happy new year

There are years that ask questions and years that answer.
Zora Neale Hurston
Zen page-a-day calendar

snow

Walking outside to start the day. The smell of snow in the air. It's coming.

Happy Birthday

Understand, I'll slip quietly
Away from the noisy crowd
When I see the pale
Stars rising, blooming over the oaks.

I'll pursue solitary pathways
Through the pale twilit meadows,
With only this one dream:
You come, too.

Rainer Maria Rilke

signs

More signs of autumn, burning bush, mums and pumpkins. Going to be away for a few days.

first frost

First frost of the season has come and gone. Smoke from chimneys appearing. Burdock brambles tangled up in my shoelaces.

summer strawberries

Signs of fall. Windows closed at home and in the car. Turning on the heat at home and in the car. Flocks of geese heading south for the winter. Wood's Market in Brandon, the home of summer strawberries,  is closed for the season.

foliage

The fall foliage season has begun. Nobody has ever been able to predict, as far as I know, whether it will be an above average year or not. It reminds me of opening your presents on Christmas morning. You never really know what you're going to get. I was driving through Brandon on Sunday and the leaves were stunning. We've had several above average years in a row now which is unusual.

cow lick

On Saturday I burned a large brush pile in the back. When it was still smoldering, the cows came over and started eating the ashes. I went to find out about it on Google, and the best answer seemed to be that there are minerals in the ashes and it's sort of like a cow lick for them. Amazing.

for now

As I've said before, we haven't had significant rain for awhile. The streams and ponds are very low. There is a spot near the bridge that is normally a deep pool. The pool is much more shallow right now. I was looking in it the other day and saw a couple of fish. They were pretty large ones. I'm sure in normal water levels I never would have seen them. While I was watching them a large heron shot out from under the bridge and flew away. I am sure he was watching those fish as well. I saved them...for now.

mystery

I just finished doing the brush hogging in the fields on our property. There are many wild apple trees that have grown there over the years. The apple crop, wild and otherwise, has been sparse this year after last year's astounding production. The trees in our yard have a dozen apples on them, maybe. Same holds true with the wild apples except there are a few exceptions. I don't know if you can see them, but the tree below is full of wild apples, hundreds of them.

What's intriguing is that the tree in the first shot is about 30 feet away from the tree in the 2nd shot. What is it that makes one tree so productive, and the ones right next to it virtually barren? A mystery.

Alberto

from Vladimir Pecha on Google Photos

After the trip to Mt. Philo, there was dinner and a movie. A few hardy folks went out for some star gazing afterwards. It was an amazing night. One of the things we saw was the beautiful double star Alberio, one of my favorites.

opening

From the top of Mt. Philo looking south.

I was in Shelburne for most of the weekend. I had some free time on Saturday afternoon, and decided to head to Mt. Philo, about 5 miles away. I had heard that during the fall there is a migration of raptors, and that the top of Mt. Philo is a great place to view them. I vaguely remembered that the raptors like to move on sunny days with the wind out of the north. That's the way it was on Saturday.

I drove to the top of the mountain. I found some openings in the trees facing to the south, and was able to view a few hawks circling the mountain from there. It seemed, however, that the birds would be looking for uplift from the northerly breeze, and that most of the activity would be on the north facing slope. I looked around, but really couldn't find any open views through the trees to the north.
I drove out of the park, and, on a whim, pulled off the road to see if there was any activity on the north side of the mountain. Sure enough, there were about a dozen big birds careening through the breezes. The aerial acrobatics were amazing. Some of the birds were mostly white, thinking they might be osprey.

I drove home on Sunday. I stopped along the same place as on Saturday to see if there was any activity. Didn't see a single bird. However as I drove home I did see a few hawks gliding around  similar kinds of mountainsides. I've lived in the area for over thirty years and never really noticed that kind of thing before.

Heraclitus said, "Nature loves to hide." That's the way it is for me. Natural phenomena can remain hidden, elusive, even when I'm looking hard. However, once something is observed for the first time, it seems to be everywhere. A door into the workings of the natural world is opened forever. Such openings can be very gratifying.

First frost on Saturday night.

September

season of fog

Season of asters

birds of winter

The other day I saw a flash of blue in the back yard. Turned out it was a couple of blue jays. I haven't seen any blue jays in months. They must have been around. It is interesting that the birds of winter, the blue jays, cardinals, and chickadees are relatively inconspicuous during the summer months. It seems that it is only when the orioles, veerys, and thrushes have headed south that they become noticeable again. The exceptions are the crows; winter, summer, fall, and spring, you can't miss them. Full moon, the harvest moon, over the weekend.

silage

cardinal flower

Driving north on Route 7 yesterday, got behind a farm truck transporting a huge load of silage. As usual, it was filled to the brim without a tarp on the top. Silage rained down on the vehicles following the truck like green confetti. It seems weird to me, particularly yesterday, that here's a product that farmers have grown all summer long, and they're willing to waste a certain portion when transporting it from the field to the barn. I drove from the Rutland area to the Burlington area, and the roadsides were covered with silage the entire way. 

parking

The weather in September in Brasilia is not the same as the weather in Vermont. Windows closed at home at night. Stacking firewood in the back yard. It was only a few weeks ago that I was parking in the shade during the day. Now I'm parking in the sun to maximize the heat from the sun.

trip

Back from Brazil. It's a nice place. Observed hundreds of people, saw three, count em, three people smoking cigarettes. They've done a great job with that down there.

