The Woodland Deck
~ story and photo by Jim Eagleman
“ A
new day is a promise to do something new and exciting,” my mom used to say. An early riser and domestic engineer, she had wash flapping on the line and garden produce ready for the day’ s meals by the time I staggered to breakfast. Years later, I am reminded of this mantra, now nearly a pledge—“ Do something new and exciting.”
I scan the sky above me on this summer day. There is no need to check the weather app. Blue sky is visible thru the tree tops. Large white oaks and pignut hickories, Brown County trademarks, tower overhead. What promise do they hold?
For some, lying on one’ s back, prone and on a soft mat may be a strange way to start the day. But if you are a new convert to yoga and enjoy birds and early mornings, an isolated wooden deck in the woods is a quiet and safe place to feel accepted. Among other things, it is here I recall my days at my college field station and early ornithology and botany classes.
Looking skyward I recalled what a professor said about summer leaves—“ too numerous to count.” Thankfully we were spared that assignment. During the course of a summer day, each clump can twist to expose as much of the surface to the sun as possible, even the lower ones. Growth occurred earlier, a short 30 – 40 day period from mid-May to mid-June, with another annular ring added and more height. Arboreal plumbing systems now work at full capacity as roots take up nutrients and moisture evaporates nightly from leaf surfaces.
The“ chick-burr” of a scarlet tanager and an unmated wood thrush punctuate the cool air where I lay. Slow, gradual winds move top branches in wide oval sweeps. The forest has another day to continue its destiny. If you ever doubted trees produce a lot of stuff, inspect a place you swept clean the day before. Leaves, small branches, webbing, insect egg cases, bark particles, frass, and pollen rained down throughout the night. It should be a good year for acorns. The oaks had a bumper crop of flowers this spring.
The forest floor acts as a trash basket. It is here all debris and accumulated material collects. To some, it is a cemetery. Dead insects, animals, snake skins, bones, antlers, and insect bodies decay, decompose, and rot into the soil. It can also assume the role of nursery. New plants arise from maturing seeds and spores, new generations of insects, birds, and animals are reared here. Life can start up and end here.
We Brown Countians are engulfed in, and are lucky to be a part of, this dynamic system of trees, plants, and animals. It’ s all around us, altering our lives. Downed trees cause power outages and storm debris block roads. High water causes detours. On the plus side, undulating seas of green, glorious, refreshing, and far-reaching greet us at every curve. Bedrock sandstone beautifies patios and walls. Woodland streams flow through ravines into pristine lakes. Roadside flora color changes weekly— lush and vibrant this spring into summer. Then a predictable, crispy-dry mid-August, seasonal change in the forest is part of the dynamic of this southern Indiana ecosystem.
“ How will you ever learn all of it, Mr. Eagleman?” a hiker once asked me after we keyed out a plant.“ There’ s a lot out there.” Did he mean just the plant community, or all of nature?
“ You can’ t,” I replied, recalling my professors who hinted as much.
56 Our Brown County July / August 2016