Tom Stock

On June 1, 2016

Summer is a knockin’ on the door, 21 days of spring left. What can I see on a walk around the village?

Behind the chain-link fence of the Babylon High School soccer field, a large turtle caught my attention. It was a red-eared slider. It had a pile of wet mud behind it whereas the rest of the soil was dry and hard. I investigated. The turtle was trying to lay eggs. I picked it up and I discovered a shallow hole confirming that this was a female, digging a nest to lay her eggs. I concluded that this was a futile undertaking and decided to take the turtle to the Carl’s River close by.

Rabbit

On May 25, 2016

A visit to the Hempstead Plains reserve on the Nassau Community College campus gave me a chance to explore. While only 19 acres in size, smaller than most open space habitats, this place is special. It is a tiny left-over from the original 60,000 acre ecosystem. I put on my blinders and fastened my earplugs, stepped off the beaten path and began an aimless walk to see what I could see.

Since the seventeen hundreds, the habitat has shrunken, become infested with nonnative plants, and paved over. The Friends of the Hempstead Plains is trying to restore what is left, a major undertaking. It is slowly beginning to look like plains again. However, with every other step I took, I found a plant that wasn’t here three hundred years ago. Removing the invasive plants and encouraging the natives is the ongoing task.

Song

On May 24, 2016

I accompanied Jeff on an Audbon Christmas bird count. We walked along the edge of a golf course. I followed Jeff as his assistant noting identifications and numbers. Jeff often stopped to listen. He’d use a hand signal to say stop. We stood still and quiet and heard a slight “tshink, tshink” from a shrub. “Two song sparrows” he said. We rarely saw the bird, but twenty years later, I still remember that call. It takes me back to that cold, windy early morning bird watching.

A bird call is different from its song. Male song birds sing when they establish territory and try to attract a female. The call is much more sedate. It connects and warns. No need to sing in winter.

A Pair of Clippers

On May 22, 2016

My favorite tool is a pair of clippers. They fit into my hand, they provide an opportunity to exercise my fingers and thumb, and help me clear trails. I love to cut multiflora rose canes. Whenever I do though, multiiflora rose retaliates with vengeance. It has the worst thorns of any vine. Each thorn is curved like a cats’ claw. It rips if you move when attached to clothing or skin. It tears off my cap, the ultimate torture. My technique is to cut the vines in small sections, handle them with gloves and get rid of them.

Once I start clipping, I can’t stop. This is my way of controlling nature. I love grooming overgrown trails. I trim branches to open old paths. Another vine that is nasty is Greenbriar. The stem of this vine is like a Brillo pad with sturdy thorns it seems to guard all the paths I want to take. It is with great satisfaction that I clip my way through them and proceed.

Gardiner County Park – A Naturalists Tour: Part 3

On May 20, 2016

In Medium Length Essays, Short Essays

I look at the south shore in west Bay Shore from the Captree Causeway Bridge and see a large chunk of shoreline with no houses or bulkheads. This is the beach of the 235 acre Gardiners County Park. This is rare for local people because it is open to anyone. This is not private land. As a result, everyone who wants to has access to a large forest, salt marsh, and beach. Plus Thompsons Creek which forms the eastern boundary of the park.

I continue to find new things to observe and photograph on this my third tour. I have been exploring the “off the beaten path” trails and they have been very interesting.Today, it’s the eastern boundary along Thompsons Creek.
A trail just east of the Parkcours exercise area takes me close to the creek with several opportunities to approach its banks and see spring emerging full force.
Tree leaves are almost full size. One species of vibernum has the scientific name Vibernum dentatum. The leaves are toothed, growing opposite one another, and growing from straight, narrow trunks. Native Americans used this plant…more a shrub than a tree. The straight shafts were used to make arrows.

Further Adventures in Gardiner County Park

My intention is to spend time in various sections of this large park. There are many wide trails which I avoid in order to find the untrammeled forest. The canopy is just beginning to fill with new leaves. Today was cloudy/sunny.
Two words aptly coin the floral situation today…fresh and delicate. New leaves of many plants such as toothed vibernum, maple, poison ivy, and honeysuckle have entire leaves which are quite beautiful. Insects haven’t had a chance to feed. I saw many subtle colors and strong definitions of vein patterns. Leaves of greenbrier, with their strong sharp thorns are small. They are shiny and tender. Growth is half way and going fast.

Shining, Green Corn

In Poetry

I grew corn this year
From seeds given to me by a
Tuscaroran Indian named David.
I watched the sprouts
In a raised bed rectangle
Become full grown plants
Several feet tall.
I looked at this patch
Several times a day
Not having seen green so green,
Or as fresh and healthy.
It’s tassels finally peek out
From long, gently folded leaves
With such beauty I want to hug the stalks
And tell them that I love them.
This is my connection with Native America.

One day, wind blew the stalks askelter.
I propped them back up
Mounding soil at the base of each stalk.
They responded
Standing straight up once again.

I am these corn stalks
Growing back of the house.
I am bright, shining, green corn
Healthy and flourishing.
I am propped up and standing straight and tall again.
My heart is corn heart…
Bright, shining, green

Six Point Font

In Poetry

The plastic pill bottle comes with
Side affect information
Which I can’t read = too small
Dozens of n2ew symptoms
From swallowing a prescribed pill

“Ask your doctor”
If you have an allergic reaction
“Contact your physician right away”
Doctor knows what’s best for you
Sentences like “you may die”
Worry me.

So, if I am dying
I’ll call my doctor
To tell her
“My prescription isn’t working.”
She says. “I’ll write you another prescription.”
The leaflet says “Tell your pharmacist.”
Who in turn, will tell you
“Get in touch with your doctor right away.”

Officer, Please, I Can Explain