~
Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:30 a.m.
28 degrees, calm, partly sunny
There are twenty three deer spread out across the east
meadow and traipsing through
our near garden. Our three-legged cat is hopping along
among them, waiting for the various
critters that their pointy little hooves scare up. There
are a half dozen deer so close to the house
that I can see one is old enough to have lots of grey
hairs around her muzzle, yet she is clearly heavy
with upcoming fawn(s). I am thinking I might be further
ahead by feeding broccoli and cabbage seed-
lings directly to these garden visitors, and lessen the
suspense of wondering how many tasty veggies
I can actually harvest before they chomp them off down to
nubs. If the soil were dry enough to till,
I would put some peas in the ground tomorrow; alas, much
of the garden is still under water. Our
garlic has emerged in long perfectly straight rows; those
which are not still buried under snow are
surrounded by primordial muck so oozy that it is
impossible to walk out to see how the bulbs
fare. A whole mess of crocuses are heavy with tight buds,
and one warm day should turn
that muddy bare spot under our ash tree into a royal
purple riot. Will this be the day ?
Have a wonderful time, no matter what the weather,
Daisy
~
Friday, March 30, 2007 7:45 a.m.
33 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
It is cloudy and cold, with the wind still coming from
the north but at least a little less
fierce than during the past couple of days. At least with
the lack of sunshine, the expectation
of a warm day will not leave us disappointed if it fails
to appear. We never made it much beyond
the freezing point yesterday. We tried to walk up the
Gomer Hill Road after lunch, but the north
wind was so harsh it made our faces hurt all the way
through to the backs of our heads. So we
turned sideways to the wind, pulled our hats down snugly
to cover one ear and hiked briskly
across the Smith Road. We got to the snowmobile trail and
kept on walking, staying mostly
on top of frozen corn snow. There were many stretches of
crunchy slush but we never ran
into anything too juicy to support us. The most wonderful
thing about our change of route
was that as soon as we reached the shelter of forest
trees on both sides of the road, the
scene turned into one of delightful sundrenched warmth,
complete with the sweet whiff of
balsam and spruce to make it a multi-sensory experience.
We walked until I needed to turn
back to make it to work on time. There was a line of
fresh big pawprints weaving in and out
of the woods, a large canine of some kind. There were
also many deer tracks, all over the
place instead of in a single rut as in mid-winter. A male
bluebird was spotted near the house,
perched on a branch and checking out the neighborhood
before moving in. Spring is arriving
a little bit more each day; before you know it, sandal
weather will be here once again.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, March 29, 2007 7:45 a.m.
23 degrees, windy, sunny
If I dress like I’m going to climb Mount Everest,
maybe then I could enjoy sitting on the
back porch for a while. The sun’s warmth is blown
right away by 25 mph gusts of north wind
that carry the chill of woodland snowpack along with it.
I did make a wonderful discovery during
my brief appreciation of the backyard view; the snowdrops
by the house are in full bloom! I hauled
myself over a big pile of frozen snow that had been
cleared from the roof and picked a bunch, and
now they delight me from a little vase with some
pussy willows and ivy. The first bouquet of spring
blossoms is worthy of a celebration, a little happy dance
around the kitchen and a big grin to start
the day. Yesterday we traveled north to Watertown for the
day. The spring thaw is nearly complete
up that way, with receding water levels and several
meadows showing hints of green. Everywhere
we looked there were geese, milling about in low spots,
taking off, landing, and flying high in dis-
organized mobs. As our own snow disappears, we shall no
doubt see large numbers of them in
our neck of the woods soon. So far there have just been a
couple of small flocks traveling along
the Black River valley, high and dry on their way north.
We also saw huge flocks of blackbirds,
thousands of them flying in waves, swooping and soaring
in unison like one big single-minded
organism. Look all around you; even if you live in the
city, you will surely find signs of spring.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, March 28, 2007 7:15 a.m.
26 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
I headed out to our newly opened up back porch with my
coffee earlier and
watched the sun come up, and then dashed back into the
house to warm up. It is
a frosty and very breezy morning; the north wind twisted
yesterday’s laundry around
the lines into an interesting mass of frozen denim,
flannel, and terrycloth. The fog hung
around for most of yesterday and there were many little
misty rain showers throughout
the day as well, not the best day for drying either
fabric or the muddy fields. The noise of
running water drowned out the birdsong on yesterday’s
walk; water rushing through drain-
age ditches, freshets, streams and creeks bubbled,
gurgled, roared, splished and splashed
wherever we went. We saw just about every kind of spring
bird there is, and imagined the
sound of the american plovers as they ran around the bare
field, kildeeeeeeee, deeeee,
deeeeeee... I thought we might be able to catch some
nice tunes through the open bed-
room window in the early hours today, but all we could
hear was the roar of the wind,
which drowned out even the babbling ditchwater. Today
will be a fine one, full of
sunshine and blue sky. Make the best of it, wherever you
are.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 8:30 a.m.
