Tuesday 27 March 2012

The Beard of the Old Man

Not being made of spun sugar, I decided to take a tromp around a different part of The Compound today. As Weatherdude aka rbstormpost tweeted there were bands of rain coming through over the Avalon. This was true. But it was also Newfoundland warmish with no wind. I love the no wind.
When tromping around I don't usually have a destination...I just wander wherever. Usually the depth of snow or bog or thickness of brush will help determine my route. There can be lots of routes because as I discovered watching BC Battles the other morning my Compound covers more land than Jericho did back in the old timey times. Which is great for tromping but not so much for fencing. I would need more than a mile. Sheesh. I will have to have a fence party. Any takers?
So tromping along with my trusty phone for picture taking and my sou'wester on my noggin I was all set. One thing I love in the woods is old mans beard. Its in abundance. Its the best lighting a campfire and smells better than any scent febreze can come up with. Its a lichen...a strange symbiosis of fungus and alga. The other good campfire lighting material is birch bark which also smells awesome. The wind has done the job on some of the birch. The bark streamers are hanging on for dear life.
In places the moss is so vibrant it looks no different than summertime. I have a couple mossy mounds up back that I like to imagine are burial mounds filled with priceless arteefacks but in reality they are just leavings from the well digging that went on years ago. You can see a lot in the woods this time of year. Not long till it will be the time for fiddle heads and lady's slippers.





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