August at the Reservoir

August at the Reservoir
The fungus are in bloom

Welcome

This blog is a chronicle of life and the seasons at the New Concord Reservoir. The manmade reservoir lies about a mile and a half outside the village of New Concord toward the end of a country road lined with small farms and homes. A half mile long and about 150 yards wide at its widest point, it is bordered by forests on its eastern, western and northern shores. New Concord is a village in Southeastern Ohio, which, like its New England namesake, originally served a hinterland of small farms. Today, life in the village is shaped primarily by the presence of Muskingum College, a private, residential liberal arts college founded by Scots-Irish Presbyterians in 1837. The New Concord reservoir lies about the same distance from the village of New Concord as Walden pond lies from the village of Concord, Massachusetts. It is only about one quarter of the size of Walden, and no great works have celebrated it. While Walden is a natural pond, carved by receding glacial moraines, the New Concord reservoir required human intervention to emerge. It only came into existence a few decades ago, when the village created an earthen dam near the headwaters of Fox Creek, and its first function was to ensure a dependable source of water for the village. Neither Walden, nor our reservoir are notable for their extraordinary majesty or wildness; both exist in the midst of civilization rather than remote from it. In chronicling the days of Walden Pond, Thoreau sought to encourage us all to appreciate the ordinary natural world we live in rather than only valuing that which is remote and seemingly untouched by human hands. This blog is intended to encourage you to find your own Walden in your own neighborhood. Visit it frequently, learn from it, find peace and inspiration there, share it, cherish it, and protect it.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Afternoon on the Water

After work today I loaded the kayak on the car and headed out to the reservoir to get some time on the water. I had not had a chance to paddle the boat since I installed a new seat and some knee braces. I was eager to see how these additions affected the boat's handling, but also just to get out on the water on only the second nice day in a few weeks. After a quick sprint to the north end, I doubled back at a more leisurely pace, keeping an eye out for wildlife along the shoreline. The first thing I spied was a Canada goose sitting on her nest in the grass along the shore. She was not happy to see me, and kept her head low to the ground, but her eyes firmly on me, and I floated by and snapped a few pictures.

At the north end dozens of turtles were soaking in the sun from log perches. Typically the turtles scatter quickly as my boat approaches, but this brave soul decided that the sun felt too good and his perch was just too nice to be abandoned by the approach of me. Even after the bow of my boat bumped his log, he held his ground. After soaking in the scenery for awhile, I headed back to the car. As I pulled my boat ashore, a few members of the track team headed out on the trail, and gave a thumbs up review of the new bridges when they completed their lap.
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