“During every week
from April to September there are, on the average, ten wild plants coming into
first bloom. In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a
single day. No [one] can heed all of these anniversaries; no [one] can ignore
all of them. … Tell me of what plant-birthday a man takes notice, and I shall
tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his hay fever, and the
general level of his ecological education.”
~ Aldo Leopold
Phenology is the
study of seasonal changes in the landscape, such as the emergence of plants and
the migration of animals. Hearing the term reminds me of A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold’s epic tribute to the natural
world. The quote above is from a chapter entitled Prairie Birthday, which strikes me as appropriate for the landscape
of Lakeshore State Park. This 22-acre treeless island in Milwaukee Harbor,
which was wholly fabricated from debris excavated from Milwaukee’s deep tunnels,
has been planted with flowers and grasses native to Wisconsin prairies.
It is a bold
initiative, creating a park from scratch and in such an unlikely and precarious
location between city and lake. Leopold also wrote this:
“I have read many
definitions of what is a conservationist, … but I suspect that the best one is
written not with a pen, but with an axe. It is a matter of what a man thinks
about while chopping, or while deciding what to chop. A conservationist is one
who is humbly aware that with each stroke he is writing his signature on the
face of his land.”
I went to
Lakeshore State Park for a phenology hike. It was a brilliant morning, not a
cloud in the sky. The day promised to be hot, but the cooling effect of Lake
Michigan had so far mitigated the relentless sun. A great time to explore the park.
In the shade of a grove of river birches at the north entrance, I joined a
small gathering, which had been organized by the Southeast Wisconsin Hiking
Group of Meetup.com.
This story was posted June 22 in The Natural Realm, a new blog on the new A Wealth of Nature website. Please click here to go to continue reading.
