Logging

Cut logs waiting to be loaded and trucked to a chipper or pulp mill.

My neighbor has a major logging project going on in the woods between our place and his.  Jo and I can't yet figure out the full extent of the logging he has in mind, but it looks as if it might be extensive.  In the past, he's had the same section of woods selectively logged.  Only trees suitable for cutting into lumber were harvested.  This time, everything is being cut.  The logs will go to a pulp or wood chip mill since they're too small for saw logs.

Claw-jawed log loader on trailer.

The loggers began work on Monday.  So far, all they've done is clear a swath straight down the hill.  We have no idea of the purpose.

Log Skidder

This section of woods was heavily damaged during the severe ice storm of January, 2009.  None of the timber is suitable for anything except pulp or wood chips.  Our neighbor has talked about clearing this wooded area and turning it into another pasture for his cows since it's now "worthless".  We fear this logging may be the start of that clearing. Since the land belongs to him, all we can do is lament the loss.

Swath of timber cut straight down the hillside.

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Logging

Christmas Eve Deer

While not reindeer, I did see these two does on Christmas Eve.

(Note: There's enough firewood in that fallen tree behind them to get us through the winter and then some. Too bad I don't have any way to get it out of the woods.)

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Christmas Eve Deer

Fallen Tree

The amazing things isn't that the tree fell. What's amazing is that it was able to stand for as long as it did growing out of about six inches of soil on top of solid rock at the edge of a bluff.

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Fallen Tree

Late Fall or Early Winter?

It's starting to look a lot like winter around here.

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Late Fall or Early Winter?

Fall Color Past

A strong and gusty south wind blew all day Wednesday preceding the arrival of a new cold front. The wind stripped away almost all our colorful leaves. Only the oaks managed to hold onto their brown leaves. Oh, well. All things must pass.

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Fall Color Past

Sunday Walk

Jo and I (and the dogs) usually take our afternoon walk around four o'clock. With the end of Daylight Savings Time, our Sunday walk was actually taken an hour later than Saturday's. There was a dramatic diffenence in the sun's intensity and the length of shadows. The photo above is our road out -- our driveway -- about three quarters of a mile from the house. It is up near the gate, which is normally open, and is our "turn around" point where we reverse course and head back to the house. This is one of the best sections of our road because it's relatively flat and isn't prone to washing out.

Our driveway is technically a county road. It runs through land owned by our closest neighbor. Most of it is wooded, although he's partially cleared a few sections like this one where his horse, Pretty Boy, is grazing.

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Sunday Walk

Last Walk in the Woods

Butterfly Weed, 5/31/07 (Jo's photo)

On Friday Jo and I and the dogs took what will probably be our last walk in the woods until late next fall. Our normal daily walk route is a loop that's about 50/50 pasture and woods. A small part of the walk is on old cow trails, but the majority of it is just cross country -- and the country is getting too grown up for comfort and safety. As much as I enjoy being in the woods, walking through waist high grass just isn't much fun. You cannot see your feet to determine what you might be stepping on. You're bound to pick up at least a half dozen ticks along the way. And, between the maturing grass seeds and stick-tights, Rusty and Bucket come home looking like potential Chia Pets.

Jo was the first to suggest that Friday's walk should be our last for this summer. I protested, saying we'd continued walking that loop longer last year. I based my assertion on the fact that there are at least a couple blooming wildflowers (butterfly weed and larkspurs) we'd photographed last years that are not yet in bloom this year. Jo gently suggested that those wildflowers might be blooming later in 2008. I checked last year's photos and Jo was right. (Someday perhaps I'll learn that Jo's always right.) I certainly don't keep enough weather records or know the plants well enough to know why they're blooming later this year, but they are at least a week to 10 days behind.

For the remainder of the summer and early fall, we will take our daily walks up the road and back. There will still be wildflowers and more than enough bugs for us to photography along the roadside and in the yard, but I will still miss our daily trip through the woods.

Last Walk in the Woods

Cutleaf Toothwort

Photo taken 3/16/08

Cutleaf Toothwort

Other Common Names: Pepper Root
My best guess at an ID: Cardamine concatenata
Plant family: Brassicaceae (Mustard)
Habitat: Woodlands
Range: Throughout eastern and central North America
Plant Type: Native perennial
Lore: The roots (rhizomes) are said to have a peppery taste and can be eaten pickled, fermented (to make them sweet), boiled and eaten raw with salt. I haven't done a taste test.

This plant is the most prolific early-blooming wildflower in our woods. It doesn't have the most showy bloom, but is appreciated for it's abundance when little else is blooming. Cutleaf Toothwort is currently blooming throughout our woods.

Cutleaf Toothwort

Along The Winter Creek

Sunday afternoon Jo and I and the dogs decided not to walk our normal route and walk along the winter creek that runs through our place instead. (The dogs certainly didn't object. Rusty and Bucket are always ready to go and don't really care where.) Walking the creek is more like exploring. You cannot manage anything close to a walking pace because of the steep sides and all the rocks and boulders strewn about.





The creek should be flowing this time of year, but we haven't received enough rain this year. There were just a few pools of water scattered along the way. There were also "pools" of loose, dry leaves where the water should have been. These leaf pools made walking even more treacherous. A few of the larger ones were waist deep. A pool of water you can see, but when you step off into a pool of leaves, you think you're stepping onto firm ground, but step off into nothingness instead. Both Jo and I fell several time. Fortunately, there were no hidden rocks where we fell and the leaves provided a soft landing. We completely lost sight of Rusty when he unknowingly jumped off into one of the deeper leaf pools. He quickly dog paddled to the surface and swam onto firm ground.

Along The Winter Creek

Phlox

Photo by Marvin March 29, 2007

Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Phlox (Phlox divaricata) is by far our most common woodland wildflower during the spring, both in terms of quantity and length of bloom. Blue Wood Phlox have already been blooming for three or four weeks.

According to the ID guides I found online, the white phlox below is the same genus and species. The white variety is much less common, and the plants that I've found are growing as individuals, not in the clusters common to Blue Wood Phlox.

Photo by Marvin April 5, 2007

Additional resources:
Missouri Plants (blue)
Missouri Plants (white)
Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses (blue)

Phlox

Still Winter?

Even with all the wildflowers starting to bloom, the leafless trees remind you that spring is just barely getting started.

Still Winter?

A Nice Day For A Walk

We've enjoyed a string of really nice days -- chilly overnight, but warming quickly during the day. It's tempting to get started out in the garden, but it's still a little too early for that, although Jo does have the seedlings that will eventually become transplants started. They are doing well under grow lights.

I took the camera along on Sunday's walk, and since my hands were full with it, I let Bucket off her leash for most of the walk. While Boo may have a host of bad habit, running off in pursuit of a squirrel that happened to cross our path isn't among them -- not that she stays right with us either. Bucket is usually either lagging behind investigating some particularly interesting smell or running ahead and becoming exasperated at the rest of us for not keeping up.

The section of trial pictured is about three-quarters of the way around the loop that we normally walk every afternoon. After a bit of climbing, we'll be in the home stretch.

A Nice Day For A Walk