Spring arrived on Friday, March 20 at precisely 10:46 a.m. Acton’s Community Conservation Specialist, Ian Bergmann, led a group of 14 walkers, young and old, on a spring equinox hike at the Acton Arboretum. Bergmann noted that while the equinox marks the start of spring celestially, in the northern hemisphere, it marks the beginning of fall in the southern hemisphere.
The air temperature was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit that morning, but the sun was out and the skies were bright and blue. Earlier in the week, it had been wet and warm, the right conditions for another annual springtime event, often referred to as “Big Night.” Bergmann shared that the volunteer Amphibian Crossing Brigade he coordinates had been out Monday evening assisting thousands of frogs and salamanders across roadways in Acton, Boxborough and Littleton as they migrated from the forests to vernal pools, returning to the same pools in which they had hatched from eggs. “We saved the next generation,” he proclaimed.
The group at the Arboretum started their hike from the kiosk, stopping to admire a patch of crocus flowers near the Grape Arbor, and then walked along the yellow loop of the Arboretum’s trail system. Stopping at the Butterfly and Pollinator Garden, Bergmann pointed out that flies work as early pollinators before the plants that attract butterflies and bees are in bloom. There was not much to see from the boardwalk adjacent to the Farm Pond further on, but the group was assured that the pond will be full of turtles and frogs in the summer months.
Leaving the boardwalk behind, the hikers trekked along the trail to the newly installed stumpers, where the volunteers who tend the park are arranging stumps cut by sawyers on the Land Steward Committee from fallen trees. There will soon be a variety of mushrooms growing on these, and various plants added between and around the stumps and branches to showcase the aesthetics of natural decomposition that happens in every forest, when nutrients are returned to the soil and maintain its health. At this point in the hike, the equinox was at hand, and Bergmann marked the time and guided the group in a “mindfulness moment,” inviting everyone to focus on their breath for a few minutes.
Noting that an arboretum serves as a “plant museum” because species are selected and planted deliberately, Bergmann led the group through the Understory Study where they came upon skunk cabbage just emerging in the wetter areas. The hikers stopped at the Fragrance Garden, Dawn’s Pond, and the China Trail Garden. On the other side of a bright red footbridge, they encountered a stretch of pavers leading to a small patio, also made of the pavers, with an accessible picnic table. Bergmann described planned work to improve the existing stone dust pathway so that it is “wheel accessible,” noting that people using strollers as well as wheelchairs and other mobility devices rely on these types of pathways.
The Rock Garden was the last stop before the group gathered under the low, wide branches of a large tree near the Old Apple Orchard for a closing reading of the poem “Spring,” by Mary Oliver.
Bergmann mentioned that April is Poetry Month, and announced an upcoming Haiku Writing Workshop in the Teen Space at the Acton Memorial Library for grades 7-12 which was scheduled for Wednesday, March 25. Be on the lookout for the Conservation Division’s Poetry Walk in the Woods with printed poems displayed along a nature trail, and also news from the Friends of the Acton Arboretum about events to commemorate the park’s 40th anniversary.
When not doing her duty as a Select Board member, Alissa Nicol often writes articles for the Acton Exchange about community events.
