Inspiration Is Where You Find It

 I was feeling pretty sorry for myself on a beautiful spring day recently. Self declaring the trails in Vernon to be closed due to mud season and with the ice being out on the pond, I really didn't know what to do with myself. With all of the sticks picked up in the yard, I decided that we should go on a bike ride. Wayne and I are quite a sight on our mountain bikes wearing jeans and t shirts instead of racing spandex like the tourists do; but I'm not even sure if a 57 year old should actually be sporting spandex this soon after winter hibernation. Anyway, my bike made the decision for us when Wayne discovered a hole in the tire. 

I asked Wayne if he would like to go in search of fox with me. Wayne is no longer confused by these requests but knows enough to ask me what such an adventure would entail. I was working on a blog about fox populations reducing Lyme Disease and I couldn't find my pictures of the kits we we saw on Newton road a while back. I tossed in that perhaps we could check out that five mile loop my coworkers are so fond of. Wayne agreed to the fox hunt, but put the kibosh on my plans for a five mile urban style hike. 

Here is the picture walk of our five mile hike.

Having walked Newton Rd so many times, It hadn't occurred to me to begin taking pictures of the scenery until we were on the east end (I was looking for fox after all). This picture is looking back to the west

It's pretty interesting what we can see while walking versus zipping by on bike, in the car, or even on Google Earth. Here are the tracks that cross Newton Rd. Truth be told however, I still wasn't sure that this was a nature walk yet.

We needed to make a decision once reaching rt.142, would we head towards the north end of Pond Rd or to the south end? Fire Pond # 7 made the decision for us!

Cattails are an important wetlands plant for wildlife. They also filter out excess nutrients that cause algae and reduce bank erosion. 

Fire Pond #7 was really weedy which makes it great for fish. Wayne spotted several of what he thought might be Rock-bass and then he saw a fish that was big enough to make a fisherman's heart go thump! For my part, I found my first frog of the season.

With the tracks to the west, 142 to the east and Newton Rd to the North, I couldn't figure out how fish got into the pond. The source of the pond appeared to be seepage under the tracks that formed a wetland and small stream; but admittedly it was too swampy for me to get a close look.

A pipe redirects the water to the pond. I couldn't locate an outlet for the pond.

Is there a wetland or brook on the other side of the tracks? This pipe peeking out of the soil seemed to provide a clue as to how fish might have entered the pond.

Decision made, we proceeded to walk south on 142. I found it funny that there was a caution sign for bikes on this end of 142 given that Pond Rd is 35mph versus the 50mph on 142. Even so, I was grateful for the wide strip of pavement to the side of the white line.  

Spring Peepers kept us company on this stretch of road indicating wetlands up the hill where the tracks were. To the east there were plenty of culverts emptying into ravines. 

A dirt road heads down to fields between 142 and the Connecticut River. It's amazing how many farm fields there are in Vernon. 

The most amazing things happen when you least expect them to; and no I'm not talking about the fact that Wayne and I squeezed through the narrow underpass where the tracks cross 142 and lived to write about it! 

As Wayne and I were strolling along wondering quite frankly what we had committed to, I happened to glance over and noticed a woman planting, "What are you doing planting peas?" This is how I met Nancy, a most inspiring and knowledgeable resident of Vernon. You may know Nancy form her stand from which she sells cut flowers. As it turned out she was planting Ranunculus. I pretended to know exactly what those were; but asked her how to plant them. It turns out it's quite a process requiring knowledge of storage and temperatures and timing.

I enjoyed a long pleasant conversation with Nancy in which she explained to me how to create a fern planter out of moss. Finally I had found someone as enthusiastic about moss as myself! It was soon apparent however, that her knowledge far exceeded my own. When I asked her what else she planted, she told me that this year she was planting four hundred herbs that she had promised to a farm to table man. I think that I may have agreed to do some weeding this summer in exchange for some of her plant knowledge.

Time to hit the road again and I recognized the next turn. We were almost to Vern-Mont Farm territory

I long for the day that I capture a decent picture of a Turkey Vulture. Oh well, here is a pretty good picture of Sumac next to the tracks and (sigh) a Vulture overhead. 

Wayne always seems to get away from me on our hikes, perhaps I spent too much time gazing at the sky?

Some things remain in the environment longer than we do.

Take a right onto Pond Rd

Here are some of those bikers we were looking for!

Just before this picture was taken, we saw the most beautiful sight in the front yard of a picturesque home. There on the hill was a father sitting in the spring sun with his two young children. That sort of thing gives a person like me a good measure of hope and joy.

A favorite view of mine on Pond Rd

Do you see them?

Newton Brook has been of special interest to me ever since I read that it is to be remediated by the state due to pollution.  Looking north where Newton Brook passes under Pond rd

Looking south east, the brook flows towards the fire pond by Vern-Mont Farm. Newton Brook reaches it's destination, the Connecticut River just south of the VT / MA border.