45 degrees, calm, foggy
It is so foggy that a couple of schools have delayed
opening this morning
because the visibility is just about zero. Shadowy
silhouettes of turkeys are barely
visible as they plod along the lower edge of the garden,
walking single file and helping
to till the soil as they probe for food. Last autumn was
so wet that we never had a chance
to harrow in the last of the crops, so there is plenty of
litter and garden debris for all manner
of bugs to lurk under. We even left the beanpoles in
place, and I can see the shape of what looks
to be a bluebird perched atop the middle one. If it were
a clear morn I could see the beautiful ceru-
lean color, but for now it is just a shadowy form,
slightly smaller than a robin and sitting stock-still,
watching the turkeys’ slow march. Soon these lovely
birds will be back in droves, attracted by the
nesting boxes all over the property as well as the
natural cavities left by local woodpeckers. We
are in for several sunny spring days after the fog lifts,
perfect for hanging out freshly laundered
sheets and airing out the quilts and coverlets. We plant
to remove the winter panels from the
back porch today, so we can resume the wonderful custom
of taking our early morning
coffee outdoors with the warmth of the sun and sweet
lusty birdsong revving up the day.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, March 26, 2007 8:30 a.m.
30 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Birds are all over the place this morning, most of them
heartily involved in singing
their spring mating songs at full volume. Event he robins
have abandoned their tentative
chirps to the more familiar full-throated warble that I
recognize from childhood. Three tom
turkeys herd their harem toward the bare spot in the east
meadow, their tails fanned out in a
competitive display; must be size matters to these
big old birds. We haven’t heard any gobbles,
but the hens let out loud clucks as the toms try
to peck and prod them into obedience. The wind
is strong this morning, coming from the southwest and
rich with the promise of moisture, bringing
a very real threat of flooding to low-lying land. Our
ditches and creeks have been flowing freely
with snowmelt here on top of Tug Hill, thanks to the town
crews who have rearranged the
snowbanks and shoveled ice and debris out of the culverts.
Kudos to the entire team
for keeping the roads plowed and sanded during our brief
winter !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, March 25, 2007 8:15 a.m.
29 degrees, breezy, foggy
Fog rolled in late yesterday afternoon and lingers,
making the morning view
very up close and personal. We can barely see the tops of
the big trees on either
side of the yard, but we can certainly hear the
starlings, redwings, robins, bluejays,
and chickadees as they tune up for their spring recitals.
The snow is receding pretty
quickly, a seamless merge with the mist as it is gently
carried away to fall again some
other day. Actually, a little snow fell yesterday
afternoon, but it didn’t stick around for
long. We walked a few miles along the plowed road,
admiring the big clouds across the
valley and the clarity with which the Adirondack
Mountains showed themselves off. A
few fat snowflakes started to fall, but since the wind
was at our backs we didn’t mind
them at all. By the time we did an about-face to return
home, the snow had stopped
and the breeze in our faces was pleasant, for it carried
with it the vernal fragrances
of mud and running water, rich with hints of a new
growing season.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:15 a.m.
42 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
What a beautiful morning, full of birdsong and warm
sunshine. The redwing blackbirds
moved their show closer to the house, and since I slept
with the window open last night
that was the first thing I heard in the sweet still hour
before dawn broke. I also heard a pack
of coyotes in the middle of the night that sounded as if
they were running right by the house. They
may well have been, as their clamor was preceded by a
very loud onslaught of snowmobiles racing
along the trail, possibly rousing the critters from a
fresh kill. Yesterday we found grisly evidence of a
turkey’s unfortunate demise, one single scaly foot
severed at the knee and parked atop the snowbank.
There are many turkeys down by our springbox, walking
slowly along the surface of the snow and picking
up whatever they can find, drowsy flies and stupefied
bees, or maybe they are just eating snow. We saw lots
of robins during our walk yesterday, it seemed like
everywhere there was a patch of bare ground there were
a few of them mining diligently for grubs and worms. A
few geese flew over out house late in the day, the
first I have seen this spring. If you are in this neck of
the woods for the weekend and disappointed by
all the mud and water along the snowmobile trails, take a
break from sledding to visit any of the
Maple Weekend events at the local sugar shacks. For a
list of shacks, visit nysmaple.com .
