I'm toughing out the chilly nights and treasuring my solitude. In the battle against the chill, I have many tools: hot tea and soup, blankets, my beloved slanket, hoodies, layering, long underwear, hats, car drives with the heater going full blast, visits to the homes of friends and family, warm public refuges like the library and movie theatre, hot flashes and most effective of all, exercise.

Today, I knew I needed to get my blood moving and decided to go for a walk, ostensibly to look for mushrooms, even though the weather has been so dry that I knew the chance of finding any was probably nil (and I was right about that).

Even though I've lived here all summer, I haven't explored my land very thoroughly. For the most part, I stick to the area bounded by my house, garden, shed, clothesline and compost heap.

Here is a photo of the edge of the clearing made on my land. Most of my land looks like this: tall trees, with lots of standing and fallen dead wood.

Today, I decided to set out to explore the less traveled parts of my land. It's only three acres (which is about the size of three professional soccer fields), so I figured it wouldn't take very long. Salinger decided he would come with me.

Salinger, showing off his tree-climbing skills on our walk today.

The Crooked Wood is roughly rectangular. It has about 150 feet that front the road and then goes back about three times that distance with (more or less) straight sides. The line at the back of my property is a jagged line, because that boundary is created by a little stream called the Kissing Brook (also known as the Line Brook to the less lyrical.)

The Kissing Brook at the end of a long, dry summer.

I hadn't been right up to the edge of the brook before today because in usual conditions, there is a large area of swampy wetland surrounding the brook itself: the sort of boot-swallowing expanse of stinky mud that is very difficult to navigate. In fact, before today, I thought the swamp was the brook. But with the very dry weather we've had this summer, the swamp is much easier to maneuver, so I was able to explore the whole area and discover that the brook has a distinct shape, separate from the swamp around it.

Obviously, the land around the brook didn't used to be swampy; the trees that grew on its banks haven't survived the wetter conditions and are mostly standing dead.

I had heard from my neighbours that there are beavers living in the Kissing Brook, and indeed, there were signs of them everywhere. Salinger was unusually vocal around the beaver dam – as if he was trying to make sure I was aware of the proximity of some very large rodents. I wonder if he has had nocturnal run-ins with them?

Busy beavers!

Interrupted half-way through the task?

What did you use to cut that down with – a beaver?

Home sweet beaver home

The back of the main dam is on the right in this photo. There is a very orderly pile of sticks on the left. Is it the beaver equivalent of a lumber yard?

The main dam can be seen from my land, but it is actually located slightly past my property line on land belonging to of one of my neighbours.

Uprooted trees decorate the banks of the brook

Fallen trees make handy shortcuts for Salinger

I had to laugh at myself – I got disoriented on three separate occasions during my walk. Because of the steep slope that drops down to the swamp, my home and those of my neighbours are not visible from the brook. With only the winding water as a reference point, I was trying to cross my land from side to side but twice I got turned around and ended up back at the same property line from which I had started! Finally, I walked back up into the inhabited portion of my land and crossed to the other property line, then walked down it and traveled from that side over to the other.

The third time I got disoriented was when I saw this marker – I thought it was the property line, but it's not. I can't think what it marks, it seems completely random...

The vegetation by the brook is very different than in the wooded portion of my land. Under the tall trees there are mosses, ferns and lichens as well as many of the sweet, little, woodland flowers that I love. Since the trees by the brook are dead or dying, there is a lot more sunshine down there and the plants are mostly grasses, reeds and burrs. Here is a photo of some asters (which always remind me of my Nana <3) – as well as some very thirsty grass.

I learned many things on my walk today. My land goes back further than I thought and there is a variety to it that I hadn't examined before. And while I didn't meet any of my beaver neighbours, I did get a sense of their habitat – and their industry. Apart from the occasional mushroom hunt, I plan to leave them alone to beaver away at their lives in peace.

After today, I feel motivated to become more familiar with this piece of land. I want to be able to recognize every inch and have landmarks that will tell me where I am at all times. I want to see it change through the seasons and the years ahead. I predict that there will be many more walks through The Crooked Wood.