Newton Brook weaves in and out of these farm fields and under Pond Rd. My question remains as to where the brook actually begins. With a history of agriculture and development through the years, the streambed has assuredly been redirected. 

I recommend tracing the path of Newton Brook on Google Earth which begins somewhere near Scott Rd and Lily Pond

There is a sweet home near the road with a lovely horse barn. With the leaves off of the trees I noticed for the first time a beautiful field beyond their tree line.

It was here at this stone wall that I remembered that we were supposed to be looking for fox. What reminded me of our quest here? Well of course it was that weasels often live in rock walls and weasels eat mice. What else eats mice? Fox eat mice! We found lots of shade here but alas no fox.

Paying our respects at Tyler Cemetery

The hills appear to change direction here. 

We stopped at the corner of Plain Rd and Pond as our friends Cheryl, Peter and their grandson were out front enjoying the day. They had erected a life sized cross for an Easter reenactment tour. I asked Cheryl if it would be okay to walk along the edge of the field for the last stretch of our hike and she approved. 

This field is opposite of Lily Pond and Cheryl informed me that down at the end of Sonny Dr there is an old dump that she and her father used to hunt old bottles at.

The next road over is Newton Rd from where our adventure began. It's pretty much on the money a five mile loop. Wayne and I drove the upper loop this morning that goes north on 142 from Newton, up to the post office at Georges Mill to the north end of Pond Rd and south to Newton again. That loop is also five miles. Wayne isn't convinced yet, but someday we are going to walk the entire ten. With Vernon full into mud season and while the trails dry out a bit, it's a good time to look for inspiration where you can find it (even if the foxes aren't out yet.)- Norma Manning

If you would like to try one of the Vernon five mile loops, there is parking available behind the Vernon Rec on Pond Rd, at the post office / Georges Mill on 142 and at the Vernon Fish Hatchery pond on Newton Rd.

Is Lily Pond a Kettle Pond? Where Does Newton Brook Begin?

On Valentines Day as Wayne and I were walking the dogs, I spotted a patch of pink snow and so waded over to check it out. Upon closer inspection I realized that we had happened upon a kill site. The snow was depressed in the center and surrounded by a variety of tracks. In its entirety, it was only about two or three feet long and wide. There was blood, rabbit fur and rabbit pellets dispersed over the area. I saw what was possibly entrails at the bottom of the depression, but I couldn't confirm that because several animals had defecated and urinated on top of it. 

I understand that I'm a bit of an outlier when it comes to my level of interest in these sorts of discoveries. I find them intriguing, worthy of study, a story to be told and most assuredly there are photographs to be taken for my Facebook album entitled Carrion.  Wayne, unlike myself, prefers to walk on down the road while encouraging me to disengage.  How could I with so many questions to be answered?

I feel that it's important to reiterate here, that it's not death that fascinates me, if that were the case, I think that I would feel the same when finding some poor creature who perished by automobile as I do when finding deer bones in the woods. It is not death but instead the thought of nature having played out as it should and here it is on full display. This animal has a story to tell and I am interested in reading it. 

Since Wayne had no shared interest, I had to reach out to those that would understand my need to know. I first texted seven photographs that contained as much detail as I could capture to my daughter Helen and her boyfriend Kirk who both work in Wildlife. I then asked them why animals had defecated on the site, what exactly was it they were doing and could they tell what kinds of animals had done it?

Surprisingly, they didn't immediately respond, so I dropped Wayne's phone into my jacket pocket and caught up to him. We were on our way to Scott Road to satisfy another question that has nagged me for a long time. As for Wayne?  Wayne thinks that it would be better to leave the answer alone. 

"Omg why is this happening to me emoji emoji emoji emoji emoji emoji emoji emoji...Ahahahaaaa I'm traumatized!" This is what happens when mom accidentally texts the wrong daughter who is just waking up due to a three hour time difference. Apparently Kayden wasn't in the same head space as I was. I wish that I could claim that it is a rare occasion that my head is in one place while everybody else's is in another. Truth be told, I get into a lot of hot water over this.

Here is the thing, I was walking to Scott Road because Newton Brook is noted by the Deerfield River & Lower Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan as a distributary for Lily Pond and I wanted to see exactly where pond meets brook. Wayne on the other hand, was walking to Scott Road because it was Valentines Day, the dogs had to be walked and he is a good guy. The implications of this revelation (not the one about Wayne, the one about the brook) is that Lily Pond is not a true kettle pond. To quote my eldest daughter, "Omg why is this happening?" 

This is not an easy topic to look at in a town that takes considerable pride in hosting a rare kettle pond, so why even bring it up?  I bring it up because in order to address the issues facing the pond, everyone must understand exactly what the pond is and is not. Understandably, I wanted to do the topic justice so I began by rechecking watershed maps which seemed to confirm that Newton Brook begins in the wetlands at the edge of Silver Lane flows into Lily Pond and exits at the south end by Scott Road. 