Stayed with some nice people.

Cornered the market on rubber balls.

Saw my first aeroporto al fresco.

Someone had a birthday.

You hear more squealing tires in a day there than in a year in Vermont.

Metro stop in Brasilia.

Great trip. Good to be home.

chores

As the weather becomes more autumn like, so do the chores. Dave Chambers dropped off the tractor and brush hog yesterday. I was able to mow a couple of fields. Two cords of wood are due to be delivered on Saturday. Going to be away again for awhile.

gathering

There's been a change in the weather. Days are about 10 degrees cooler, nights more than that. Birds and dragonflies starting to gather for the migration south.

Why am I aging so
this autumn?
A bird flying into the clouds.
Basho
Zen page-a-day calendar

looking

This commentary on changes in the natural world and otherwise has existed in some form since 2007.   So the number of new entries has certainly decreased over the years. Most of the observations are repeats of years past as we recycle through the seasons of the year here in Vermont. So I especially enjoy seeing something that I don't remember seeing before, and reporting on it.
It's been a hot and dry summer, and more than ever I have opted to park Allyn's car in the shade rather than in the driveway where the sunlight has been more direct. In recent days that has changed. The shadows of trees to the south of the drive now cover the driveway most of the day. We all know that the sun is traveling lower in the sky, but here is direct evidence of it. I have never noticed this before.

What is a course of history, or philosophy, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most admirable routine of life compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen?
Walden
Henry David Thoreau

Season of sunflowers

Thank you!

Spent the weekend on Martha's Vineyard. On Friday morning I took the car in for a checkup. The aide in the service department said that he spent his honeymoon on the Vineyard. I said we had some good friends who had invited us there for a weekend every year for many years. That it was the most summery place I know, and that we were very grateful for this ongoing opportunity in our lives.
This weekend was The Last Waltz so to speak as this aspect of our lives is drawing to a close. We have always packed a lot into these weekends; the porch, morning walks, walktoit beach, jumping off the bridge, hydrangeas, raucous dinners, ice cream, the stars, the boats, the light.
Of course, it is the people that make  these weekends particularly meaningful. The Blodgetts, Dudas, Crowleys, and others have been such interesting and amiable companions over the years. We met our future son-in-law, Andy at one of these weekends many years ago. We were happy to meet Corey's new girlfriend, Julie, here on this particular occasion.
Dick and Lisa are the people who have made all this possible. They have been so very kind to invite us back year after year. They have been so hospitable, and have worked so hard to make sure that every such weekend has been a time to remember and treasure. Thank you so much!

Vermont

Yesterday I had an occasion to visit Shrewsbury, Vermont. It is a beautiful area high in the mountains outside of Rutland. I stopped at Pierce's General Store there. It is the last of its kind in this area. I asked the woman behind the counter if they sold ice cream cones?
"Sometimes." She said. She brought me over to a small stand-alone freezer that contained pints of ice cream and some novelties. "We have ice cream and ice cream bars here. Knock yourself out." She said.
I pulled out an ice cream bar, and headed to the counter to pay. I told her I'd like an oatmeal raisin cookie as well. "Oh, I highly recommend our baked goods." She said. "We got in some gluten free muffins this morning. This gluten free product has really become a pain in the butt."
I told her I wanted to take a photo of the place, and I asked her to be part of it, to animate it. She obligingly walked behind the counter, and said, "Do you want me to look at you, or pretend I'm doing something?"

"Too late." I said. I've already taken it."
"You probably got me with my mouth open."
I wanted to say that there was a pretty good chance of that, but for once I kept my big mouth shut.

yellow

In many ways this is the season of yellow here in Vermont, sweet corn and St. Johns wort among others. Goldenrod is ubiquitous. Sometimes you feel it in your eyes before you see it.

awe, reverence, and gratitude

Frank Tyrlik on Google Photos

Last night I headed south to Rutland after the sitting in Shelburne. I was hit right between the eyes by the three celestial objects blazing in the sky. I immediately knew that the brightest one was Mars, quivering like a tulip in the evening sky, as so eloquently expressed by my son John in a poem many years ago. Above Mars was the planet Saturn, and below was Antares, the heart of the scorpion in the constellation Scorpius. Incidentally, Antares comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "equal of Mars."

