Wellington Brook, the subject of an earlier post, flows into the Little River after it crosses under the B&M tracks. I went along the north side of the Little River by bicycle, stopping to follow faint trails into the wetlands. We’ve had some rain since I was in this area last, but it wasn’t muddy, only moist. The first thing I saw, from a bridge, was turtles sunning themselves on a shopping cart lying on its side in the shallow middle of the river. Slightly downstream were some geese resting on one leg. The Little River is very silted up and the plant life in it is coated with a film of mud.
On one trail a now-familiar piece of faded tape confirmed where I was: Wetland Delineation.
I crossed a plank over a minor tributary
and kept going, eventually coming upon a sighting of the works of man from the wetland point of view.
After a good deal of wandering around, I came to a development on Little Pond called Hill Estates. At the back of these unremarkable-looking brick townhouses is a lawn sloping down to the pond. It is guarded, if that’s the word, by plastic totemic animals that looked to me like oversize foxes. To keep the geese away? I don’t know.
In the lawn there is a pool which I would call vernal, if this were spring
and it is protected by its own genius loci.
In the distance, two house cats got into a yowling contest.
The shadows extended toward evening, faithfully watched by the embodied spirit of the place.
What this says about man’s relationship with nature will bear some contemplation.
(For that, see Pro. Pei #11. )
