Tag Archives: hollyhock hollow

Fall Along Rarick Road

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I took a walk yesterday down Rarick Road, through Hollyhock Hollow and alongside the Onesquathaw Creek.

Fall is certainly in the air.

The trees haven’t completely made up their minds yet. There is still plenty of green, but yellow and gold are beginning to work their way through the woods. Leaves are collecting along the edge of the road, and the Onesquathaw is running low enough that rocks normally surrounded by moving water are now part of the landscape.

It was surprisingly quiet.

The only bird making much of an effort to announce itself was a Blue Jay. That seems appropriate somehow. When most of the woods are growing quieter, you can usually count on a Blue Jay to have something to say.

I also noticed several interesting yellow mushrooms growing in a grassy area beside the road. I don’t know what they were, and perhaps that doesn’t matter. I noticed them. I stopped. I looked. I took a picture.

That’s enough sometimes.

I enjoy fall, although perhaps enjoy isn’t quite the right word.

There is something melancholy about it.

Spring feels like anticipation. Everything is about to happen.

Summer feels like abundance. Everything is happening.

Fall is different.

Fall reminds you that everything has a season.

The creek gets lower. The birds become quieter. Leaves change color and eventually let go. The woods begin opening themselves back up, revealing things that have been hidden behind green leaves all summer.

Maybe that’s why I like walking here this time of year.

Nothing along Rarick Road was particularly spectacular today. No bear to wrestle. No rare bird. No great discovery.

Just a quiet road, a low creek, a noisy Blue Jay, some yellow mushrooms, and an old guy paying attention.

Not a bad way to spend part of an October afternoon.

—Ron

What I Noticed at Hollyhock Hollow

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A couple of weeks ago, Theresa and I took a walk along Rarick Road through Hollyhock Hollow. Nothing unusual was planned—just a walk down Rarick Road, because the trails were still to soft and muddy. But as usual, I noticed a few things.

Winter still had a grip on the landscape. Snow lingered along the sides of the road, tucked into the shaded edges, not quite ready to give way. It was a reminder that the season doesn’t just switch—it loosens, slowly.

But right alongside that lingering cold, something else was happening.

Clusters of snowdrops were blooming—small, white, and easy to overlook if you weren’t paying attention. But there they were, pushing up through the cold ground, quietly signaling that spring is about to bust through.

There weren’t many birds. A few here and there, but nothing like the chorus that will come. Still, the plants are beginning to green up, and that shift is noticeable if you take the time to look.

And the Onesquethaw Creek was moving steadily along, rolling its way toward the Hudson River. It didn’t seem concerned about winter holding on or spring pushing in. It was just doing what it does—moving forward.

As I looked back through the photos later, it struck me that what I was really noticing wasn’t just what I was seeing—but how I was seeing it. The overlap. The transition. The quiet movement from one season to the next.

That led me to experiment with something new—a short video set to a song I created called The Stewardship Way.

Maybe the Stewardship Way isn’t something you arrive at all at once.

Maybe it begins by noticing…
that even when winter still lingers, something new is already on its way.

The Nature of Things – Here and There

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Field Trips – It was another hot and dry week here in Upstate NY. But we did manage to get in a couple of short hikes and a couple of walks down the road and back. Most days in addition to the heat, the humidity has been very high too. We actually went to Hollyhock Hollow Sanctuary on 2 occasions last week, mostly to explore the dry creek bed. My office was at Hollyhock Hollow for 26 years and I don’t recall seeing the creek as dry as it is this year.

 

 

Nature-based Communities – I have fully launched my initiative that I call the Nature-based Communities Initiative, which is a campaign to get people in regions across the country to become more connected with nature and natural resource management. I’m focusing on 3 regions myself, one here in New York, one in Florida and one in Indiana. I’m trying to practice what I preach and then report on my personal efforts in hope that others in various regions around the United States might decide to take on similar actions where they live. Want to learn more CLICK HERE

 

Conservation Landscapes – This initiative is aimed at offering information that I hope is useful for landowner/managers who might care to manage their landscapes with nature and natural resources in mind. This site and blog is essentially a series of fact sheet type posts on various topics that provides information on landscape management for people to consider using where they live, work and play. To see an example: CLICK HERE

 

The Conservation Company – In an effort to keep items out of landfills and to generate money for conservation and environmental education project, I resell items on eBay. Sales have generally been slow, and as I have heard sales has been slow for most people who are resellers. So, I have just been listing, listing, listing, and reducing prices too. CLICK HERE for my latest update on my reselling efforts.

 

Letters from a Foxhole – This project is not directly connected with nature, but it is connected with my dad. I’ve continued to post a series of Letters that Dad wrote home to his sister during his time in the Army during World War 2. If that sounds like something that might interest, you CLICK HERE to see more.