 I searched old reports that claimed extraordinary things like," In the westerly part of town ( Lily Pond) covers about 100 acres. Pickerel, Pout, and some other fish are found in its waters." (1891)* I discovered that Newton Brook isn't even mentioned in the same report, "Broad Brook, Upper and Lower Salmon Brook, Island Meadow Brook, and Bedling's Brook are the principal streams and all are small."*  Addendum: 1869 map which includes Vernon's Lily Pond.

Vernon's 2018 Town Plan states on page 42 under water resources, "The largest surface water body in the town is Lily Pond at approximately 40 acres, with a watershed area of about 400 acres."** The only specifically named rivers and streams in the plan are the Connecticut River and Broad Brook, all others mentioned in the report are referred to as, "several critical tributaries."**

Never one to shrug off people with hands on knowledge, I felt it was only right to include it here.   I was told by a resident recently that the 2020 Tactical Plan is wrong, that the natural flow in that area is into the pond as evidenced by the fact that the normal water level of the pond is three feet below the level of the fire pond there. This resident was citing the contour lines on an interactive state map viewer and additionally mentioned a small stream that runs into the pond there.  He also wrote that a Scott Road resident told them, "that outlet is dry as a cork...that outlet exists only because in the 19th century there was an attempt to drain Lily Pond...which was unsuccessful." I have spoken with many other residents in town of which I am sure would agree.

When a recent conversation about my blog on Lower Salmon Brook turned to Lily Pond, Jerry Unaitis wrote an online comment, "I have the original deed from 1830 or so and it shows a brook coming from Lily Pond running through the field behind the house I grew up in. I don't know when Mr. Scott put the dam in but that stopped it," He also mentioned that he would try and locate the deed. I am hopeful that other residents will contribute what they know about this subject.

The Tactical Plan in question states: Lily Pond is a natural on-stream pond on Newton Brook. The pond is the only Outwash Plain Pondshore natural community in Vermont and hosts over a dozen species of rare aquatic plants. Downstream of the pond Newton Brook is impaired for nutrients and sediment due to agricultural impacts.  The steep eastern shore has a 50-foot riparian buffer yet the levels of Total Phosphorus in the pond are high. Protection of this rare community is a priority.(pp 76)*** It is also stated in the report that Lily Pond's low PH is a concern.*** There is a priority restoration focus on Newton Brook that addresses "nutrients & sediment from agricultural inputs."(pp 43-46)*** I want to mention at this point that this report is 235 pages, much of which is too technical for my understanding; but Vernon is mentioned often including the Hatchery, Broad Brook, Roaring Brook WMA, Central Park and Black Gum Swamps. There is a lot of praise for each of these mentions. 

To get back to my conversation about the rabbit kill site, Helen later explained to me that animals will "mark" their territory and most likely these visitors were letting others know that it belonged to them. As for my eldest daughter Kayden, later in the day she texted, "I still need to bleach my brain after this morning." It just goes to show that people can look at the same scenario and come away with varying thoughts on it. No amount of my enthusiasm, talking or texting about it is going to change Wayne or Kayden's opinion on the subject. For my part, I've decided not to post those pictures here. -Norma Manning

Taken while standing on Lily Pond looking towards Scott Road

Same view but taken further back 

Open water visible at the base of the rotten tree on the right as shown above.

View of the tree line from Scott Road where Newton Brook reportedly flows away from Lily Pond

Taken from Scott Road looking towards Lily Pond

Ripples indicate that the stream to the left is flowing into the fire pond. This flow appears to be coming from a small stream flowing down the hill on the left.

Closeup of stream on the right. The same one shown in the first three pictures.

Picture showing a plowed drive leading to the property located to the left of the brook. The drive crosses through the stream that is also shown in pictures 5 & 6

Looking east on Scott Road opposite of Lily Pond and the brook, the bed is evident, but I was unable to see flowing water.

Addendum (4/14/2024), Here is the link to the town map of  Vernon Water Resources which shows a brook connected at the north end of the pond and emanating from the wetlands beyond Lily Pond road. At the south end of the pond where the fire pond is retained at Scott road, the map shows that wetlands span from the pond to where Newton Brook begins. However, Google Earth when magnified labels Newton brook connected to the south end of the pond.  We know that Newton Brook flows south to Massachusetts where it empties into the Connecticut River. I added  this addendum here as there continues to be conversation surrounding the topic and some maps have been updated to reflect this.

*The Towns of Windham County, Vermont Historical Gazetteer volume V, Vernon

**Town Plan Vernon, VT 2018

***Deerfield River & Lower Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan

Assessment of the Condition of Vermont Waters, Department of Environmental Conservation

State of Vermont 2020, 303 (d) List of Impaired Waters Part A. Impaired Surface Waters in Need of TMDL, Approved by EPA Region 1