~
Monday, April 30, 2007 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
A little thunderstorm blew across the Hill last night,
leaving behind just enough
rainwater to create a soggy mire of the garden plots,
delaying spring planting for
several more days. It is nearly the first of May, high
time for cool spring crops to be
sown. Last fall was too rainy to harrow garden debris
into the soil, and this spring has
taken so long to arrive that snow is barely gone from the
hill and the ground hasn’t had
time to dry out one bit. Meanwhile, the respite from
garden chores has afforded us more
time for leisurely hikes on back roads this past week,
reducing the normal stress of the planting
season to nearly zero, a pretty good trade-off in my book.
Yesterday we walked to the corner
of Smith, Smith, and Smith, and oddly enough one of the
artifacts we found at that intersection
was a pair of Smith goggles, busted into three pieces.
They were in the ditch; I wonder how they
ended up there? We also found two flashlights in good
working order; one is a blue Maglight that
looks like it was driven over a few hundred times, and
the other is a small blue metal rectangular
key fob with a bright halogen light that comes on when
you squeeze it. We also found a dime,
what treasure ! The best thrill of the day, however, came
on a long straight stretch of the road.
We startled two ravens who let loose an ear-splitting
screech, then each circled around bark-
ing harsh orders our direction to get the heck out of
their neighborhood. We may have come
too close to their nest, likely atop one of the tall
balsam trees in that area. Ravens mate for
life, and lay their eggs in February, so it is possible
there were young birds somewhere
close by. They hollered at us on our return trip as well,
keeping out of sight and utter-
ing the same short sharp barks of warning. At last I
finally have some idea of where
to find these awesome birds, the object of years of
searching high and low.
Next time we walk that way, I will take binoculars.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 29, 2007 8:00 a.m.
42 degrees, breezy, overcast
Rain has stopped falling and the sun is thinly veiled
behind high clouds.
The air is ripe with the smells of spring, mud and worms
and fast-flowing
ditchwater. Willows’ halos are slowly changing from
fuzzy white to the palest
of green, and forsythia twigs are showing the first hints
of swollen yellow buds.
There are dozens of robins in full voice scattered about
the yard, singing rather
than feeding, although the rain surely has brought oodles
of worms to the surface.
The urge to pair up must be stronger than mere hunger.
Yesterday’s hike through
the misty rain was mostly quiet with little to show in
the way of wildlife except for
their footprints pressed into the soft mud. We were
surprised by a visit from one
of the elusive ravens, who appeared silent as a cloud
from the deep woods to
follow us for a bit, mumbling something under its breath
as it kept pace with
us. When I stopped and turned to look at it, to better
hear the message, it
gave a loud throaty growl and disappeared back into the
forest, calling
out several more times as it flew. Perhaps it just
dropped by to let us
know it is still in the neighborhood. The sky is
beginning to brighten,
and it looks like the day will turn out to be sunny after
all.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 28, 2007 8:00 a.m.
45 degrees, calm, overcast, sprinkles
The morning rain is really more like a fine mist than
actual raindrops. The last of the
snow has disappeared from most of the meadows, and there
is no longer enough left in
the woods to ski on. We walked along the woods trails for
a while yesterday and saw many
signs of spring. Dappled trout lily leaves cover much of
the forest floor, and the first green shoots
of false hellebore and marsh marigold have appeared in
the swampy areas. Turkey and deer sign
are even more abundant in the woods than they are in the
meadows, and every footfall was placed
with care to dodge piles of scat. The creeks are running
high from snowmelt, and scads of vernal
ponds stand ready to hatch tadpoles when frogs finally
decide to come out of hibernation. The
sun came out for a while late in the day; we tied our
jackets around our waists and it was plea-
sant to be too warm for a change. Rain is in the picture
for the weekend, but not much of a
problem if we dress for it. On a day such as this,
fragrances are more intense and the first
green of the season takes on emerald jewel tones made
more vivid by rainwater.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 27, 2007 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, breezy, cloudy, rain showers
Sometimes the rain falls very hard, sometimes there is a
pregnant pause in the action.
Nexrad shows a big disturbance headed our way, lots of
pretty colors on the map that
generally spell trouble of one sort or other. I’m
glad we had a good long walk yesterday,
as it appears today might be one of those bye days; we
will automatically advance to the
next round of outdoor activity with an unexpected day off.
I see the buzz saw is in the yard,
being greased up and sharpened, so it looks like we won’t
be lacking for physical activity.
