I was going to climb a hill last Saturday but it felt quite warm at 55 degrees, so I went to the lake instead. This is Swanzey Lake, one of many lakes in the area. Since it is relatively close to Keene you can usually expect the swimming area on the east side of the lake to be packed with children on a sunny summer day. I spent many wonderful hours swimming and playing here as a boy. There were even bathrooms and a snack bar.
If it rained you could go into the hall but there wasn’t really much of anything to do other than sit and wait for the rain to stop.
On this day the water was low because of the drought so the beach was twice as wide as it usually is. I swam here regularly as a boy but I had a blockage in my mind that told me I couldn’t swim in deep water, even though I swam fine in shallow water. My cousin, who was a lifeguard, told me “Don’t say you can’t swim. I’ve seen you do it; you swim like a fish.” He said that just before he dropped me into the deep end of a swimming pool, and it was a good thing he was a lifeguard because I swam like a stone and had to be rescued before I drowned. Only after I surrendered to the fact that I would never swim for real did the paralyzing fear melt away so I could finally swim in deep water. I didn’t have many opportunities to show it off here though; the water goes out 30 feet before it is over an adult’s head and a swimming area was always roped off for younger children. There was a lifeguard that made sure you stayed inside the ropes as well.
I discovered that watching ripples through a camera lens is completely mesmerizing.
A large bird with big feet walked all over the sand of the beach. I thought it might be a heron but I don’t know for certain.
You get down to the beach by following a paved downhill driveway, and rainwater washes down the driveway with such force that it creates deep gullies in the beach. I would have thought that it would have been fixed by now but no. It has been going on since I was a boy and I found myself wondering how much sand had washed into the lake in all that time.
If it weren’t for the fact that the swimming area has been developed the forest would grow right down to the water’s edge. There is a small area that is still forested and some quite large white pines grow there. They are lichen covered, with the ones that want the most humidity like these shield lichens growing on the side toward the lake.
There are a few trees just at the beach start and their roots have become quite exposed, both by years of small foot traffic and the washing of the water.
I was very surprised to find trailing arbutus (Epigaea repens) growing among the tree roots. Trailing arbutus is also called mayflower because that’s often when its small white to pink, very fragrant flowers appear. Its oval evergreen leaves are tough and leathery and hug the ground but though it looks like a groundcover botanically speaking it has a persistent woody stem, so it is classified as a shrub. This was one of my grandmother’s favorite flowers and she would walk in the woods to find and smell it rather than dig it up to plant in her yard. It’s too bad everybody didn’t do the same because this plant was once collected into near oblivion. These days it can be found at many nurseries so there is no longer any reason to dig it up. Since it’s very fussy unless it’s given the right amount of light, water, nutrients and soil type it won’t grow except where it chooses to anyway. It seemed to be doing well here in full sun, even though I usually find it in shady areas.
Horsehair lichens (Bryoria trichodes) and others grow on the sides of the trees opposite the water, which tells me they must need a little less humidity. Since it has rained little lately these lichens were very dry. Beard and hair lichens are extremely sensitive to air pollution and will only grow where the air quality is high. Deer, moose and squirrels eat this lichen and there are stories of deer rushing out of the forest and eating it out of the tops of felled spruce trees while loggers with chainsaws were still cutting the trees up.
An old tree stump was covered with American wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) plants. They are also called teaberry or checkerberry and their small white flowers resemble those of the blueberry. It is probably the easiest of all wintergreens to identify because of the strong minty scent that comes from its crushed leaves. If you have ever tasted teaberry gum then you know exactly what it smells and tastes like. The plant contains compounds that are very similar to those found in aspirin and Native Americans used it much like we use aspirin. They also chewed the leaves for refreshment on long hikes.
Cushion mosses grew under an alder. White cushion moss (Leucobryum glaucum) can appear silvery, white, bluish green or grayish green but it always forms a thick cushion and stands out from the mosses that might surround it. It likes plenty of water and shade. It is probably the easiest of all the mosses to identify.
What could be better than green grass on November 21st in New Hampshire? Not that long ago you could ice skate in November.
This toadskin lichen (Lasallia papulosa) is very special to me because it is the only one I’ve ever seen that wasn’t on a mountaintop. Toadskin lichens show dramatic color changes when they dry out like many other lichens. When wet it is pliable and pea green and when dry it becomes crisp and ash gray like the above example. Toadskin lichens get their common name from their many “warts.” They attach themselves to stone at a single point that looks like a belly button, and that makes them umbilicate lichens.
I left the beach and went down the road just a bit to the boat launch. I used to fish here with my daughter and son when they were younger and I still see many people doing the same in the summer. We always hoped for lake trout but got sunfish instead.
The black line on that boulder shows the normal water level. I’d say it was down about a foot and a half which, when spread over the surface of the entire lake, is an awful lot of water lost.
I was surprised to see water still flowing over the dam but it was really just a trickle when compared to a normal water height.
Someone built a fine new bridge over the spillway. I stood on it to take that previous photo.
Mallards didn’t mind the low water level. In fact it probably made it easier for them to find food. There was quite a large group of them and I was surprised that they didn’t fly away when they saw me. Mallards are often very skittish in these parts, I think because nobody feeds them.
There is a large grassy area where people can sit and picnic. I sat here for awhile and enjoyed the sound of the waterfall while I watched the ducks. To sit by the water on a green lawn in the warm sunshine without a coat on in November while listening to the birds sing is a great gift.
