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“The
last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, "What
good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is
good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons,
has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would
discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first
precaution of intelligent tinkering.”1
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| Silver Maple |
For the third time during the course of
this year I’ve undertaken a personal, somewhat unscientific version of
phenology in the parks of the Menomonee Valley. Phenology is the science of
observation, specifically of seasonal variations in the life cycles of plants
and animals. The Urban Ecology Center has volunteers who go out into the two
parks adjacent to its Menomonee Valley Branch on a monthly basis to photograph
in a methodical manner. On my first two phenology excursions I accompanied UEC
teams. This time, it being a glorious autumn afternoon, I went more spontaneously,
alone. The light was magnificent and kept getting better as the day wore on.
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| Sumac & Steel |
The quote above is from Aldo Leopold
who was a habitual and meticulous phenologist as well as one of our country’s
most famous ecologists and author of the classic, A Sand County Almanac. The quote is suggestive, I submit, of a
current way of thinking about the Menomonee Valley. The history of the Valley
could easily suggest that our predecessors tinkered with it in rather
unintelligent ways. The original, natural landscape was not just discarded
piecemeal but very nearly in its entirety. Now, however, there is a concerted
attempt to ameliorate the situation and reintroduce some of what was lost. I
believe we have gotten better at intelligent tinkering.
My ramblings took me in a loop around
Stormwater Park, adjacent to the 35th Street Viaduct, then briefly
into Three Bridges Park. Here is what I saw.
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| Switchgrass & Ingeteam |
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| Black Oak |
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| Wild Grape |
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| Purple Aster |
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| Silver Maple |
If you're paying close attention you will have noticed that silver maple leaves can turn red or yellow. I was skeptical so I checked with Jeff, the wildlife ecologist at the UEC. He assured me that this is true.
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| Cricket |
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| Nest |
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| Hawthorn |
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| Stormwater Park & Viaduct |
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| View from Valley Passage Bridge |
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| Kayakers Posing |
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| Sumac Explosion |
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| Tomatillo in Community Gardens |
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| Community Garden Boxes & Sky |
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| Signage |
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| Oak Seedling |
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| City on a Hill |
I will end as I began, with a quote
from Leopold:
“Our
ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It
expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured
by language.”2
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Notes
This post is one in a series that
relates to my Menomonee Valley Artist in Residency. For more information about
the residency and links to previous posts and photographs, go to MV AiR.
