With game seven of the World Series the baseball season came to an end last week. The week also gave us Halloween and the beginning of November. With that we are now at the halfway point between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice.
It’s not by accident that Halloween, All Saints Day, and the Day of the Dead come at this time of the year. Less developed cultures looked at this transition as a “thin time” where one could pass from this world to the underworld with ease. In Greek mythology Persephone returns to Hades every year when the pomegranates ripen to assume her role as queen of the underworld. And in a sense the transition from the busyness of fall to the dormancy of winter is a symbolic passing to another world.
Conversely the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, too, is also a time of passing. And again, not by accident, it is celebrated by the tradition of Groundhog Day and Candlemas. They are an acknowledgement that winter cannot last forever and that it will soon be time to get busy again. Ironically, the first awakening of the baseball season occurs a little more than week after Groundhog Day when pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.
The bosque (cottonwood forest) along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, too, is not immune to laws of nature and is in a period of transition. Here is some of what I noticed while wandering through it this past week.
The summer flowers have long turned to seed, but the fall flowers are still hanging on.
A summer flower along the Rio Grande in the autumn.
The purple fall aster is still going strong.
The cottonwoods are now near their peak color with their leaves beginning to fall in earnest. It won’t be long before the trees are completely bare. But very soon after Groundhog Day, the crowns of the cottonwoods will take on a green hue to signal that spring is coming.
These trees along the river are just starting to turn.
While this tree is almost at peak color.
The leaves on these trees are starting to fall. In a few days they will be bare.
With the end of the irrigation season, the acequias (ditches) that were flowing only a few days ago are now starting to fill with leaves. And again, sometime after Groundhog Day, maintenance crews will start clearing and repairing the ditches in anticipation of another irrigation season.
This ditch was flowing only five days ago. It won’t see water again until next year.
The ditch will soon be covered with leaves.
But not everything is going to sleep. The sandhill cranes and other winter birds are starting to return to the Rio Grande valley for the winter. Their numbers are still small but by the end of November they will be huge. And again, very soon after Groundhog Day they will leave the valley and begin their trip north.
In Albuquerque we are fortunate not only to have the bosque but several former farms near the river that have been set aside as wildlife refuges and to provide forage for the birds. While walking along the refuge fence a couple of days ago, a pheasant dove into taller grass right in front of me before I had a chance to take its picture. In the distance there were several cranes cackling.
Sandhill cranes have a very throaty cackle that pulsates like a cat’s purr. And if I ever master the technology available to me, I’ll try to record it and post it on this website. But please don’t hold your breath for that to happen.
They were cackling to warn other cranes that two coyotes were sneaking into the area. When one of the coyotes got too close, a crane started pecking on its back and chasing it away. With cranes having a height advantage, the only chance a coyote has for getting a meal is to sneak up close enough to pounce on it before the crane has a chance to react.
Unfortunately, the crane chasing the coyote was too far away for me to get a picture. But in the meantime I was able to get pictures of some closer cranes.
These cranes are taking turns on keeping guard.
It’s your turn to watch now.
Canada geese are also sharing in the bounty of the field.
This forage crop in the refuge will soon be cut down to provide food as more birds come to spend the winter.
After a hard day of foraging, the cranes fly back to the river to spend the night. The river provides some protection from being surprised by predators.
In addition to walking through a natural area in the middle of a city, there is always the opportunity to spot something new or whimsical along the way when you wander.
A new free library for the neighborhood.
I hope this post has been a good illustration of one the themes of the book, The Gentle Art of Wandering. That is, you can find the natural world no matter where you are, even in the middle of an urban area.
November 4, 2014 at 7:03 pm
Thank you, David, for another chance to walk with you through our neighborhood during this lovely season! Even in death and dying there is so much beauty in Nature’s cycles. Wonderful photos!
November 4, 2014 at 6:35 pm
Great article, David, and great photos too. As you know, I;m a bosqueno too.
All the best,
George
November 3, 2014 at 10:09 pm
And another beautiful and informing post, seasons come and seasons go and life makes its full circle. I had no idea Albuquerque has such beautiful color in the fall. I have to make that trip I’ve promised myself to Globe/Miami and now Albuquerque. Thank you for all your wonderful posts.