I was exhausted and sleep deprived on my way back to Middlebury from my race in Chittenden, Vermont, but my mom had made the trek up from Williamstown. I was determined to show her the beautiful houses on Cider Mill Road in Cornwall that I had admired on the way to the Jackson property. While we were driving I spied a patch of trees and asked her to pull over so I could sit for a few minutes and take some notes.
What I found was a patch of trees near the road with a long line of tree growth going back from the road, probably to mark a property line. In between these perpendicular plots of trees was mowed field. My guess is that these trees would spread out and recolonize the area if the field was not regularly mowed and maintained.
There was a small ditch by the side of the road (just like we learned about in Vermont Family Forest: water comes rushing from the forests through ditches like these). There was a significant amount of cold water sitting in this trough very close to the trunks of the roadside trees, suggesting that they can grow in a wet climate.
The landscape was very quiet while I was there. I witnessed no wildlife or sign of humans. The only noise was the wind in grasses. It was chilly, but still warm enough to evoke a spring-like thawing smell.
Some of the trees in these plots include White Pine (Pinus strobus) and after much confusion I decided Red Maple (Acer rubrum) as well. I struggled with this classification because of the strangely dark bark on the tree. However, with a little outside research I discovered that a relatively common disease called gloomy scale (Melanaspis tenebricosa) can cause Maple bark to turn black. However, I’m still a little unsure on this issue. Maybe I’ll go back again next week and try again to identify the clump of trees.
