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
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