October 01, 1981 - A Day at Peconic DunesSECOND SECTION
Tbe *Uffolh, Ttmes
A Day at Peconic Dunes
Having made a date a long time ago to
take a group of sixth grade students on a
walk through Peconic Dunes, I was jarred
into reality by a telephone call telling me
that the group would be out Sept. 24. That
was all right, but during the months of
September and November I'm always a bit
concerned about the weather and my
suspicions were supported by the heavy
winds and overcast weather that turned up
that morning.
As a matter of fact, it got quite cool and
showers ran through the night and into the
morning. With all this in mind, my wife
and I prepared for an indoor slide show
and visual program, we thought the kids
would never venture out in such a stormy
atmosphere. To our surprise and amaze-
ment, when we got there everyone was
prepared with winter coats, hats and even
gloves. They were ready to go!
As we looked about in the huge mess hall
where the group had gathered, we were
amazed to see the activity that had
already been going on inside. Tables were
laid out with books, pens, pencils, micro-
scopes, a wide variety of shells, seaweeds,
nuts, flowers, leaves, toadstools -- you
name it. It looked like the outside had
moved in.
This was their second day and on the
previous overcast day they had gone out
and collected and brought back materials
for study. Here they had worked on
preparing their projects. Each table had a
name. There were the Raccoons, the
Chipmunks, the Chickadees, and so forth.
Their leaders had groomed them well.
Some were so intent in their work they had
to be called twice to get them to go outside
on their walk with "Mr. and Mrs. Stouten-
burgh."
It seems these kids were having a
wonderful experience in learning. Here
they had been looking up things in their
books, swapping ideas and materials and
learning how to get along with each other
under a relaxed atmosphere that brought
back memories of 20 years of teaching to
me.
The Five Senses
Outside we gathered these young, vigor-
ous, sixth graders about a circle and
started to talk to them. They all had
collecting bags. Some had binoculars.
They even had a pad and pencil for notes.
We talked a short bit about the wonderful
senses the good Lord had provided us
with; the sense of smell to capture the
essence of the sassafras root; the sense to
taste the sweet over -ripe beach plums; the
sense of hearing that told us the L.I. Sound
was on a rampage that morning; the sense
of touch as our hands followed over the
rough bark on the red oak and then onto
the smooth bark of the gray- streaked
shadblow; and, of course, probably the
most important sense of all -- our eyes that
showed us the wonders of nature all about
us.
With this introduction we headed across
the field and over into the dunes. All along
the way we talked about the fungi and how
important they were in breaking down
plant and animal life when it died, how the
leaves and limbs became soil. We picked
up mushrooms and looked at their gills and
saw the spores blow away from puff balls
in the air.
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oflE,3 RITTq
We found nuts of the hickory and saw
how hard they were to break open, and yet
the squirrel seemed to have no trouble at
all. We found the acorns of the red oak and
compared them to the big sleek brown
acorns of the white oak. We learned how
the Indians and our pioneering forefathers
ate these white acorns to help them get
through the long winters of long ago.
Plants Differ with Soil
In the dunes we talked about drifting
sand and how it created this county park.
The kids took samples of the sand so that
later back at the big mess hall under a
microscope they could see the structure
and color of the sand.
As we walked from one area to another
we found the trees and plants change
because of the different soils; one area
was heavily vegetated in rich soil and on
the dunes few things grew. This was a
harsh life area. We even hit a bit of bog
where fresh water existed within shouting-
distance of the great Long Island Sound.
Along the way we had a very serious
lesson in what to eat and not eat; many
poisonous berries looked mighty tempting.
We did sample some of the wild frost, or
fox grapes, that were just about ripe. Most
agreed they were pretty sour and pitty but
that taste alternative was changed when
we came across a bush of dead ripe beach
plums that had been overlooked by people
and birds. In no time at all the bush was
denuded and nothing was left of the
beautiful blue fruit but the spit -out pits
around the bush. Many were trodden
under by footprints of the kids. Perhaps
next year the mark of activity that took
place here would be new beach plums
growing from the spit pits.
As the group moved toward the Sound,
we could see why the dark rolling clouds
above were moving so fast. A fierce wind
was blowing out of the northwest, bits of
sand and spray were in the air, so much so
that many turned their backs to it and
pushed on.
Out on the beach the surf was pounding
so high it was almost up under the dunes.
What a wild sight! Many of these young-
sters and adult leaders had never exper-
ienced anything quite like this. I'm sure
they'll remember the day. All sorts of
goodies were being stored in plastic
baggies brought along for just such a
purpose. Later they'd be put out on the
tables, read up on and perhaps mounted
for use in the classroom. As we headed
east the wind was partly behind us and the
walking became easier.
Birds on the Prowl
Down the beach we watched a small
group of shore birds running along the
wind- tossed wave edge. They jabbed their
bills in the sand picking up what we
couldn't see. We did know that they had to
build up their strength for they had
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SHELF FUNGUS - -Under the beauty of this fungus lies a deadly story.
What you see is merely the flower. The fine threads of its true body are
now working throughout the tree, which means its life span is limited.
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
already left the far north where they
nested and were heading for the far
reaches of South America.
Once over the dunes the fierceness of the
wind and sea became subdued and its
frenzy could only be heard as gulls drifted
back and forth scouring its edges for food.
Their patrol was made easy on that strong
northwest wind.
Driving home, my wife and I talked over
the morning's activities. Our faces were
windburned and we were worn out a bit but
satisfied. We had left at lunchtime and
their day was only half over. The leaders
and chaperones still had a half day to go
and then the evening program. I'm sure
they would all sleep well at night. They
deserved a good night's sleep for they had
done their job well.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
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Unlocking the Treasures
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Byy \NDRE PIOT C.S.
o.ember of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship.
At FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST
Main Road, Route 25
Southold, New York
Thursday, October 8, 1981 8:15 P.M.
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