They did not care when
Sir Francis Drake claimed them
for the Queen, or when the Spanish
held and lost them
to the Mexicans
and their vaqueros—
they did not care
when Bequettes brought
the first Devins in
to shade beneath their canopies
along the creek—
they did not care.
Long white limbs,
they will dance for anyone
once they lose their leaves.
* * * *
The Sycamore Alluvial Woodland on Dry Creek is the third largest in the world and the largest in the Sierra Nevada Ecoregion.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2024, poetry, Ranch Journal
Tagged Dry Creek, photography, poetry, Sycamore Alluvial Woodland
The Sycamore Alluvial Woodland (Platanus racemosa) on Dry Creek is one of 17 stands over 10 acres remaining in the world and the largest in the Sierra Nevada ecoregion despite the downstream impacts due to gravel mining. Other impacts from reservoirs, recreation and stream channelization have substantially reduced the population of this plant community statewide. Despite a century of grazing and the current drought, new growth from the remains of an old sycamore stump in this photo demonstrates the amazing resilience of this species. Photo: August 31, 2014
Posted in Ranch Journal
Tagged cows, Drought, Dry Creek, photographs, SAW, Sycamore Alluvial Woodland, water, weather
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