Lost in the Woods

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A view of the Indian Head River from the Hanover side.

 We had been walking in the forest for more than an hour. We were still on a trail, but it did not seem to be headed in the right direction . . . or in any particular direction. A few times we’d had to retrace our steps: either the trail would end in a No Trespassing sign, or in someone’s back yard, or it would disappear entirely. We were lost in the woods.

Not that we were entirely lost! We had followed a very clear path up one side of the Indian Head River in Hanover. We had crossed the river at State Street in Hanson, and followed a trail back into the woods in Pembroke, with the intention of finding our way into the Wildlands Trusts’s Tucker Preserve, which wasn’t all that far downstream. But we never found it. So we sort-of knew where we were, but not really.

This was a familiar predicament. I’d walked the inviting, scenic trails along the Indian Head River before. At least once, I’d found my way back to the parking area on West Elm Street, via the 78-acre Tucker Preserve. But once or maybe twice before, I’d been similarly lost: on a trail, but not the right trail.

The landmarks were familiar – I’d been there before. But I couldn’t be sure if they were the right kind of familiar. Just because we recognize something doesn’t mean it’s what we’re looking for.

I went away recently for a long weekend: a yoga retreat at Kripalu, in the Berkshires. I spent my afternoons on the hiking trails in the mountains behind the retreat center. I’d been given a map when I arrived. It included not only the mileage of various trails, but also the level of difficulty and an estimation of the time required to complete each hike. Map in pocket, I was far from lost.

Looking out on Monks Pond.

 The first day, I chose the trail to Monks Pond. It was a steady uphill climb, and rather muddy. I really had to pay attention, so I wouldn’t slip. One of my objectives for my time away was to gain some perspective. What would I like to achieve, going forward, and what would I need to change, in order to get there? The muddy uphill path seemed like an apt metaphor. I tend to choose the more challenging routes. I make things harder for myself than they need to be. And thus over time, certain kinds of suffering become familiar. It’s like being on that trail that leads to nowhere: it’s not the right trail, but it’s familiar, so it takes me a while to figure out that I need to find a different route.

Standing in a stream, attempting to clean the mud off my boots.

Back to the Indian Head River. So we were lost in the woods. We had at least two options. One was to attempt to retrace our steps, and hope to find the trail we’d missed before. At worst, we could cross the river again at State Street and go back the way we came. Another option was to consult our smart phones. I’d been meaning to download a trail GPS app, but I hadn’t yet. However I did have several, more general, street mapping apps. Quickly we determined that while we were nowhere near the Tucker Preserve, we were quite close to houses and roads. We chose a back yard and very quickly passed through it, to the street. It wasn’t quite so pleasant, walking at the roadside instead of in the forest, but at least we knew where we were going. And twenty minutes later, we were back to our cars. I have since downloaded a map.

On the South Shore, we can get lost in the woods, but how lost are we really? We don’t have any wilderness here. Even our largest conservation parcels aren’t all that big. We follow a trail, and even if we lose your way, we eventually come upon  a house or a road. As soon as we find civilization, we can find our way back home.

I’ll be heading back to the Indian Head River soon. Now that I’ve been lost there at least twice, I am determined to get my bearings and learn the layout of the intersecting conservation properties that line its banks. Next time I’ll start on the Pembroke side, though, and walk from the fish ladder, into the woods where I know there’s a plainly-marked trailhead for the Tucker Preserve. Also next time, I’ll be sure to bring my map.

 by Kezia Bacon

April 2014

Kezia Bacon's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com

Learning About The Water Cycle

My son is in second grade, and each day when he comes home from school, one of the first things I do is check his backpack to see what the teacher has sent home. There is homework, of course, and often a notice from the school, and usually there is a sheaf of papers representing work recently completed in class. Needless to say, as this is work designed for 7- and 8-year olds, for me, it’s mostly review. But every so often I too get to learn something from the Second Grade curriculum.