Sugar on snow, sugar on snow ! Pickles and donuts and
sugar on snow ! Nan Parson Rossiter
Have a sweet day,
Daisy
~
Friday, March 23, 2007 8:15 a.m.
33 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Yippee ! There’s a robin perched in the maple tree
by our shed, not yet
singing its spring song, but uttering a few hopeful
chirps. A mockingbird made a
duet, echoing the short notes with a twitch of its tail;
they shared the same branch
and kept up a boisterous call-and-respond ditty for
several minutes. And now I see
two more robins out on our only bare patch of grass by
the garden, bobbing along as
they search for breakfast. A large flock of starlings
stopped by briefly before heading off
towards town, and the redwings are back in full force as
well, celebrating this beautiful morn-
ing with full-throated springsong. The deer are back in
the area as well, a dozen or more visiting
the seep below the spring that has just opened up, its
clear trickle of pure water neatly dividing our
meadow into two snowy parts. Our fields are still 98% or
more covered by snow, but I imagine a few
warm windy days such as this one will steadily reveal
more bare ground as the thaw continues. The big
wheel of the seasons keeps turning, as surprising as it
is constant. While the daily weather may be un-
predictable, the passing of winter is inevitable, and
spring is always more than welcome here in the
North Country. This is not to say that we are home free,
not by a long shot... there will surely be
more snow and ice, possibly even well into the month of
May. But for now, this first robin of the
season has ushered in the feelings hope and renewal that
the season generates in the human spirit,
and I can’t stop grinning.
Enjoy the day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, March 22, 2007 9:00 a.m.
44 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
We somehow managed to miss the rain that fell across much
of the state late yesterday.
I heard a few measly drops on the roof in the middle of
the night, and a stiff west wind rose
and fell like the tide. This morning dawned red and
ominous, with lingering rosy hues rising along
with the sun, fiery and too bright to look at. We
traveled to Utica yesterday, and I imagined that
spring would be well underway down there, but they had
more snow than usual and are still buried
under its wintry grip as much as we are. This morning I
heard several redwing blackbirds calling from
the hedgerows, and I’ll bet that hordes of robins
aren’t far behind. Crows seem to be everywhere all
at the same time, and I heard the ravens’ deep growl
from deep in the forest as I walked the dog this
morning. Friends have seen small flocks of geese
following the Black River northward, but they haven’t
made it to our neck of the woods yet. The next week
should bring out all of the signs of spring, as temp-
eratures climb and the sun becomes more potent. We saw a
few folks tending their sap lines yesterday,
and soon sweet sticky steam will be rolling out of
sugarhouses all over the area. Pure maple syrup,
now that’s a sweet indulgence that must be
surrendered to.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:00 a.m.
17 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
This first full day of spring is much more in keeping
with the season than yesterday’s
blustery chill. Warm sunshine, a yard full of birds
singing a merry spring madrigal, and a
quality of light that makes us put spring in our step as
well as our hearts. A large herd of deer
has even appeared out of nowhere trotting full-tilt
boogie out of the neighbor’s driveway. They ran
across the road at breakneck speed, white flags waving; I
expected to see a dog or pack of coyotes
in pursuit, but it was just the deer in flight from an
unseen stimulus. They continued their sprint across
the corn-stubbly field and disappeared into an old apple
orchard past a small shrub-filled gully. Yester-
day a flock of two dozen turkeys crossed at the exact
same spot, heads down and feathers all fluffed
up against the cold wind. In contrast, they took their
own sweet time, plodding in single file, fortunate
that there was scant traffic at that hour of the day.
Critters are beginning to gather together for the thaw,
waiting for the first patches of bare ground to appear
with their new green shoots and plump tasty grubs,
much as I am anticipating the first pungent chives and
wild spring greens to emerge. I will pass on the
grubs, however. Today will be lovely, but change is on
the way, with warmer temperatures, rain,
and maybe even a rumble of thunder or two. Make sure your
drainage ditches are opened up
and the culverts free of ice and other debris,and all
hatches are appropriately battened down.
Enjoy the changes,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:30 a.m.
23 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy, snowing
This first day of spring has entered roaring like a lion,
with wind that shook
the house all night long. As if to underscore the irony,
temperatures will drop
well below zero tonight as the air clears to make way for
warmer days ahead.
Check out the western sky just after sunset and you may
see the thinnest crescent
of a moon just before it sets. Some rain may fall towards
the end of the week, so
expect spring skiing conditions for the upcoming weekend.
If it is warm enough,
the snow should be slightly juicy and zippy, unless it
goes the other way to
sticky unfriendly glop. The only way to figure out which
it will be is to
actually start out on it and take it from there. This
advice comes
from the Department Of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, March 19, 2007 8:15 a.m.
