In relatively level terrain of the Champlain Valley, sometimes humorously called “The Great Plains of Vermont,” runoff often drains through watercourses known as swales. (“A low tract of moist or marshy land” says one dictionary.) Some have small brooks during times of high water—most notably when snow melts in the spring—but usually they declare themselves by supporting types of vegetation that need more groundwater. Thus characterized and demarcated, they have their own picturesque qualities, which change with the seasons and sometimes take additional effect through seasonal changes in the way they contrast with their surroundings. On my photoprowls, I keep an eye out for swale scenery, which I hope these pictures will display to advantage. They exist in other counties, of course, and some of those are here, too—but since I live in Addison County, it’s the territory I know best.