In March, Abel brought home some worksheets about the water cycle. One night he had to cut out pictures of each phase of the cycle, and glue them to another page in the proper order. They had covered this in class earlier that day, so Abel understood the concepts. I suspect my memory is faulty, but I couldn’t recall learning about the water cycle myself until adulthood. I was so pleased that second graders were already learning basic earth science!

I’m sure I’m not the only one whose memories of Earth Science have grown hazy. Thus I offer this quick primer.

There are four phases to the water cycle: condensation, precipitation, accumulation and evaporation.

• Condensation, aka Forming Clouds - There is water vapor in the air. When it rises and meets cooler air, it turns into water droplets that form clouds.

• Precipitation, aka Water Falling to the Earth – The clouds gather more and more water as they are moved by the wind. This liquid is constantly forming and evaporating within the clouds, and when the conditions are right, it will fall to earth as rain, snow, sleet or hail.

• Accumulation, or Forming Bodies of Water – The water that falls to the earth via precipitation collects either as surface water (oceans, rivers, lakes, puddles) or groundwater (filtered through the land, and stored within the ground).

• Evaporation, or Forming Water Vapor – The warmth of the sun converts both surface water and groundwater to water vapor. These tiny droplets are carried up into the sky by rising warm air. As they reach the cooler air, condensation begins, and the cycle continues.

To drive these concepts home, Abel’s school brought in the North and South Rivers Watershed Association (NSRWA) for a program known as “Water All Around You.” The NSRWA set up six stations in the school cafeteria, each one addressing a different aspect of the water cycle.

There was a station at which students answered the question “Where in the watershed are you?” A watershed is an area of land in which all of the water that falls will drain to a specific place. For example, Abel’s elementary school is within the South River watershed, so all the rain that falls within that area eventually drains to the South River. The students looked at topographic maps of the town and learned how and where the water flows after it falls from the sky.

They also learned about water quality – finding out about what causes pollution, as well as the natural processes within the earth that clean the water, and the manmade processes (wastewater treatment plants) that are equally essential. Through a see-through acrylic groundwater simulator, they saw how contamination from something like a faulty septic system might flow through the land and into the groundwater. They even got to create mini filtration systems, with plastic bottles and coffee filters, to see first-hand how swamp water can be filtered clean.

In addition, they learned how water flows over the land. Using a model of a storm drain, parent volunteers demonstrated how things like motor oil, fertilizer, road salt, animal waste, and cigarette butts all get washed into the road and eventually flow, untreated, into the nearest body of water.

Abel’s favorite station was the taste test. He and his classmates sampled tap water, distilled water, and bottled water, to see how they varied in flavor. They made note of their observations and then discussed which water source would be the safest to drink. As for taste, the general consensus was that Marshfield water tasted best.

A final station educated the second graders about managing water quantity, and explained to them how they could conserve water in their everyday lives. They were asked to figure out how many household tasks they could complete, using 65 gallons of water per day (the state-recommended maximum consumption, to ensure that there is enough water for public safety and household usage). Practicing their math skills, the students found that they couldn't water their lawns, which can take thousands of gallons a day. 

The NSRWA offers “Water All Around You” to towns that participate in its Greenscapes program, which educates citizens, young and old, about water conservation. To date, more than 12,000 of students across the South Shore have participated, either at the second grade or fifth grade level. The program is a success because so many local towns have participated.

NSRWA Executive Director Samantha Woods says, "We need to change our water consciousness. The majority of our citizens don't know where their water comes from, what is the most common source of water pollution or what the term ‘watershed’ means. Upcoming generations will be faced with more water challenges than ever before. ‘Water All Around You’ is meant to remedy this lack of knowledge by bringing water to the classroom and when possible to get children into their watershed. Our goal is to ensure that every child in the South Shore region, at least once in their school career, learns what a watershed is, how we can protect it and where their own water comes from."

by Kezia Bacon

March 2014

Kezia Bacon's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com