Did you know that a forest protects itself in more ways than one? Many residents of Fairfield County who have clear-cut New England woodlands to pave way for their exorbitant McMansions realize the effect of leaving but a few trees with each passing storm. Sure, we can complain about the electric company’s performance when our last trees fall across roadways, disabling power lines and halting the flow of traffic, but just like this last tree in Spencer’s Run, most often, the damage is caused by our own actions. 

Here we see one of the few remaining trees in Spencer’s Run snapped in half from a subtle wind. There was no storm nor forceful gale that snapped this tree. It simply dried and died from the abusive treatment of the land beneath our feet. We scraped the top soil, cut down the protective grouping of trees that covered this area and left a single young tree in the middle of a muddy and fertilized dog romp.

There is no question that the effects of our actions are not always immediate. Here is an example. Take note of how many trees in the Spencer’s Run dog walk have fallen in the past year and a half. The end is upon us and the more we pave, cut and destroy the natural landscape the more effect it will have, not just the health of a few trees but on the health of our children. Way to Go New Canaan. I wonder who thought dogs prefer open fields to woodlands?

There’s little more enjoyable than a walk in the New England woods in Autumn. Waveny Park in New Canaan is a great place to capture the beauty of Nature.
Here are two photographs of the Sunrise in November, 2011.

[They're 1280 x 960. If you click 'em and download the large image you can set one as your desktop or your phone's lock screen.]

Enjoy.
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Upon closer inspection of the polluted soil dredged from Mill Pond one finds pieces of plastic, metal and landfill debris at every step.

It would be a challenge for someone to reveal a single square foot of the cornfield area that does not contain man-made pollutants withing the first few inches of soil. Oh well, nice try New Canaan ~ burying your trash in Waveny Park was not environmentally responsible.

Sunday’s howling wind, light snowfall and sub-zero temperatures didn’t stop residents from visiting Spencer’s Run dog park in Waveny.

The wind whipped across the Waveny athletic field blowing snow and a bitter chill that brought temperatures down to zero degrees Fahrenheit Sunday.

As I sorted through my closet for my warmest winter cap, the one with the fur ear flaps, I felt a tingle of anticipation at the prospect of a walk through the wintry landscape. After calling a few friends who were at home lounging Sunday away in pajamas and complaining about sub-zero temperatures outside, I thought surely I would be alone.

To my surprise Spencer’s Run had visitors! There were a dozen canines running about, their owners throwing tennis balls, frisbees and chatting as if it were any other Sunday. One of the greatest things about this day in the park; No one was complaining. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to be outside. After 20 minutes socializing in Spencer’s Run, I clipped up the leash and went for a walk over the Waveny trails with my pooch.

A friend called – the coldest moment I experienced was holding that phone without a glove – he and his daughter would meet us with their dog. …and that’s how we spent our Sunday afternoon in Waveny. We walked for almost two hours. When our conversation turned to hot chocolate and the warm fire at home, we turned back toward the cars and called it a day. A beautiful day in Waveny Park.

It was zero degrees today. We saw cross-country skiers, kids sledding, dogs playing. We saw interesting stones in an old stone wall and some neat looking trees. We kicked snow piles and crunched frozen puddles. We joked around and had a family good time. We put on a jacket and took up adventure in Waveny today.

As they continue to pave over more and more of Waveny Parkland in favor of asphalt parking lots, soccer parents continue to line the fields with their cars, collectively turning a blind eye.

Pictures: While paved lots remain empty, Self-righteous visitors park on the grass just yards from designated parking spaces.

[Show as slideshow]

Some of these pictures are Amazing. I hope you enjoy them.

The truth won’t come from the glamorous journalism of the New Canaan Advertiser, nor from the politicians who approved the immolation of the cornfield area.

The ‘Cornfield Alliance’ is asking for $250,000 for a project titled “Waveny Cornfield Restoration Project” that has stated restoration is not the goal of the project.

• Clear invasive shrubs in overgrown fields.
• Clear stone fences and trees of choking vines.
• Re-distribute and grade pond fill.
• Replant fields and borders with natural grass, native wild flowers and shrubs.
• Build a trail, and add benches.

Re-distribute and grade pond fill?
The “pond fill” was newly introduced and contains thousands of plastic bags, bottles and rubbish, scrap metal, tires and literally tons of crude oil. Re-distributing that material can in no discernible way represent restoration of the habitat.

restoration – noun
1 the action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition

Building a trail and adding benches is considered Restoring?