17 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Crows and blackbirds decorate the trees and meadows this
morning, singing and calling
back and forth, a raucous soundtrack to a lovely sunny
morning. Wind has sculpted new snow
into a sea of wavy ripples, like the surface of a lake on
a gusty day. In some places the snow has
been scoured right away from the frozen base, adding an
element of surprise for yesterday’s ski outing.
The light was flat at the end of the day, and the icy
spots looked just like the snowy ones; oooooopsie-
daisy ! And I mean that quite literally. It was extremely
windy yesterday, and all of our tracks from Satur-
day had disappeared from the meadows. I would have stayed
in the woods, but the bluebird nesting boxes
needed to be readied for this spring’s occupants.
What I hadn’t counted on was the fact that the snow
is so
deep I had to get on my knees to clean most of them,
scraping out the remnants of late fall occupants from
an awkward position. I had emptied them all at summer’s
end, but nonetheless four of them were stuffed
full of twigs, the work of house wrens. Interspersed
within the twigs were many yellow fuzzy cocoons,
each caterpillar solid and visible through gauzy walls. I
had never seen these before, and not knowing
whether they were friend or foe it was hard to put them
out into the cold. This is the first time that I
haven’t found the fluffy catkin nests of deer mice,
or the bodies of frozen rodents who sought shelter
during a storm. Skiing back up the hill into the teeth of
the wind was hard work, but I kept my
eyes on the prize, the thin stream of smoke wafting
skyward from our chimney into the
sunset, painting the promise of sweet warmth at journey’s
end. More snow is on
the way later; enjoy what’s left of winter, on this
last day before the equinox.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, March 18, 2007 8:30 a.m.
14 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
Snow fills the air but doesn’t seem to amount to
much, as the wind whisks it from
icy surfaces as fast as it falls. Quite a bit of snow has
blown up against the barn and
garage, similar to yesterday’s combination of bare
spots combined with deep drifts. The
massive grungy snowbanks are still big and ugly, with a
small amount of clean white snow
nestled in the nooks and crannies only serving to point
out how unsightly the tumbled dirty
chunks are. We skied in the woods across the road
yesterday and it was a different picture
once we got away from the roads; all was sparkling and
fresh. Snow clings to the north sides
of trees, and windfalls are piled deep with crusty
pillows of white. Conditions were perfect for
gliding as well as climbing, and we did plenty of each.
We carefully peered over the edge of the
gorge and saw lots of water flowing between the steep
banks, with a sizeable pond shimmering
above the rock dam we made last summer. Much of the free-flowing
water had a skimcoat of ice
on top. The gurgling stream sung a merry counterpoint to
the soft sigh of the north wind through tall
trees. Butterscotch yellow dried beech leaves twirled in
the breeze, occasionally detaching and spin-
ning to the ground. There were surprisingly few deer
tracks, only two sets on top of the new snow,
nowhere near the deep ruts of midwinter worn by dozens of
hooves. We didn’t see any signs of
bedding down either; I wonder where the deer have all
gone ? We haven’t seen them crossing the
road lately either, at their usual spot by the neighbor’s
driveway. Oh, deer, what can the matter be...
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, March 17, 2007 8:00 a.m.
12 degrees, windy, overcast, flurries
Light flurries are buffeted to and fro by a stiff north
breeze on this wintry morn.
The brunt of last night’s storm passed us by,
leaving a few windswept dunes in the
yard that need the plowtruck’s burly touch, only
because friends are expected later
in the day and they need somewhere to park. Although the
official date of the vernal
equinox is March 20th, today we shall see
exactly twelve hours of sunlight, with sunrise
and sunset occurring at 7:10 on both ends of the day. Add
an hour on either side of that
to allow for the predawn glow and twilight’s purple
hour, and we can play outdoors in
natural light for fourteen hours if we so wish. In spite
of the new snow and cold air, we
are closer to dandelion greens than to christmas pudding,
I can almost taste them now !
Enjoy the day,
Daisy
~
Friday, March 16, 2007 8:00 a.m.
12 degrees, breezy, overcast
As cold as it is this morning, we were surprised to find
one of our big maples
overrun with redwing blackbirds when we stepped outside
with the dog. Such
sweet and optimistic noise ! One bird sings a sweet and
simple song; a hundred fill
the air with nonstop joyful pandemonium. This is the one
sound that heralds springtime
for me, even though by this time tomorrow we will
probably be plowing snow from the
yard. A pair of chickadees is romping through the lilac
copse playing hide and seek; this
must be the pair I heard last Sunday as they issued a two-note
invitation to hook up. They
seem oblivious to the chill, intent on only one thing on
this late winter morn. I thought I heard
the lovely call of mourning doves late yesterday, but
when I strained to hear it again it was
lost. I really love the earlier onset of Daylight Savings
Time; last night we walked after I
returned from work and were treated to one of the most
brilliant crimson sunsets of the
year. You know that old saying red sky at night,
sailor’s delight ? The sky was in-
deed red, but the clouds were unmistakably mackerel
scaled, a sign of precipitation
within twenty four hours. It wouldn’t be the first
time two different weather
saws were in opposition; I think I’ll go with the
mackerels on this one.
Roll with the changes,
Daisy
~
Thursday, March 15, 2007 8:30 a.m.
33 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
Our local radio station has had many reports of robins in
the area, but so far they
haven’t shown up in our neighborhood. Robins like to
root around in fresh spring dirt,
and the only bare patches of ground I can see are in the
yard where the plowtruck scraped
the snow away all winter long. Even the old well we use
as a septic drain still is buried under
its winter insulating layer. Meadows are 100% covered
with grimy old snow, and more is falling
now, light flurries that are probably showing up as rain
in the valley. The town crew came up yes-
terday and moved the snowbanks back with front-end
loaders, to open the ditches up for yesterday’s
rain; our formerly pristine Grandma Moses landscape
currently looks more like a DMZ, with big dirty
glacial chunks tumbled helter-skelter along the roadsides.
As little as an inch of new snow would clean
up the view considerably. We walked yesterday for quite a
while before the rain came, and it was warm
enough to trek along hatless, with only a light jacket to
keep the breeze at bay. It certainly smelled like a
spring day, with the rich odor of roadside mud prevailing.
Gomer Hill Road is completely bare, and very
squishy when the pavement runs out. Much of the nearby
snowmobile trail that runs along the Smith
Road is a quagmire of churned up muck, and it won’t
surprise me if someone gets their sled stuck
during the upcoming thaw. Flurries are thicker now, and
look like they might mean business.
This is what I have learned to be the truth about a Tug
Hill winter: It ain’t over ‘til it’s
over.
Enjoy the day, whatever it offers,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, March 14, 2007 8:30 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Wow !
It definitely seems pretty darned springlike out there
this morning.
I think this is just a tease, as there is snow in the
offing at the end of the
week. Radar shows quite a bit of rain north of here, and
it is possible it will
drift down our way later today. Get out for a walk this
morning if at all pos-
sible; you just might see that first crazy robin or hear
a redwing blackbird,
enough to have hope spring eternal in even the most
winter-weary soul.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, March 13, 2007 8:00 a.m.
42 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
The snowbanks on Gomer Hill have shrunk considerably
after yesterday’s spell of warm
temps and late winter sunshine. When we walked in the
morning, we passed Horsey Creek;
there was a little trickle of darkly flowing water
snugged between two steep cornices. The big
culvert farther up the road showed some ponding at the
inlet; we could hear water flowing under
ice at the outlet, but couldn’t see it. It was still
light out when I returned home from work, so we
walked the same route. What a difference a day makes,
especially a warm one ! There is now a
stream running in a continuous flow between the snowy
cliffs at the creek, and the culvert empties
in a fast rush that has broken up much of the ice at the
outflow, where it bubbles merrily along into
the gorge. Today will be even warmer than yesterday, so
more change in the landscape is on the
way. Insects are the most active they have been in
months, with mosquitoes adding their shrill
whine to last night’s soundtrack since they moved
from the woodshed into the house. Lady-
bugs have left the windowsills and crawl along just about
every surface; yuck to stepping
on them barefoot. This is the time of year when it pays
to vacuum all the nooks and
crannies as well as the floors, and sweep up stray bark
and chunks from the
nearly empty wood storage areas. Maybe that’s how
the whole sick and
twisted idea of spring cleaning came about; just trying
to control the bugs ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, March 12, 2007 8:00 a.m.
26 degrees, windy, partly cloudy
Sunrise was very nice this morning, colorful and shiny;
with the recent changeover to
Daylight Savings Time, it even didn’t seem like it
happened at the crack of dawn. More
like crack-of-dawn-thirty, actually... The moon is pale
and just about half there, bearing the
same pearlescent gleam as the streaky clouds that gather
over the eastern half of the sky. The
Adirondack Mountains are barely visible, faded behind low
clouds or maybe even fog. We
walked a few miles yesterday, dodging SUVs hauling
massively large snowmobile trailers
behind, back to their weekday lives. Judging by the
exodus, I guess we might be able to
ski a little on the trail by our house between now and
the next influx of weekenders. We
walked as far as the unplowed part of the road, and it is
deeply churned up and a little
slushy from so much sled traffic, unsuitable for hiking
but looking pretty sweet for skiing.
Most of our walking lately has been on the paved road,
which was pretty icy yesterday
in spite of the warming trend. The dogs are loving the
excursions, and have been
sleeping really well, tuckered out and happy; come to
think of it, so have we.
There is time for a short walk this morning before the
workday begins:
We’re off !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, March 11, 2007 8:30 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
A skimcoat of snow morphs yesterday’s grey ice and
brown sand into a more
pristine scene this morning. I hear the spring mating
call of a lone chickadee, or it
could be a starling mimicking the sound, as I see lots of
starlings in the big boundary
maple tree with no chickadees in sight. I will keep my
eyes peeled as I go about the day’s
activities; perhaps the spring mating rituals will begin
on schedule even though the dance floor
is currently buried under snow. Make sure your nesting
boxes are cleaned out and ready to
go; bluebirds begin to scout out possible digs during mid-March
in our neck of the woods.
Intermittent rain showers off and on for most of
yesterday have started to melt the snowpack,
and by the end of the afternoon the yard was inches deep
in slush, which is now frozen into
an icy fossil record of the day’s activities.
Footprints and animal tracks to and from the barn,
in and out of the yard, and to the compost barrel tell
the tale that in spite of the rain it was a
good day to be outdoors. We walked up the road for a
while before the hardest showers
arrived; the early drops that fell on my face were
refreshing, not the least bit uncomfortable.
The scent of spring was borne on the gentle rain, and
although I love winter with all of its
snow, the cusp of spring is one of my favorite times of
year. I know that there are prob-
ably still snowsqualls to come, but that first whiff of
mud coupled with the plaintive
deeeeeee-dee I heard this morning are portents of
yet another wonder-full spring
in the offing, sooner or later. What changes abound in
your neighborhood ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, March 10, 2007 7:00 a.m.
26 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
A rosy glow lingers in the east following a very
beautiful sunrise, with layered clouds lending
their surfaces as a huge palette for the warm hues of
dawn. A little breeze from the south carries
the scent of rain, although we haven’t seen any
precipitation yet. Blackbirds are letting the neighbor-
hood know that it is a great morning to make a joyful
noise; I just might break into song myself as I
move some kindling in from the barn. We took a long walk
up the plowed road yesterday afternoon,
and gaped like a couple of tourists at the high snowbanks
along the way. We passed an old one-room
schoolhouse that has become nearly invisible from the
road, with nine foot snowbanks affording a view
of only the chimney top. The town snowblower has cut the
banks into mighty white cliffs, layered with
ice and rotted snow from past storms. We paused by the
Welsh Hill Cemetery and only two monuments
protrude from the deep snow; the iron fence is totally
buried along with all the tenants. Long stretches of
ice on the road kept us ever alert as we looked for sandy
patches to gain a little traction. There was a
lot of snowmobile traffic on a nearby trail, but few
vehicles on the road. We could have walked forever,
but when we turned around to head home we were glad we
had only gone a couple of miles; the
south wind was biting, and we made the return trek with
our heads bowed against its sting. Things
will warm up for the next few days, maybe a sprinkle of
rain here and there but not a washout.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Friday, March 9, 2007 8:00 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
It has already warmed up 23 degrees from our overnight
low of –13. At last; I found a
reason to use that long-ago skill of adding a positive
number to a negative one. Truly, I have
spent the last forty-mumble years waiting for a reason to
use pi* or calculate the area of a rhombus.
Hang in there, all you students, one day you too will
have a chance to drag out your mathematical
knowledge, even if it is for something as simple as
doubling the recipe for your favorite cookies.
What does this have to do with this morning’s view
on beautiful Gomer Hill? I just find it odd
that something (the third R) that occupied 13
years of public school and five years of college
was (in my case anyway, not being a rocket scientist and
all) just so much fill for the brain cells.
The Readin’ and ‘Ritin’, well those are
skills that I rely on every day. But ‘Rithmetic? I’m
over-
joyed that I was able to retain that one little mote of
knowledge that allowed me to see how much
it has warmed up so far this morning. Back to the task at
hand; the warming trend means that this
short hard winter truly may be drawing to a gentle
conclusion, as it is supposed to be rather warm
for most of the coming week. Today will be sunny for the
most part, and perfect for gliding along
some backcountry trails. Enjoy these bright mornings
while they last, because as of Sunday we go
back to arising in the dark once again, thanks to
Daylight Savings Time kicking in early this year.
On the other hand, we will be able to play outdoors
forever, kicking back the dinner hour to
suit our activity of the day, and as the days lengthen
even more, adding an after-dinner walk
to watch the last rays of sun paint the hillside purple.
The big wheel keeps on turning, and
if you needed to calculate the circumference of said
wheel, well there ya go, pi is needed
for that. Somehow. All I really need to know these days
is how to count my blessings.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
*Pi are square? No, cake are square, pi
are round...
Thursday, March 8, 2007 8:00 a.m.
6 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
After another subzero night tucked in snug under several
flannel quilts I would like to
express heartfelt gratitude for such simple creature
comforts as warm shelter and nourishing
food and drink that we may often take for granted, such
is our good fortune. If you are comfy
and warm somewhere indoors on this frosty morning,
checking out this column on your computer
while sipping a hot tasty beverage, take a moment to
fully appreciate your surroundings and realize
how very lucky you are. Even if you ran out of jam for
your toast, well, at least there was toast.
Count your many blessings, and start the day off right.
Thank you,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 8:30 a.m.
8 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
There are pale streaks of cloud over the Black River
Valley, but for the most part the sky
is a clear deep blue on this chilly morning. Blackbirds
and crows share the same tree but aren’t
making very much noise; they sit patiently watching the
yard, like kids waiting for the ice cream truck
to roll into the neighborhood. Chunks of earthbound ice
that were revealed after the bluster took away
loose snow look like herkimer diamonds scattered over the
meadows. The trees are finally bare of their
icy coating, but under all the new snow still lies a
treacherous layer of glazing in the yard, making us ever
vigilant as we cross to the barn or garage. The roads are
bare, a testament to the strength of the sun’s
growing power as we inch ever closer to the equinox just
two weeks away. When it is this frigid it
is hard to envision the first blooms of spring, or the
tender greens that will eventually appear to
enhance our salad bowls. In just six weeks time, our
world will have been transformed once
again, the beautiful dance of the seasons whirling us
around the ballroom of our lives.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 7:30 a.m.
-11 degrees, windy, sunny
A stiff north wind combined with the subzero temperature
has me compiling
a list of indoor jobs for today. While drifts of
newfallen snow sparkle prettily in
the strong morning sunshine, one step out the door
convinced me it would be folly
to venture too far afield today unless it warms up
considerably. We had quite a storm
yesterday; schools finally closed due to poor visibility.
My noon drive to Boonville was
during a break in the snowfall, but a strong west wind
blew torrents of snow from one high
road bank to the other, and there were several times when
the whiteout was total for several
seconds. I believe the squalls were worse in Boonville
than in Turin, and the trip home at dusk
was much less scary. There was very little traffic for
both trips, which helped. At some point
during the night we lost power for a half hour, and our
DSL cable is still out of commission. If
you venture out, make sure you have a scarf to protect
your lungs from this arctic air. Trips
to and from your vehicle won’t be a big deal if you
bundle up, but if you are skiing or snow-
shoeing or even just walking your dog, watch out for
signs of frostbite. Another caveat:
as the days grow longer and the sun stronger, remember to
wear sunscreen, especially
on days such as this when the rays are reflected from the
surface of all this snow.
Your skin will thank you for it.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, March 5, 2007 7:30 a.m.
22 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
The air is thick with snow, a nearly solid mass of white
so dense that the hedgerow at
our meadow’s corner boundary fades in and out of
view, disappearing for minutes at a stretch.
Most schools in our area are delaying opening for a
couple of hours, but if this keeps up I’m betting
some will close. In spite of the squall, several
blackbirds are hanging out by the barn, singing extra
loud
to be heard over the rush of wind through the trees. They
are driven by something unrelated to weather
conditions; maybe the lengthening daylight hours have
inspired them to tune up a little before spring
officially
arrives on March 20th. Yesterday I noticed that our
overwintering ladybugs and houseflies are starting to
gather on sunny windowsills during the day, and a wasp
even found his way into the sunporch (and just
as quickly found himself shooed out the door). The bugs
haven’t yet shown up in their usual pestilent
horde quantity, and I reckon that tonight’s sub-zero
temperatures will send them burrowing back into
the insulation, or wherever it is they spend their long
winter’s nap. Sounds like a plan for humans
too; get out that extra quilt and put it at the foot of
the bed, it will come in handy later tonight.
Bundle up,
Daisy
~
Sunday, March 4, 2007 8:30 a.m.
