How Green Is My Mountain
Posted on | September 24, 2008 at 6:19 am | 3 Comments
Back on August 4th, I reported on how a fire had ravaged part of Green Mountain near where I live. Now something miraculous has happened, as evidenced by this picture of the north side of the mountain:
(Click on the photo to go to the large version on Flickr. Sorry about the picture quality. Don’t ask how I took it.)
What a spectacular transformation in only two months! For the first time since I can remember, and I’ve been living near it for almost 40 years, Green Mountain is actually Green. But only the areas that were blackened by the fire. In the above photo, the hills to the left and center were burned by the fire and were totally black after the fire had been put out (see this photo for example). The hill to the far right was not touched by the fire. You can see the line at which the fire was stopped. You’ll notice that the fire-ravaged area is now green with vegetation, while the untouched area is brown. Green Mountain has always been completely brown to me, from dirt and brush, so this is like a new day dawning. I read an article about the Greening of Green Mountain in the Lakewood Sentinel last week, but I can’t find it online now. This explanation comes from the Lakewood city website:
The most visible impact of a wildfire is the direct impact to vegetation. It is important to remember that fire is a natural process that can help add nutrients to the soil and reduce accumulation of dense vegetation that can inhibit plant growth. Periodic wildfire stimulates plant growth and reproduction and can improve wildlife habitat. The rate of this fire was very fast. A fast moving fire tends to leave root mass intact. This can stimulate plants to send up new shoots and result in rapid re-growth.
Rapid re-growth indeed! Lord a-mighty! I’m thinking now they should’ve let the whole mountain burn. As long as it didn’t, you know, endanger any people or property. Because that would be bad.
Latre.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 50°F)
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Time Warping” (Mitch Easter)
- “August August” (Trotsky Icepick)
- “Empty Reel” (Trotsky Icepick)
- “What We Call Love (live)” (Steve Wynn)
- “I Need Better Friends” (Cracker)
- “Village Of The Sun” (Frank Black)
- “Daylight Savings Time” (Hypnolovewheel)
- “Love’s Immortal Shining Angel” (Bill Nelson)
I believe this is the first time that the playlist has played two songs from the same artist back-to-back!
Poignant Search Term Of The Day That Led To This Blog: “end of the world calendar entry in palm desktop”.
Videogame(s) Played Yesterday: Still playing with my Heavenly Sword (PS3). I’m stuck on the “Raven King” section, which is the penultimate fight in the game. I’m getting a little better every day though. Soon, I’ll dispatch that nasty King Bohan to the netherworld.
Comments
3 Responses to “How Green Is My Mountain”
September 24th, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
That’s not an iPhone pic, is it? If it is, it’s darn good. Especially if it’s a drive-by-photo.
September 24th, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
It’s a drive-by, but with my regular Canon digital camera. It’s fun trying to take pictures when you can’t look at the screen!
September 24th, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
> As long as it didn’t, you know, endanger any
> people or property. Because that would be bad.
Yeah, plus who’d be left to insure ‘em?