I gave myself and Toby a Christmas present this morning, and went for a walk back through the woods. We hadn't been back there since before The Farmer's knee surgery, so it's probably been about 3 weeks.
While The Farmer was in the hospital we had a lot of rain. Over a foot of rain in fact. It filled up the pond and flooded the bottom pasture and across the road below our driveway.
I looked to see if the flood waters had moved the tree that fell in the creek a month or two ago, and sure enough, it's disappeared. And I do mean disappeared. I have no idea where it ended up! I couldn't see it anywhere. I thought it would get caught in one of the bends of the creek, but the water was so high, there's no telling where it floated off to.
At first, I thought this tree might be it...
However, when I got to looking closer, I noticed it has a line of barbed wire connecting the fallen tree to the upright tree beside it, so obviously it wasn't the previously fallen tree from further up the creek.
This one isn't actually in the creek, but just has part of the tree hanging out over it.
It rained so hard you can't see where the tree broke off except for a patch of smooth, bare dirt.
There's always a lot of trash that washes down the creek when it floods.
I thought it was interesting to see this plastic crate caught in some tree roots along the creek bank.
The water was much higher than usual, and muddy. That didn't deter Toby from splashing out into the middle of the creek and goofing off.
"Aren't you coming?"
I declined to follow him into the creek today. Considering I wasn't wearing boots and how deep and fast the water was running, it would have been a very cold and very wet adventure!
On the way back home, we walked through a different area of woods than our usual route. I noticed a lot of persimmons on the ground.
I was rather surprised to see so many. The persimmon trees I'd seen earlier were already pretty bare of fruit. However, when I looked around and spotted the persimmon tree nearby, I could see there was still fruit WAY UP in the top of the tree.
That's the trouble with fruit trees in the middle of a wooded area. The trees grow way tall, and there's no way you can get to the fruit. I guess the birds and squirrels and raccoons and whatever other critters like such stuff can enjoy it however.
There's certainly a good bit left for them to munch on! With persimmons, hickory nuts, walnuts and acorns, there ought to be plenty of food available for wildlife able to reach it.
I was pretty tired by the time Toby and I made it back out. Guess sitting around in the hospital with The Farmer kind of blew any conditioning I had. We'll have to get back in the habit of walking after chores each morning so I build up a little more stamina.
Walking in the woods is a pleasant way to get a little exercise!
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
A merry, merry Christmas to you as well.
I’m so glad you got to be home from the hospital for the big day, and that Farmer is getting around better.
PS…Please send rain!
I can’t wait until I can walk around in the woods again…the rain is melting the snow but it’s sure taking it’s time.
I bet you get many opportunities to see all kinds of wildlife with that abundance of wild food available!
I hope you had a great Christmas!
ceecee, I wish I could send some rain to you! Too bad it can’t be spread around a little more evenly.
Tammy, I feel fortunate to be able to walk around in the woods again. I missed it while The Farmer was hospitalized. We do see lots of birds and squirrels, but somehow don’t see much of the deer and other critters.
Possums love persimmons and know where every persimmon tree in their territory is located. You can tell their scat by all the persimmon seeds in it.
I’ll know what to look for then to spot the possums!