A River Runs Dry, Wood builds a Natural Dam and Corn Grows Eratically.

When rain becomes a treat you get used to looking at rivers that are running drier and drier with every passing day. The river pictured below is so low that you see the river bed in many parts. It’s a meter or more below it’s usual level. Imagine being a weather forecaster during a drought. Today it will be dry and sunny, as it has been for a few seasons.

In periods of heavy rain the water reaches to the tree roots currently covered in moss. At the moment they are high and dry. In another part of Switzerland some people decided to empty a pool into a local river. It didn’t explain why or how. The water was chlorinated and it caused fish in the river to die and they will now be fined.

One of the consequences of the lack of rain is that branches and logs that fall into a river bed have a tendency to accumulate for months at a time. When the rains finally come they serve as a means of transporting all that wood down the river until it gets blocked. As in the example below we see that two or more logs that got jammed across the river blocked smaller branches and detritus from getting by. They piled up and now we have the natural wood dam/mess.

River built dam

Over my walks I have looked at corn, out of curiousity and for a long time everything looks normal, until one day you come across the condition we see below. This is called Corn Smut apparantly. scroll down that page. There are plenty of interesting names for corn ailments.

corn smut

When you go on your daily walks look around you. See what unusual things you spot, and document or take note of them when you do. Nature is interesting. Keep attentive.