kites

from brainsik on flickr

Cloudy. Tubing being strung up in Tinmouth for sugaring. Heard the term "cabin fever" mentioned for the first time this year. Doing more walking now to lose weight I gained over Christmas. Out walking at noon on a sunny, windy day. Thinking about kites

forgotten & forlorn

32 degrees and windy. Sound of Cacky's wind chimes on the morning walk. The mountains got more than a foot of snow over the weekend. We got about an inch which has been the pattern this winter. New fallen snow in the road has a slithering, snake like quality when blown by the wind. Icy sheets of snow coming off cars on the bypass, and shattering like panes of glass on the road. Snow blowers & pallets of road salt forgotten & forlorn in front of the Home Depot.

night sky

14 degrees and clear. A week ago it was clear as well. Connie & Mark came over for some star gazing.  Pete was the master of ceremonies. I don't know anyone more fascinated in the natural world than Connie, so I was interested in what she would make of some of the phenomena in the night sky. She had a very sharp eye. She was able to pick out some of the objects in the sky before we looked at them in the telescope. I broke astronomical rule number one when I took this picture. You're never supposed to compromise the collective night vision. Afterwards we went inside, and had some hot chocolate. This is what passes for entertainment among the gentle people of Vermont.

daffodils

Cloudy. Daffodil Days signup for the American Cancer Society in the cafeteria at work. Another sign of spring. Daffodils coming up in the front yard. Skunk cabbage appearing in the usual place in Salisbury. Some consider it a wildflower which is kind of a stretch. Interesting that the early springtime risers have pointed shoots, like a knife. Must be to cut through the usual ice and snow.

heads up

Cloudy. The foundation of this blog is leading a boring life. Doing the same things week after week. Going on a walk in the morning. Going to work. Walking from one building at work to the other. Driving to the Zen Center. Doing these same things week after week, and noticing the changes. Magnolia buds appearing at the Zen Center recently. Also a photo of the most beautiful tree in Vermont which I pass in Shelburne on the way to the Center. Should know what kind of tree it is, but I don't. Also a heads up (literally), Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will be aligned with the Sun (and the crescent moon I think) after sundown for the next few days.

shining

Rainy. Moonlight shining on the small creek along the crossroads the other day. On the way home, I saw the constellation Scorpius setting in the southwest. Scorpius is a summer constellation so it was nice to see it shining in the morning sky. I looked for its next door neighbor, Sagitarius, but it was lost in the light from the rising sun. Things change fast this time of year. I was taking the same walk just a few days later. The sky was clear, and I looked for Scorpius again, but the sky was now too light to view that constellation as well.
The Mississippi delta was shining
like a National guitar.
Graceland
Paul Simon

the garden way

17 degrees and clear. I stopped by the Garden Way store in town the other day. I wasn't even sure it was open when I pulled in to the parking lot. It was hard to imagine that in just a few weeks really, this place will be filled with plants, bushes, and trees for planting. I bought some bluebird houses here last year. The bluebirds had two successful broods over the summer. There are now about 7-8 bluebirds contesting the three bird houses we have in the back. I stopped in to buy some more.

important day

from Baseball Backs on flickr

Sunny. Today is an important day in our household. Pitchers and catchers are reporting to spring training! Oh, and it's Allyn's birthday.

ducks

 from Matt Peoples on flickr

 Rainy. A flock of 15-20 ducks flying high in the sky over Rutland. That is a lot to see. Usually when I see them flying around, it is in smaller numbers, 2-4. Ducks are one of those animals that seem to be full of life, like finches, chickadees & chipmunks. They are the definition of buoyancy both literally and figuratively. I love the way they barrel through the sky when in flight. They look like a torpedo with their hell bent for leather style of flying. I start to see ducks in the air this time of year. I've never known if it's because they have just returned from the south, or because it's light enough to see them now when I'm heading home from work.

driving

Cloudy. Temps in the 40's yesterday, today & tomorrow. Driving south on Rte. 7 on a sunny day, the sun through the windshield has almost a narcotic effect. Driving on snowy roads between home and work sometimes make me feel like I'm driving a Russian troika through the woods somewhere between Moscow & St. Petersburg, wolves nipping at my heels. Active fantasy life.

