seasons

And the seasons roll on. End of rifle season for deer hunters. Christmas wreaths and trees for sale in the area. Sound of the Salvation Army bell. Took the annual drive to the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester yesterday to do some shopping

red sky

There must have been Novembers in the past in Vermont that have been as sunny and warm as this one, but I can't remember any. Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with John, Ellen, and Owen yesterday. Owen's energy and enthusiasm seem boundless. The down side is he doesn't sleep much. Apparently the only way you can count on him to nap is when you take him for a walk outside which is what John and I did yesterday. It was a beautiful evening, warm and without any bugs of course. It was so quiet with a beautiful pink sunset. The atmosphere was bathed in alpenglow this morning as I headed to the usual Friday sitting. What does it mean when you have a red sky at night followed by a red sky at morning?

Happy Thanksgiving

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.
Willie Nelson

have a cup

Snowflakes buzzing around in the air. Snow on the mountain tops. Clementines and chestnuts appearing in the market. Also bought a quart of the Hood's Golden Egg Nog. I'll have a cup for you, Pip.

steel blue

It wasn't that many weeks ago that tractors were hauling bales of hay and silage on the roads of Vermont out of the fields and into the barns. Now you see these same tractors hauling fertilizer out to these same fields to be spread in preparation for planting in the spring. What goes around comes around I guess. The Green Mountains have become the steel blue mountains of November. 

Thanksgiving week

November is one of the gloomiest months of the year in Vermont. March is another one. The weather yesterday when I headed to the Zen Center for the Thanksgiving celebration was typical; cold, dark, rainy. It was so dark when I drove through Brandon that it almost seemed like the sun hadn't risen yet.

The ceremony at the Center was wonderful as always, full of light, laughter, love; good food and good friends. Thanksgiving has a special impact in a place like Vermont because of the contrast between the gloom on the outside compared with the warmth on the inside. When I mentioned this to a friend, she said some of her kids and grandkids live in Hawaii, and Thanksgiving in a place like that is pretty special, too. She has a point.

pallets of pellets

Pallets of pellets for pellet stoves seen in the parking lots of hardware stores all over Vermont. Trucks parked along road sides during hunting season. Raking up leaves in the front yard.

cavorting

At this time of year, the local avian population mimics the human one. Many of those who are able head south for the winter. The birds that remain are very much appreciated. Chick-a-dees, mourning doves, ravens, cardinals, and others. Blue Jay seen cavorting in an apple tree nearby.

last

Most flowers blossom in the spring and summer. This particular vine blossoms in November. I don't know its name, but these are the last white flowers we will see until spring.

sunset in Ira

November

Cleaning out the garage so that the car can go in there at night during the winter. Bringing down the wood rack from the attic. Starting up the wood stove. The wood heat is so warm and comforting.

In the woods

I've been out in the back posting No Hunting signs. A great opportunities to get out in the woods.

nature

Another sunny day. Deer moving from west to east in the morning in the back field. Turkeys grazing from east to west in the evening. Making plans to put up the No Hunting signs.

There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture in the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.
Lord Byron
Zen page a day calendar

Southeast

Southeast actually. Sorry.

Monday morning

old image from flickr

Cold and clear this morning. Got up to refill the wood stove. Took a peek outside, and the waning crescent moon, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter were all lined up in the southwest. It's always nice to start the week with a little wonderment.

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.

stick season

After the leaves have fallen, there is a time known as "stick season" in Vermont. It's a period filled with its own stark and subtle beauty. Instead of various shades of green, or yellow & orange, the forests and fields display many hues of gray, brown, and amber. When the leaves and cornfields are gone, the natural world opens up in ways unseen since April. Nests in the trees are revealed for the first time in a long time.

Indian Summer

We've been going through a nice stretch of Indian Summer. Temperatures in the 60's. Playing golf with Stan Duda today. Oh, sorry Shawn, the politically correct terminology is "Indigenous Peoples Summer." Did I get that right?

blackbird

Google images

Blackbirds gathered in a tree near the creek. This first appeared on this blog 11/6/09.

Cloudy. At this time of year you see large flocks of blackbirds gathering (or starlings, or grackles), hundreds of them. The size of the flocks is a little unsettling, like nature is out of balance. I have seen these flocks descend on the trees in the back woods. It is almost like a plague of locusts. I was reading about them in my Peterson's field Guide, and it said, "Their song sounds like the creak of a rusty door hinge, penetrating."
The other day I went into a convenience store in Brandon, and there was a large flock screeching from the trees across the road. When I came out, one of the blackbirds was in the parking lot picking at crumbs of bread. It's feathery coat was a lustrous jet black from its beak to its tail. it glistened in the sun as it move about. It was so sleek and aerodynamic. It was beautiful.
This is a lesson I keep having to relearn. Just because something is common doesn't mean it isn't beautiful. Ragweed, blackbirds, snowflakes can, at once, be ordinary...and miraculous. Many years ago I found a young starling which had dental floss hopelessly wrapped around and cutting into its leg. I ended up taking it to the Rutland Veterinary Clinic. My neighbor, Louella Day, a native Vermonter, was on duty. She took a look at it and said, "Well it's just a starling, but let's see if we can take care of it." And she did. She had the right idea.

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Paul McCartney

third act

The oaks and the beech trees are still showing their leaves, but some other trees are just now starting to turn. The tamaracks are now showing their yellowish hue along with the willow trees. The tamaracks are the only pine tree as far as I know that sheds its needles in the fall.
It occurred to me recently that the black locust trees, with their beautiful white blossoms, are among the most prominent trees to be observed during the spring, but I had no recollection of their leaves turning in the fall. I've watched a few of them recently, and now I know why. Their leaves just seem to wilt and quickly fall off. They have the most unremarkable foliage change I've ever seen.
I've always thought the willows were the last trees to turn in autumn. It looks like the apple trees might be even later than the willows. Apple trees are another that I don't ever remember observing in the past. Their yellow leaves along with the remaining fruit makes for a pretty combination. The apples end up looking like shiny Christmas balls.

end of October

Signs along the roadways supporting various high school playoff contenders. Last day at the summer venue of the farmer's market. Halloween parade in Rutland. Trick or treaters scurrying through the gloom in West Rutland. Daylight Savings time comes to an end.