Sinkhole Ponds in Virginia – September 1984

As I continue my scanning project of old slides and pictures, I am recalling again a field trip we took with the Nature Conservancy to sink hole ponds in Virginia. They were located about 20 miles west of Charlottesville. I don’t remember the exact location. All the details I am savoring today are from the pictures themselves and a letter I sent to my sister in mid-September 1984. Here’s a clip of the text from that letter illustrated with the slides I recently scanned.

… sink holes that had been artificially dammed so they contained water, but were still fairly shallow.  They had golden rod and button bushes.  Evidently they had cranberries on one side, but we couldn't get over there without waders. 

The next pond was totally dry, on]y containing water for a short time after a major rain.  It had one lone tree growing right in its center. 

The next one was more of a rounded funnel than a bowl shape.  The very deepest part contains water year round.  A form of grass sprouts, blooms and produces seed right at the water’s edge.  You can tell how fast the water is evaporating by noting how far up the slope the grass is still growing.  Evidently it doesn't last long once away from the water's edge. 

Of course, there is a carpet of peat moss all around the pond and it's very interesting to note the different appearance of the peat as it dries out.  It's very squishy when it’s full of water.  The last pond was my favorite.  It stays full all year since it is fed by springs that bubble up through the peat.  It's quite shallow but has been a pond for over 2,000 years (a core sample has been taken). 

Gleanings of the Week Ending June 4, 2016

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Exposure to chemicals in plastic and fungicides may irreversibly weaken children’s teeth – Another reason to pay close attention to Bisphenol A (BPA) and Vinclozolin in diets of children. Based on this study – this is not something that fluoride treatments or supplements would overcome.

Identifying Wildflowers: part one, part two, part three, part four – From Elizabeth’s Wildflower Blog. This series include a lot of practical advice for identifying wildflowers in the field (and confirming after you get home). I’ve been following Elizabeth’s blog since I was in Master Naturalist class with her --- learning about wildflowers.

Language of Women versus men – An analysis of language in Facebook messages shows that women use language that is warmer and more agreeable than men. The graphic associated with the study is worth a look.

Mysterious Cave Rings show Neanderthals liked to build – And more than 1,000 feet into the cave where it would have been very dark.

Kazakhstan’s treasure trove of wildly-flavored apples – Forests where apple trees are the predominant species!

Tidal Troubles in the Mid-Atlantic – A place where the sea level is rising at a much faster rate than almost anywhere in the US (except parts of Louisiana and South Florida)…and an explanation that goes back to the last ice age which left the area with a ‘fore-bulge’ – so the land is sinking from that then the ocean is rising too! The net is a predicted sea level rise of 3 feet around much of the Mid-Atlantic by 2100.

Three perfectly blue days at Crater Lake National Park – I haven’t been to this national park – yet. This is an article to look at again when I finally get around to planning the trip.

Swarms of Octopus are taking over the oceans – Cephalopods as ‘weeds of the sea’!

The Cactus Smuggler: Are Desert Plants Being Loved to Extinction? – Not a good trend and very difficult to change.

Low-salt diets may not be beneficial after all – Evidently the prior recommendation for low-salt diets was not based on data – the old recommendation was ‘popular thought’ rather than based on objective evidence! High-salt is still bad….but average (between 3 and 4 grams per day) is best!

3 Free eBooks – January 2016

So many books to choose from...so little time....

Denon, Vivant. Egypte : documents d'art Egyptien d'aprés la Description de l'Armée Francaise sous Napoléon Ier, L'Expédition d'Egypte, dessins du Baron Denon, et le Musée Egyptine. Paris: A. Guerinet. 1900. Available from the Internet Archive here. Vivant Denon produced a lot of sketches during Napoleon’s time in Egypt and this book is a collection of them. They include a lot of detail.

Walcott, Mary Vaux. North American Wild Flowers. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution. 1925. Five volumes available on the Internet Archive: one, two, three, four, five. I am always thrilled to find books with botanical prints…flowers particularly.

Young, Bonnie and Malcolm Varon. A Walk through the Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1979. Available on the Internet Archive here. The art and architecture of Medieval Europe as displayed the Cloisters Museum and Gardens. The gardens – bounded by arches and columns – are always appealing. This book may be a little dated but the photography of the place as it was in the late 1970s is quite good.

Enjoy some good online books!