you know you're in the south when

people say "why yes, she might could come over tonight"

words of one syllable become two: ki-ids, gri-its, da-awg

the newborn triplets are named Mari Michael, Bailey Langston, and Jana Kate

Mari's name is pronounced with a dipthong: "Mae-ry"

okra pancakes and shrimp grits are on the menu

the evening meal is called supper

"meat and three" restaurants are very popular

at a "meat and three" restaurant, the sides include collards, fried green tomatoes, and hush puppies

among the bbq restaurants we enjoyed in three days in alabama and mississippi were Johnny Ray's, Little Doey's, Sonny's, and Dusty's.

my name is pronounced without the 'l': Joo-ya (I kind of like this; it does take me back to Ole Virginny)

and you know you're in the southern apalachians when the red clay dirt stains everything.

when a billbiard on the interstate advertises "the best turkey calls in the business"

may apple and wild geranium

back by popular demand: native wildflowers of the week at frog bog farm

may apple (Podophyllum peltatum) the flower appears below the leaves and will make a small yellow fruit, said to have an aroma of guava with hints of papaya and strawberry. there are recipes for may apple jam and jelly, one suggesting that "a tart, subtle, exotic" flavor results

wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) the seed pod will be sharp and pointed, giving the alternative name of crane's bill. and speaking of cranes, a pair is nesting in the swamp and we often see a single crane, probably the yearling of the pair.

and introducing a new category: invasive plants of major concern

garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata): this is a pernicious weed that is spreading rapidly throughout southeastern michigan. it is a threat to all native wildflowers and tree seedlings, as it can completely dominate a forest floor in 5 to 7 years. it must be pulled and the plants bagged and put in with household garbage (not composted). it is in the woods along the road at frog bog and clusters of it have infested the edges of the dirt road for about a mile to the west.

photo to come

where were we?

perhaps this is an occasion for another contest: where were we?

i've seen grass-covered mounds in Kyong-ju, South Korea; in Gamla Uppsala, Sweden; and Chillicothe, Ohio...but these are in Moundville, Alabama, south of Tuscaloosa. we stopped for a look on our way driving from Atlanta to Starkville, Mississippi, with Marcia and Oded.

Moundville was a large Missisippian Culture fortified town of about 1,000 inhabitants, occupied from about 1000 to 1450 a.d. it was one of the largest cities in North America at the time, and about 10,000 people lived in the surrounding area. There are thirty-two mounds arranged around a central plaza.
the largest mound is about 58 feet high. archeologists think that the highest ranking clan probably occupied this. apparantly later in the centuries, the area ceased to be inhabited and became a sacred site. but i was frustrated by the lack of information about this. which points to the importance of label and brochures and visitor's guides.


unfortunately, the museum was closed for renovation. it houses some remarkable objects found on the site. without much context for these mounds, it was hard to visualize how the area would have looked. we were almost the only people there and in fact it seemed a little melancholy to me, just these grassy mounds set in the open.


oded and marcia, wearing her 'boot' and on her high-tech rolling scooter. marcia had surgery on her foot and can't put any weight on it for six weeks. we went to atlanta to help to amuse her, but they were perfect hosts and amused us instead.

more to come soon on our adventures in southern cuisine...

biodiversity hurray

on saturday i went to a day-long volunteer training for "rapid natural area assessment" sponsored by the huron river watershed council. over the summer, 90 sites will be assessed by volunteers to determine which are the highest quality places that would be top priority to be protected. one of the most important characteristics is abundant biodiversity: many species of trees, shrubs, and plants.

with this in mind, i took a walk through our strip of woods that borders the hayfield. and, without taking notes and trying to be scientific, here are species that i noticed:

trees:
red, white, and black oak
red maple
black cherry
pin cherry
basswood
shagbark hickory
pignut hickory
blue beech
hopbornbeam
sassafrass
cottonwood
hawthorn
sumac
ash (all dead)
elm (mostly dead)
box elder
poplar
willow
autumn olive (invasive, along perimeter)
buckthorn (invasive)

prickly gooseberry
black raspberry
gray dogwood (or silky?)
red osier dogwood
multiflora rose (along perimeter)
grapevine

native wildflowers and plants:
spring beauty
trillium
trout lily
wild geranium
nodding trillium (white and red)
mayapple
jack in the pulpit
virginia waterleaf
cutleaf toothwort
pale blue violet
yellow violet
ramp
poison ivy
queen anne's lace
bergamot
various asters
various goldenrods

pennsylvania sedge and other as yet unifentified sedges

but also: garlic mustard: vigorous alien invasive, taking over the world

and that doesn't include the wetland itself to the north of the field, pictured above.

the total area may be quite small, but it has excellent biodiversity.

and to keep it that way, i'll go pull some more garlic mustard.