Milky Way

from jpstanley on flickr

Cloudy. During the summer the Milky Way runs almost directly north and south across the sky. In the fall the direction turns to east west. Looking at the sky this time of year, it is running from northwest to southeast. I am kind of proud of the fact that when I look at the planets in the evening sky, I can envision their orbits around the sun, and get the tiniest sense of the vast scope of it all. I am totally unable to understand the changes in the path of the Milky Way occurring during the course of the year. I actually kind of prefer it that way.

sparks

20 degrees and Valentines day. A card & chocolate dessert for Allyn. It was cold over the weekend with snow on Monday. The pattern this year has been a little snow followed by warming. Temps expected in the 40's later in the week. Slow line of cars heading into Rutland on a snowy day. Wind flowing snow off trees like little cotton balls. Pickups plowing parking lots and driveways. Sparks on the road from the snowplow.

not this year

Cold and clear. I saw a couple of squirrels heading to the crabapple tree out front at work the other day. In years past the dried fruit has been a source of sustenance for them at this time of year, but not this year. There isn't any dried fruit because the tree basically produced nothing this year. I remember back in May, there were plenty of beautiful blossoms on the tree, but no honeybees. I asked the old woodchuck, Doug Blodgett, if honeybees are in trouble, and he said that all bees are badly stressed. They don't know exactly why. I remember seeing the tracks of deer in the snow under the crabapple tree in previous years when dried crapples were also a part of their diet. This year none of that exists. The squirrels looked puzzled as well. They were just sitting in the tree, looking off into space, just scratching themselves

hot stove league

from mustbone 3030 on flickr

17 degrees and clear. The natural world has its transitions, and so does the world of sports. The Superbowl is finished. Basketball and hockey are in midseason form. Duke & North Carolina had a classic game on Wednesday night, and there's a big Division III hockey game on Saturday night between #1 Norwich and Castleton State College. Yesterday in the cafeteria at work, however, the talk turned to baseball. The hot stove league was heating up in good form. I ended up talking with a co-worker about some of the bad Giants teams from the 70's. He was very polite. His eyes didn't glaze over even once. Picture of baseball players practicing in the gym at CSC in the Rutland Herald. The golf tournament at Pebble Beach is in full swing.

paw

Mt. Mansfield

Heading to the Zen Center on Rte. 7, Sun rising over the Green Mountains. Snow cascading off an east facing roof in Leicester. Dog lifting up its paw when walking through snow with its master. This is a time of year when native Vermonters are getting wood ready for next winter. I could never make myself do that.

smell of a skunk

vernal pool in winter

10 degrees. Full moon, Mars, dogs and flashlights on the morning walk. It is getting lighter now, silhouettes of Rutland Sangha members heading in for meditation. Ad for the Masters on TV. Smell of a skunk, a sure sign of spring.

Mars in Leo II

the planet Mars by Haseeb M on flickr

Driving home from the movie on Saturday night, I looked to the east, and saw something bright rising over the Green Mountains. I knew what it was right away. It was big and had a reddish tinge. It was the planet Mars. It was still in the constellation Leo as it had been when observed in the morning darkness back in November. Back then it just looked like another star, but now you can tell it's a planet.  The best description of Mars I ever read came from a young Vermont poet some years ago. Full moon, the "Snow" moon, is tonight.

ASTROLOGY

by John Kahle

I was not born a believer

in higher beings or mysticism

but tonight I am able to write

because five planets are aligned,

tunnels in the black bone

of the Earth's skull. Emerging

out of blue, Jupiter burns

with dignity. I see Mars

first hand, quivering with scarlet

in the spring air like a tulip.

I can point to Saturn as the Moon

passes, though it is hardly distinctive

from the wash of stars and galaxies,

reduced by distance and detail.

But the borrowed light of Venus

relaxes the light years. It beckons

me and asks steadily if I will be back.

I say I haven't seen Mercury yet,

nor the others vacationing in the south.

winter's farmers market

Temps in the 40's today. Saturday is shopping day. Superbowl platters at the market. I went to the winter's farmer's market to buy some bread. It is located within the local natural foods co-op. It is a wonderful source of energy & life during the winter months. Lots of Subarus outside, and plenty of progressive bumper stickers on cars, and on the freezer door inside.

one long November

We have had a few days of snow and cold, but so far the winter has been very mild. On Wednesday the temperature was 54 degrees. I washed the car for the first time in a long time. A friend said he took his dog for a walk, and when they got back, the dog was infested with ticks. This is winter?
When you're writing a blog about the changing of the seasons, it makes it difficult when the changes are minimal. It feels like it has been one long November. This year they put up some plywood out front at work to keep the ice from accumulating there except there's been no ice. Sticks have been positioned to keep the snowplow off the medians except there's no snow. All in all, it's very unsettling

Candlemas Day

 jackhynes on flickr

Happy Groundhog Day. It is also Candlemas Day. As the old woodchuck, Doug Blodgett, says, "half your wood, and half your hay should still be left by Candlemas Day." He's doing OK on the wood, but he's totally out of hay.

so high

Warm. Crows observed flying so high in the sky when driving over the bypass at sunrise. Headlights shining on ice glistening on tree branches. Cardinals and other birds foraging along the edge of the parking lot at work. Robin spotted crossing Rte. 7 the other day. Don't usually see one of those until April.