What I think was a winter oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) grew on a tree. Its upturned gills made them easy to admire. This example was dying but I often find that mushrooms are often as beautiful in death as they are in life. The color and movement that this one showed were beautiful.
On another stump there was quite a crop of them. You have to watch what you’re doing at all times when foraging for mushrooms but especially the “winter mushrooms”, because the cold can change their color. We’ve had nights in the teens and I’m sure these examples had probably been frozen and had darkened because of it. They might have also been the late oyster mushroom (Panellus serotinus).
This one looked very fresh. I think it was a late oyster because of the yellow orange gill color. Late oysters aren’t considered as choice as winter oysters here but the Japanese consider them a great delicacy.
And this little mushroom had found a place to get out of the cold winds. I’m not sure what it was but I admired its pluck.
The strangest thing I saw this day was this willow shedding its bud scales and showing its “pussies.” The only guess I have is that it was fooled by the warm weather after the cold we had. Plants can be fooled by such things and they usually pay for it by not being able to produce seeds the following year.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. ~Tecumseh, Shawnee
Thanks for coming by. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day.
A few of the many things I have to be thankful for this year are:
The neighbor’s rooster. I love hearing him crow each morning when I leave for work.
The wonderful smell of woodsmoke I smell each day on the way home as I drive by a barbecue restaurant.
The time change; the sunrises have been beautiful on my way to work.
And I’m most thankful for the fact that nobody I know has gotten sick. I do hope all of you can say the same.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Allen. I have enjoyed today’s visit visit to Swanzey Lake and all the natural wonders you share with readers.
It’s a quiet, peaceful day here today, with much to be thankful for.
Thank you Lavinia. I think every day is filled with things to be thankful for but in your case I’d say no fires would top the list. Let’s hope it stays that way!
Indeed it is at the top of the list. I am waiting to see what the homeowner’s insurance premium will be in January. In the 17 years we have been here, the fires have never come that close before. The west is getting hotter and drier though, and I think fire will continue to be a concern. I learned this year that Oregon has the equivalent of California’s hot, dry Santa Ana winds. I am hoping for a lot of rain this winter, and snow up in the mountains.
I hope your insurance doesn’t go up too much and I hope there will be a good, deep snow pack in the mountains.
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!
Thank you Eliza!
It seems so odd to be suffering from a drought at this time of year. It has been an odd year for weather everywhere by the sound of it.
I am glad that your cousin’s sink or swim method didn’t finish you off. I would have missed a lot of good reading if it had.
Thank you yes, the weather has been odd. We’re all hoping the drought isn’t ended by snow. It would take about nine feet of it to make up the deficit.
I knew my cousin would fish me out of the pool but that didn’t make it any easier.
Should you be getting rain at this time of year or are you into the snow season?
We don’t get much snow in November usually, and last year we hardly got any all season. When we do get it though it usually starts in mid to late December
Thank you.
I can’t say the same, but I’m grateful for the wood stoves burning around here and a neighbor three doors up who has a rooster who makes me smile too.
I’m very sorry to hear that Judy. I hope this person is strong and will be well soon. One of the encouraging parts of all of this is how far more people pull through than don’t.
Meanwhile I’m glad you have a rooster and some wood smoke to keep you smiling.
Take care and stay well.
Among the many things that I am grateful for is your blog; it brings great joy. May every ones day be filled with gratitude and joy!
Thanks very much. I’m glad you find joy in this blog, which really means you find joy in nature!
I’m always happy to hear that. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Beautiful water pics, Allen. Saw the wind blowing lovely ripples in a parking lot puddle the other day and stood there enchanted, so I can understand why you were mesmerized watching it. Simple pleasures. I like that you’re thankful for hearing a rooster crow. Although it’s against city code, someone nearby has started keeping chickens and I’m delighted by the rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing. I hear him on my morning walk. More simple pleasures. Have a safe Thanksgiving. Don’t eat too much pie!!
Thanks Ginny. Your comments always come with a smile and for that I am very grateful. I can see myself standing watching the ripples on a parking lot puddle for hours, and I’m glad I’m not the only one.
I’ve found over the years of doing this blog that if you can find pleasure in the simple things in life you’ll find pleasure wherever you go. Even in a parking lot!
I’m glad you have a rooster too. I’ll watch out for the pie!
Happy Thanksgiving you you and yours as well! Among the things I’m grateful for are your amazing and interesting bi-weekly posts and photographs. They are a calm and meditative spot in this most surreal and frightening year. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Linda
Sent from my iPhone
>
You’re welcome Linda, and thank you very much for your encouraging comment. Though I might sound a little crazy sometimes that’s just me. I try to keep this blog a welcoming place where people can know they’ll be confronted only by nature. No politics, no religion, no hatred or fear. Nature is always peaceful and calming for me so I’m always very happy to hear that it is for readers as well.
Thanks for the visit to Swanzey Lake. I too spent quite a few summer afternoons there as a kid. Rarely had money for the snack bar, but the swimming was fun. Still not sick… Hooray !!
Glad to hear that. Have a great Thanksgiving!
I’m very Thankful I found your blog! I’ve learned so much and enjoy it immensely.
I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.
Thank you
Katherine
You’re welcome Katherine. May you have the same!
I love your list of things to be thankful for and glad it includes no one you know getting the virus. Long ,ay that continue.
Thank you Susan, I agree!