Mountains of Mulch

We have been having the most extraordinarily beautiful spring-like weather. I intend to enjoy it even though I'm sure we will soon be hearing words like 'drought' and 'fire' if it doesn't rain quite a lot more. We're being warned of 60mph winds tomorrow although it is hard to believe as I look out the window  at the sun sinking into it's pink and yellow bed. John was so overcome by the warm weather that he announced he was going to fire up the barbecue for the first time in a while, forgetting that in February, once the sun sinks behind the hills, it is cold!  

We went to Spring Lake this morning, extending our usual walk around the lake to include Lake Ralphine, a little lake in the adjoining Annadel State Park.  

Almost all the debris from burned houses and cars has now been hauled away. The melted pipes and light fixtures and  tons of soil contaminated by household cleaning products, gas and paint have been cleared. I don't know where it was taken or what is being done with it. Many new houses are now going up. There are stricter fire codes, mandatory indoor sprinklers and smoke detectors and fire resistant siding and roofs.

The high rocky plateau between the lakes is also where trees that have been felled due to fire or drought are taken, cut up into logs or fed through a chipper to create mulch. Almost all the burned trees were left to see if they would regenerate. Some have done so, some look like the same burned trunks with blackened, leafless limbs as they did two years ago. These are now deemed a danger and are being taken out.

The acres of mulch we saw today are mostly from the trees within the park, but there must be enough mulch being created in the county to cover this rocky plateau with rich new soil.

We came upon the doe and her yearling in extras on the trail standing firm and staring at us. We thought we were the ones who would have to make a break through the underbrush, but by the time we were within ten feet of them they turned and ambled off.