When the proposal was heard by the Park and Recreation Commission, there was a question as to what the annual maintenance cost would be for mowing the area once it is cleared.
Not only did they save money by using our public parkland as a dumping grounds for unsightly and hazardous waste, but also saved on the mowing expense that just five years ago Parks and Rec. handled without complaint. I guess they forgot the not-so-distant past when this was a field abundant with wildlife. I haven’t.

Without removing all traces of foreign soil, all toxins and all pollution from the area it cannot be restored. The truth is Waveny Park will never be the same. From the moment the diesel trucks began delivering sludge, the ground began to absorb the toxins, the wildlife displaced and the area contaminated.

There is a difference between ‘neglect’ and ‘abuse’ just as there is a difference between ‘restoration’ and ‘transformation’. If it were an “alliance” asking for funds to ‘transform’ the ‘abused’ area into a path through planted fields, I wouldn’t have gone out and taken pictures while I am sick as a dog.

A public-private group formed recently with the intention of restoring the Waveny Park cornfields.

Is public-private a word? Or is it two antonyms, such as good-bad, put together?

The cornfields, some 18 acres located in the southeast corner of the park, have been neglected for years, leaving it overgrown with invasive plants and vines that are choking native species of trees and bushes, many of which were planted 50 years ago or more.

I know newspaper journalists like to ‘editorialize’ but to say the fields have been neglected is an outright falsehood.

The truth is, the cornfields have not been neglected. The cornfields have received constant attention for years, purposeful destructive attention by the town of New Canaan and it’s contractors who have deposited hundreds of cubic yards of toxic crude oil product and thousands of cubic yards of dredged waste.

The fields have, under the care of The Town of New Canaan, been systematically destroyed according to their plan and the residents of New Canaan paid for that deleterious process. To call it neglect is just not true. Neglect is defined as “Fail to look after, pay no attention”

On the contrary, the Waveny cornfields have received constant attention and there are more than 100 photographs on Waveny.net showing “years” of ruinous attention.

Judging from the statement the cornfields are “overgrown”, the journalist who wrote the Advertiser article obviously hasn’t visited the cornfields which have been devoid of life for quite some time.

Does it not seem odd to anyone that persons responsible for the deplorable condition of the cornfields should be appointed to the Restoration Project’s Steering Committee?

Waveny.net has been concerned by the destructive behavior of a Town bent on selling off and irrepairably altering the natural landscape of Waveny Park for years.

Most of all, the question remains; How have we come to the point where a few residents are forming a committee to clean up for the Town of New Canaan? Why do citizens have to call on the Attorney General to protect us from our town governement? Why do we elect and support with our tax dollars men and women who don’t hold righteous values? Why do we as residents of New Canaan allow our elected officials to treat our precious resources with such injust disdain?

The article should have said: “We, as a town, have been using the Waveny Park cornfields as a dumping grounds for several years. The abuses have taken a serious toll on the environment, forcing out wildlife and completely obliterating native and planted flora. Despite our decision to use the grounds for debris storage, we have come to the conclusion that a Natural setting is preferable to the continued use of our Public Park as a dump and therefore have decided to reverse our decision despite the millions of dollars aready invested in destroying the area.

We, as a town, have decided to remove the tires, scrap metal, plastic and asphalt in order to reestablish the Natural environment to the best of our ability. Though it will take years for such a reversal of behavior, it is in the best interest of future generations to keep Waveny Park the wonderful natural landscape it has been for hundreds of years.

I spent my Valentine’s Day alone this year. During the day I took a walk through Waveny Park. A walk through my favorite woods gives me a chance to escape my small world for a moment and think a bit more clearly. Being immersed in Nature gives meaning to my existence and lends a perspective on my mortality and my significance in the Grand Scheme of things. It is a place where I am in Love.

I am glad to have a perspective which allows me to see the garbage as Art and the changes taking place as yours, not mine. I am not one with just the bent steel rusting in the puddle but rather, I am one with all of it; The puddle, the metal, the damage and the persistence of Nature to overcome the greed-fueled abuses of mankind. Am I separate from those that litter and spit upon the landscape without regard? I relate to the grass growing around coffee cups and discarded 5-gallon pails. I relate to the animals large and small pushed away onto increasingly smaller islands of safety and sustenance.
Anyway, I’m sure this is all quite boring to you. Go bury a tire so you can earn your five dollars and buy more plastic plates to throw away. Go drive your car and look out the window at the pretty trees lining the Waveny property…  Maybe, just maybe, you will remember these pictures of the garbage that is eating away at the backside of those trees when they are all that is left of what was once Waveny’s Forest.