My Busy Concord Weekend

On Friday, I swam across Walden.  Saw other swimmers, water temp was around 62 degrees, but not too cold.  At sunset, I lit a candle and another Pond friend lit one and we honored Shabbat and the Lost Swimmer (it was the third Friday in a row that I had lit a candle there).  I did not go to the sponsored concert because I was cold from swimming and didn't have $30 to spend.

On Saturday, I went on the Ramble on the Amble Hike (see preceding posts!), had a bite at Main St Cafe with a fellow walker, who happens to also have a high regard for Concord Literary history.  (I then went to an unrelated concert in Shirley, Peter Yarrow. I had won tickets from WMBR in Cambridge.  In fact, I had an extra ticket that went to waste.)

On Sunday, I was planning to do the tour of Sleepy Hollow, but as I started walking by the graves, I decided to instead went to the Thoreau Farm to hear the talk about Ives' Concord Sonata.  (Only 13 people or so). Then met up with a Pond friend for dinner at Helen's and went to the Concord Museum for a talk about a book "On Paper".

A perfect weekend, really.  If anything, I'd always like to make sure that physical activities conclude with food.  And that lectures get paired with something fun at Walden.  In future, maybe it will become a Facebook Group or Meetup.

Please contact me by leaving a comment if/when you'd like to be on the list for future events.

Sweet birch, Yellow Leaves!!

Apparently, at Concord High (?), there is a requirement/challenge for kids to press a collection of leaves of every native species of tree in the town, which may be 45? I must research this further!!

The Sweet Birch is difficult to find, but at this time of season, the leaves go yellow and are especially easy to spot, hidden among the pines.

Striped Maple and other wonders of Fairyland

Start with Wiki for basic info.  Named by the Alcott sisters & Emerson kids & Thoreau as Fairyland.  Apparently, they would dress up and run around the forest as embodied spirits.  (Sometimes these events were called Masques).  There must be so many more stories, but perhaps because they were "merely" enacted/told by children, they may be lost.

It is a unique ecosystem and quite often the water will be warmer than the air, causing frequent fogging conditions.  And a general sense of magic.  Writings from a hundred years ago add to the legend.

Fed by Brister's Spring. More info here, at a blog called, Thoreau's Chronological Atlas. There were 9 identified springs in the town.  One was found by a brilliant  High School kid who is a great border.  This new spring was missed by both Thoreau and another -modern- surveyor!!

Not far from the water, we (Cherry) found a Striped Maple, and apparently it is very rare in Concord.

 Other Botany Words of the Day: Viburnum, Umbrel (flower cluster)

The above pictures were taken on a walk, "Ramble on the Amble" (10/19/13)  led by Cherry Corey (she is in blue, above).  Check out her amazing blog,  Sense of Place.  She also does great walks for the New England Wildflower Society.  Highly recommended!!

Vernal Pool and White Pine Forest

Most of the trees on this walk would not have existed in Thoreau's time.

All farmland,

White pine forest (succession of trees!!). Starts with smaller pine trees!!
Tall straight!!

Wolf trees, branchy pine, probably the first one in a field.
Vernal pool, never seen dry!!

Definition: cannot have fish
Ferry shrimp

100 foot setback for Vernal pools

Others have 200 or 300 foot setback

Red Ruschala mushroom sp?
Turns into a vase as it dies!

Pipsissewa

Found in Fairyland (but also around Walden)

This is my favorite plant, merely because I love to say the Native American name.

It is also known as "Dragon's Tongue".

Look for tiny little white flowers in midsummer.

Crickets and Timothy Grass

We heard 3 types of crickets,  each with a different sound:
Ground cricket
Bush cricket-sharp almost metallic sound (Red faced bush crickets, only Males sing)
Tree cricket (and yes, a video, complete with sound and the male vibrating his wings)

There is a great Rivers & Revolutions School Group in Concord, which also goes along on similar walks.  Today's walk was open for families and a few kids came along. It's always fun to watch kids as they discover things about nature!

Evening Primrose is a pioneer in formerly cultivated field.  Timothy grass, little lanterns of gold!!

Millbrook Bridge

Here we are just behind the Fire Dept, still near Emerson's house.  There is a new wooden bridge and the path continues on behind the police department (on Walden Street).

Cherry tells us that Red Maple love to get their feet wet, and so grow in marshy areas.

Ray Angelo is documenting all of Henry's Concord plants. Look him up!!

Watercress is growing in the stream, it's now on the State Invasive Species List.

Ramble on the Amble Trail

The next set of posts were taken on a hike, led by Cherry Corey (her blog is Sense of Place) on October 19, 2013.  Lovely weather!  Hikers coordinated parking across the street from the High School (the end of that hike) and carpooled to the beginning of the trail, near the Emerson House.

The picture is a trail marker for the "Emerson/Thoreau Amble"  (Google map here) and for the Bay Circuit Trail.  There is another white rectangle marker which I think is a "Concord Trails" indicator.  The photo was taken in Heywoods Meadow next to Emerson house.  You can read about the history of the trail being forged (again) by town activists here, taking a walk in 2007.

A Note about Parking: You might want to do what the group did and park at the Trail Head across from Concord Carlistle Regional High School (there is room for a few cars).  Or at Emerson House, you can park on the street- but there are not too many spaces.  You can easily go all the way to Walden (probably 2 miles), but be aware that Route 2 (A MAJOR HIGHWAY) cuts through the idyllic walk.  If you are the type to carry a lot of beach gear with you, park at Walden when you swim.  If you are just going to see the scenery, the trail actually skips the Main Beach and leads right to Henry's house site.  (Bring a rock for the Cairn!!)

If you are looking for the entrance to the trail, it is at the back of Heywood Meadow.  (Heywood owned property around Walden too, in case you know the name "Heywood Meadow" in reference to that part of town) This Heywood Meadow is on Lexington Street and will be on your right if you are coming from the center of town.  It is the last patch of open land before you reach Emerson's House (and the Concord Museum across the street). I didn't see a path connecting Emerson's yard (please don't bushwack one!!), but the trail goes just behind the house so that it is in view for the first section.