Sundews, Ell Pond I used to live quite close to the Ell and Long Pond complex, in Hopkinton, RI, and I'd hike this area, which is now a jewel in the holdings of the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and the RI Department of Environmental Management, very often. Truth be told, Long Pond was a magnet on a hot summer's day, and I could easily be induced to join a fair number of hardies in making the mile-long trek to the deep water to go skinny-dipping. That was what we did back then, but these days, swimming is verboten. There are still, however, abundant reasons to visit the refuge, and this morning, after too long an absence, I made the journey back to Ell Pond, which was never a swimming hole, to sample and photograph its delights, especially the carnivorous bog plants known as sundews. Should an insect be succumb to the allure of the attractive—and sticky—droplets of moisture at the ends of the plants, the hapless invertebrate will find itself trapped and, soon enough, digested.