kiss of death

This has been one of the longest stick seasons I can remember. Temperature was in the 50's yesterday with no end to higher than normal temperatures in sight. Took the opportunity yesterday to clear debris off some of the cross country trails. That should provide the kiss of death to the winter season for sure.

Christmas Tree

Home from sesshin. Even though the weather feels more like October I came home to a house full of poinsettias. Allyn and I cut down a beautiful Christmas tree along a nearby fence line yesterday and brought it back in the truck. 

rare

Rare Saturday posting. I will be away for a week.

lights

UPS trucks delivering on residential roads. Winter issue of Rutland magazine. Christmas lights appearing on front lawns. Vermonters do tacky just as well as anybody else.

season of berries

molten silver

I don't know why, but water in lakes and ponds often takes on a metallic quality this time of year, like molten silver. 

commute

So since I retired, many of the daily rhythms of my life have changed. The obvious ones are that I don't get up in the morning, and go to work, and return home in the evening. This certainly affects the observations I'm able to make in relation to this blog.
Yesterday I was in town working on a project. I got done about 4:30 in the afternoon. I looked up as I was leaving and noticed a large flock of crows heading east, at least fifty of them. I used to observe this phenomenon at this time of year when I was working. As sunrise and sunset began to coincide with my arrival and departure at work, I would see these large flocks heading out in the morning, and returning in the evening. It appeared to be their daily commute. It reminded me of the seven dwarfs, and their travels to and from the mines and their cottage in the forest.
Crows are sociable and raucous creatures. Yesterday they flew high in the sky and silently. That is how I remember it from year's past. It seems that there is a drama or scenario that is playing itself out in front of me of which I am only able to discern the tip of the iceberg. There is something very mysterious and compelling about this sort of an observation for me.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, and the other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein