Roger Damon served more than 48 years on the Mount Washington Volunteer Ski Patrol, but he didn’t know that we would be publishing a photo essay in this issue focused on the Mount Washington Observatory. So it’s sheer coincidence – and more than a little uncanny – that he recently mailed me this tree button: a polished cross-section of wood that he picked up near the cairn at Tuckerman Junction, at an elevation of 5,175 feet on the southeastern slope of the mountain.
In his accompanying letter, Roger explained that this wood came from a small, sun-bleached tree that was lying in fragments on the ground. Its narrow annual rings – shown here magnified – record a difficult life. By my measurement, the widest of the rings is no more than 1/50th of an inch.
I’ve been keeping Roger’s tree button in my coat pocket, taking it out occasionally to spin on my desk. I like the story it tells of a scrappy existence eked out at a habitat’s margin. There’s a bravery to our northeastern species, a persistence in extremes that awed me as a southern kid during my first winter up here for college, and still sometimes stops me in my snowshoe tracks: evergreen ferns poking up from the drifts, water beetles whirling under ice, and those noisy mixed flocks of titmice, nuthatches, and other small birds foraging on the coldest days of the year in our sugarbush.
I hope that you enjoy this issue, from Susan Morse’s snowy-chinned lynx on the cover to Declan McCabe’s “Invertebrate Bestiary” column, which shares another example of life lived at the extremes: snow-walking long-jawed spiders (and what wonderful images by Adelaide Murphy Tyrol). I also encourage you to take a few minutes to skim the bound insert in this issue, acknowledging the many people and organizations who made donations to Northern Woodlands during our past fiscal year, which ended on September 30.
Persistence against the odds is the norm for magazines, and our nonprofit wouldn’t get far without charitable contributions – or the ongoing participation of our wonderful advertisers, bulk subscribers, in-kind supporters, and others who help keep these pages vibrant. This has been a tough year for many, and we’re so grateful for our community. Thank you, and have a wonderful season!