Ice Storm
A few evenings ago, I was backing the car down the driveway, and thinking about something else at the same time. A sure recipe for disaster. And sure enough, I edged into a snowbank. The temperature was just above freezing, the snow soggy and soft, so I stuck fast. Not to worry, I got out the shovel and began to dig. It had been a rare warm day, full of rain, and the temperature was slowly getting colder as the rain drizzled down. The snow was gray and heavy as wet cement. As I burrowed away, the sinking temperature abruptly hit that magic point where everything changes. Suddenly it was 32...
Read MoreCrow Moon
Thanks to Diane Hale Smith for this beautiful cold Crow Moon. Giving a name to each full moon is an ancient Algonquin tradition. This month’s moon was known as the Worm Moon further south, because the worms begin to emerge from the earth around this time of year. It was also called the Crust Moon because the snow crusted over after thawing and freezing–which certainly describes the weather today, the snow is frozen as hard as cement. Or the Sap Moon, for the maple sap run. But the more northerly tribes (according to the Farmer’s Almanac) called it the Crow Moon, because...
Read MoreConeflower: What’s in a Name
In summer it’s a green and golden wildflower meadow. In winter it’s brown stalks. Peeking out from under this abandoned piece of haying equipment (I think it’s a baler?) is a not-very-well-known wildflower. In summer it looks a lot like a daisy, but with golden-yellow rays surrounding a dark “eye” center. Nope, not a Black-eyed Susan. This is one of Susan’s cousins, though, in the Rudbeckia family. Three-Lobed Coneflower, or Thin-Leaved Coneflower, or Three-Leaved Coneflower, depending on which field guide you use. Coneflower describes this plant pretty well, since a thimble-shaped...
Read MoreDaylight Savings Time: No, Thanks!
I have a cause I’m deeply committed to. I really get quite emotional about it—just ask my family. And I’m asking for your support. I’m asking for your vote. And a sizable monetary donation wouldn’t hurt, either. My cause is this: Daylight Savings Time. I’m against it. It’s a hoax. A giant prank played on us by the powers that be. We’re all fooled into thinking we get an extra hour of daylight. It’s amazing, right?—the sun slows in its descent, bounces back up into the sky, and gives us a whole extra hour of sunshine. Only, of course, we all know it doesn’t. We just fiddle with the clocks and...
Read MoreCrows: Love in the City
There are many romantic things to do in the city of Amsterdam, NY, on Valentine’s Day. You could have dinner at a nice restaurant. Enjoy a hot fudge sundae at Fariello’s. Perhaps even stroll by the river to watch the full moon rising. Or you could count crows. Watching big black birds swirling eerily over the city may seem like a pastime better suited to Halloween than Valentine’s Day, but winter is when the crows are in town. On February 14, my husband and I did the dinner and the sundae, but first we shared our Valentine celebration with the crows. We got to our observation point early, to...
Read MorePoison Ivy: A Good Thing
Poison ivy climbing up trees can be a good thing. PI rarely impacts the host tree severely. But the best thing about poison ivy is this: birds love it.
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