I watched them sink to the south and west all during the ride home. I arrived about 10:30. Allyn had thoughtfully left the outside lights on for me, but I turned them off, and went out to see what I could see. The trio were barely above the horizon now, but the constellation Sagittarius had assumed center stage along with the Milky Way. I could make out the Andromeda Galaxy far off in the northeast. The Milky Way was exceptionally bright. Sagittarius actually looked like it was the victim of light pollution from a shopping center or some such in the southwest except there's nothing out that way. The usual feelings bubbled up, awe, reverence, and gratitude.

I ran into Pete this afternoon, and told him about it. I guess he was out with his binoculars last night as well. Some of the local astronomers are getting together tonight at the Castletown University observatory. I plan to be there. The same trio dancing in the sky should be visible again tonight.

Goodnight stars.

Goodnight air.

Margaret Wise Brown

Zen page a day calendar

not amused

Allyn's tomato plants are bearing fruit, literally. Last evening some deer were munching on the tomato shoots. Allyn was not amused.

drought

Went to pick up Allyn at the Rensselaer train station last evening and drove home through a good, soaking rain. This is a time when one usually sees a lot of frogs on the roads. There were some, but not as many as usual. The current drought has been difficult for many animals, frogs included. There was an article in the Rutland Herald yesterday about this. It said that "bears, snakes and ants are among the species having to venture further afield in search of food and water." It said that "herons and other birds have been feasting on frogs that have become more visible in ponds."
This is a photo of a small stream near our home. Believe it or not, it has more water in it after yesterday's rain than it did a couple of days ago when there was basically no flow at all. What is an inconvenience at best for us is a matter of life or death for species in the natural world.

thick

The lawn and fields are thick with crickets and grasshoppers. Late summer is upon us.

Lightning flashes!
So bright in the eyes of those
clutching at the thought of death.
Issa

curlier

Hot and very sticky over the past few days. Curly hair is curlier than usual. Salt clumps up in the salt shaker. One of my all time favorite "signs of the times" observations.

basil

tansies

Parking in the shade on hot days. Smell of basil coming in through the front door.

bees

As I said in an earlier post, we've seen honeybees around this year for the first time in a long time. I noticed the other day that we have a new neighbor who is keeping bees. His house is about 500 yards away. I wondered if that was close enough that we might be seeing his bees. Wikipedia says that honeybees forage up to two miles from the hive so it's likely this is where they're coming from.

star gazing

Another beautiful day. Even though the nights have been great for star gazing, I haven't done any for a long time. I got a call about a week ago from a former co-worker who was looking for operating instructions for a new telescope. I volunteered my neighbor Pete. Last night we went out. The scope wasn't the best, but we got some good looks at the moon, Saturn, the wild duck cluster, and the Hercules star cluster. It was great to get out there again.

But it is the stars as not know to science that I would know-the stars which the lonely traveller knows.
Henry David Thoreau
Zen page-a-day calendar

Blackberries

Another beautiful day. Blackberries ripening. Harvesting in the fields. Cacky playing with her dogs in the Ira brook.

Such stillness
the cries of the cicadas
sink into the rocks.

Basho
Zen page a day calendar

Route 22

I drove up to Shelburne and back today. I had forgotten how terrible the road construction on Route 7 is these days. On the way back, I decided to take Route 22. I had forgotten what a beautiful drive that is. I wish I had asked Erin and Andy to consider taking that drive when they were here and driving in that direction. I will be gone for a week.

Joe Pye Weed

Some of the names of local wildflowers are beautiful: Queen Anne's Lace, Indian Paintbrush. Some are terrible: Cow Vetch, Bastard Toadflax. Joe Pye Weed is now appearing. I've always loved that name for some reason. Sounds like something out of Tom Sawyer.

bluebirds

Another beautiful day. The activities of the bluebirds in the back is one of the summer highlights. We've been fortunate enough to have bluebirds raising their young in the birdhouses along the fence line for many years. Often they have two hatches over the course of the summer. That has been the case this year. Eventually the young birds fledge. This is fairly easy to ascertain as there is more and more activity in the birdhouse as parents hurry to feed they brood. And then there is nothing, no activity at all as the young birds have left the nest. That was the case last night as the bluebirds weren't around per usual. I checked the house, and it was empty. They are not gone for good. I will see the young birds along the fence line for weeks as they are taught to fend for themselves. When Ellen lived here, she said she saw the bluebird family all winter long periodically, huddled around the old family home on the back fence

honey bees

As I've been outside mowing the lawn, and looking at Allyn's gardens, I've noticed the return of honey bees this summer (see it!). This is wonderful news. Honestly I haven't seen honeybees around here for a number of years. They are stressed and struggling in Vermont and around the country. They are certainly an important part of the ecology, and I welcome their return.
On the other side of the coin, after a few years of absence, I happily noted the return of the bat population last summer. For some reason, however, I haven't seen any this summer. I hope they're doing OK.