One of the rare flattish spaces in the home woods, which I call The Peninsula. It's one of the few places where one could pitch a tent. I love the scenery from here.
Finally Back Into the Woods!
Home Woods
October 17, 2025
So many variables had kept me from exploring my Home Woods all summer: storms and heavy rains, very hot weather, my own physical pain that made it hard to wander. We had so many storms, and I tend to avoid going into these woods, which are mainly slopes, after a storm, heavy rain, or strong winds, due to the loosening of trees and limbs. In fact, a number of times we heard, from the porch, the crackle and snap of wood breaking, the clatter of it falling through the canopy, and the plunk of heavy wood hitting the ground. I had been wondering what had fallen, but could not see anything well enough by looking down from the top edge of the woods.
Evidently, Silas and N.T. had taken many trips into the woods over time, wearing a now-obvious trail. This is where I tend to enter the woods, and I think they had missed going with me.
By October 17, I was feeling well enough to start exploring again, and the rash of storms had been well behind us. In fact, we had been in a period of drought, and this turned out to be the last day of it. I had a good window of opportunity before the rains started and I had also learned to take advantage of days when I was doing better.
Looking along the slope to the southeast of where I entered the woods - still a very green scene.
Leaves were just barely starting to turn color, so most of the scenery was still quite green. The leaf litter layer was just starting to form on the woods floor, too.
The low area in the bottom of the woods, with the dry Creek to the right.
A canopy shot, with one spot of red.
One of the fallen trees was an old one that had stood near Cottonwood Pond, decaying over a long time. I was not surprised that it had fallen, but somewhat surprised that it hadn't fallen sooner. Various insects and other critters (including woodpeckers) had been gnawing, chopping, pecking at it for a long time.
A piece of bark had fallen across it - to me it resembled a Gar fish!
Besides the work that had been done on the fallen, rotten tree, I found other signs of animal life.
At the tail end of a drought, I did not expect to find much variety of fungi, especially the fleshy, more short-lived kinds. What I did find were the tougher shelf mushrooms growing on trees and logs, which have their own variety and beauty.
There were a number of green plants, some at the end of their season ...
... and some recently emerged, either evergreen or starting their cycle in late summer and autumn.
These are new leaves of Puttyroot Orchid. They will be evident all winter. Next spring they will start to wither. If the plant is ready to flower, then a flowering stalk will rise in late spring to sport tiny orchids. These will develop into oval brown seed pods that will hang onto the stalk. Then new Puttyroot leaves will arise in the fall again.
At the top of the back slope Silas, N.T. and I were hearing some rattles through the trees and loud plunks onto the floor. Green-husked Black Walnuts were falling!
It was time for us to remove ourselves from that area and head back before one of us would get beaned by a walnut, but not before I picked one up to smell it. Fresh green Black Walnut husks are one of my favorite scents - sharp, citrusy, woodsy.
The "canopy" of a very tall triple-trunk Black Walnut tree that fell some years ago.
As we worked our way around toward the front part of the woods, my eye caught something that seemed off-kilter. Well, it was off-kilter - another fallen tree, though this one was caught by surrounding trees before it could hit the ground. And it looked like it had bent a younger tree with it.
Over time, I know I will observe that fallen tree disintegrate, feeding many kinds of animal life, as well as fungi, bacteria, and maybe some species of slime mold. New plant life will grow from the broken-down material. The slanted tree will give way and fall the rest of the way to the ground.
And so it goes ...