24 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
After another very noisy night of ice bombarding the roof
as it blew from trees,
we awoke to a surprise layer of lake effect fluff, five
inches that softens all the hard
edges left by Thursday’s ice storm. I believe the
trees and power lines are finally bare
of ice, so it is safe to enter the woods once again. We
had to be very careful on yesterday’s
walk, keeping clear of overhead ice just waiting to clock
us a good one on the noggin. It wasn’t
that long ago I was picking midwinter pansies and pussy
willows, lamenting our lack of wintry
weather. On a morning like this, with big beautiful
snowflakes whizzing past the window and
pure untracked snow draping the meadows like a gigantic
fleece coverlet it is hard to
remem ber the longing I felt for this exact view. We are
in for a couple of days of
good snow, and when the wind dies down I can’t wait
to get out and explore.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, March 3, 2007 8:00 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, partly sunny, flurries
When the sun shines on the morning view, it illuminates a
dazzling wonderland of ice and
fairy-dust snow. Mere humans could never sculpt a
landscape as fine as this. It is a show just for us,
a collaboration between Jack Frost and Old Man Winter,
overseen by the Master Artist... God, Allah,
Odin, Yahweh, Zeus, choose an appellation you like from wikipedia's
List_of_deities or godchecker.com
or even make up your own name; it’s all the same Big
Giant Head, Boss of All Stuff. A rose by any other
name, etc., is still an amazing flower. We hiked
yesterday afternoon and I am amazed that there is still
so
much ice left on the trees, unless a new film formed
during the night. We stayed away from the forest, as
ice was crashing down from every tree and power line, a
loud cacophony of gunshot-sounds and loud
thuds, not the gentle tinkling one would imagine such
delicate formations would make. Recent rain has
the hilltop streams flowing once again, with a little
open water showing at Horsey Creek and a few
bends and meanders sporting little ponds on top of the
ice. Sometime in the middle of the night a
whole battery of ice smacked the roof, some rogue gust
peppering the tin with machine-gun
noise as the pellets hit, lasting for nearly a minute.
There is much to admire in late winter,
and more hours of daylight in which to frolic on such a
lovely day.
Be sure to get your romp on,
Daisy
~
Friday, March 2, 2007 8:30 a.m.
33 degrees, windy, overcast, raining
Rain comes and goes as it has been doing for the past few
hours. At some point
during the night we awakened to hard rain drumming on the
tin roof for all it was worth.
When I left Boonville last night it was snowing very hard
in town but it changed to rain as
I climbed Gomer Hill, thermal inversion at work. About a
half inch of ice clings to everything;
what a lovely sight as long as we don’t have to
drive anywhere. The aluminum ladder that leans
against the porch roof has a row of icicles on every
rung, festooned as if for a midwinter party.
The maple trees are heavily laden with ice, and snap
crackle and pop as the wind whips through
the branches. There is a lot of tree debris on top of the
ice in the yard, thousands of twigs and
many larger branches, with a new missile falling every
few seconds. It might be a good idea
to wear a bike helmet if I have to cross the yard to the
barn today; for sure I will need a
couple of ski poles in order to remain vertical on the
slippery surface. Won’t that be an
interesting sight; maybe I should wear a disguise to
avoid ridicule in case a neighbor
passes by. If there weren’t so many twigs and bits
of bark in the yard it would be
a good place to ice skate this morning. The rain is
supposed to gradually change
into snow later, which will make for some great cross-country
ski conditions.
Enjoy the day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, March 1, 2007 8:30 a.m.
21 degrees, mostly sunny, calm
I had to look at all three of our thermometers this
morning, as the radio reported
the temperature as near zero in Boonville, and well below
that in the Adirondacks.
We are experiencing a thermal inversion, which often
happens before a weather-making
front moves through. A warm front is indeed headed our
way, and will bring a wintry mix
of sleet, snow, and freezing rain later this afternoon to
usher in March like a lion; at least the
first part of the day will be lambish, sunny and user-friendly.
Yesterday we walked after lunch,
taking the same route as Tuesday. The plowed part of the
dirt road was a morass of goo, churned
into pudding by traffic. Once we got to the unplowed
stretch of trail, it was all hard-packed snow
underfoot and much easier to navigate. We were
accompanied by chickadees once again, but the
crows, starlings, and ravens had other plans. We saw lots
of turkey tracks, and flushed a partridge
from a under a bush by the roadside, startling us with
its loud whirr of wings. The cold weather
and deep snow has wiped out most watering holes on Tug
Hill. A big culvert under the road
which normally dumps a torrent of water into a small gulf
creek is snowplugged and quiet,
and the normally free-flowing stream is completely
covered by ice and snow that is sturdy
enough to support several deer, as tracks tell the tale.
Perhaps downstream there are
a few open spots so critters can quench their thirst. If
you venture out with your
dog be prepared to share the contents of your water
bottle with him. Remember
that we all need to keep hydrated, even when it is cold
outside.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
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