Yesterday’s hike took us up the Smith Road, which is
gradually losing its snowpack. There
were several patches of bare dirt road, and other times
we balanced atop frozen corn snow
or sloshed through sticky shale mud, releasing good
earthy fragrances as we trod along. It
was especially nice to see the sunny little heads of
coltsfoot flowers poking up through one
roadside bank; the appearance of this early flower
usually indicates that the worst of winter is
over. We eagerly await the lovely din of frogsong, for
that is the real harbinger of true spring.
Once the frogs come out to play, snow will surely stay
away.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 26, 2007 8:00 a.m.
45 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Thick frost covered every outdoor surface earlier this
morning, crunchy underfoot
and forming a skimcoat of ice on the birdbath. It has
burned off in the warmth of the
sun, but now the sun hides behind clouds and it is still
pretty chilly. Turkeys have been
crossing the road (to get to the other side, one would
presume) in small groups all morning.
I think each tom has claimed his harem and the larger
flock of fifty has divided into smaller
family units of six or seven birds. They walk single
file, with the tom at the end of the line,
occasionally stopping to fan his tail and fluff his ruff
to establish his control. Smaller birds
are also preparing for nesting, carrying dried grass and
weed fluff as they fly to their res-
pective tree branches and hollows. I scattered a
bucketful of dog hair clippings as we
walked yesterday, and I imagine that soft material will
end up in more than one nest
this spring. An oriole paused on the clothesline a moment
ago to let me know he is
back in town; soon his pure gold warble will fill the air
from his favorite perch in
the tallest maple tree. Rain is expected to move into the
area later this afternoon,
so we are preparing to bundle up for a long walk this
morning.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 25, 2007 8:00 a.m.
42 degrees, calm, partly sunny
We kindled the wood stove to take the morning chill from
the house, and it feels mighty
good. The warm spell over the weekend has forced all of
our small spring bulbs into blooming
at the same time. Usually their fragile blossoms are
spread over a period of a couple of weeks,
first the snowdrops, then crocuses, then windflowers and
various varieties of scilla and dwarf lilies.
This spring they are all out together in a riot of color
and form. I even have a miniature daffodil in
full flower, well before the larger ones in the same bed.
Forsythia is just thinking about forming
flower buds, and tulips are a bit reluctant to move their
succulent leaves out of winter storage.
We are finally finished with cleaning up all of the sand
that got moved into our yard by the plow
and snowblower; I wonder if we should offer to sell it
back to the town? All of the flower beds
are raked except for the wild garden, which took on a lot
of snow during last week’s nor’easter
and is still buried. Most of the snow is gone from the
fields, but Smith Road still has enough to ski
on easily, and the woods on either side are filled with
snow. Winter took its time arriving this year,
and is not making a hasty exit. I wonder if the odd
weather patterns will continue on into summer.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 8:30 a.m.
44 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
The first thunderstorm of the season blew through our
neighborhood just after dinner
last night. There was a lot of lightning, not much
thunder, and enough rain to appear tor-
rential for a brief time, yet not so much as to wet the
ground underneath the vehicles parked
in the yard. The combination of high winds and brief hard
rain sure did take away a lot of the
snow from the meadows. Later we will take a stroll up the
Smith Road to see how the unplowed
road weathered the storm, and if the forest is still
snowbound. Yesterday we had a short romp through
all of the meadows to check out the bluebird nesting
boxes. One contains a few blades of dried grass,
a marker left as a down payment by one pair of birds. The
fields are unbelievably juicy, and our dog
had a wonderful time splashing through shallow ponds,
body surfing through corn snow, and digging
for who-knows-what in the soft earth. Proper footgear for
mere humans is old sneakers and wool
socks, the former for their washability and the latter
for their warmth when sopping wet. If I had to
avoid wet ground yesterday, it would have been a short
hike indeed. There were hundreds of piles
of deer poo scattered about, and many signs of something
that had been feeding on pinecones,
rather large dark fluffy seed-filled scat that I had
never seen before. The quantity and placement
of the piles indicated they were probably waste from the
turkeys that have been strutting their stuff.
After doing a little research, I discovered that the
larger piles were left by hens who paused for
elimination, while the toms kept walking; their scat is
long and narrow, like goose poo only bigger.
Every day I learn something new; Mother Nature is an
awesome teacher.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 23, 2007 7:30 a.m.
61 degrees, breezy, sunny
The meadows are really beginning to green up wherever the
snow has melted,
and water is slowly seeping into the ground instead of
standing in large vernal ponds.
A pair of geese that had been camping out by a big wet
spot in the corner by our hedge-
row has apparently rethought that as a good nesting site
and did not return to it last night.
We were reminded of one misinformed beaver that tried to
dam up the water in the ditch
that drains Gomer Hill Road. That didn’t work out so
well, for either the beaver or our mail-
box. All of our gardens have finally thawed, and the
first green sprouts of chives and oregano
will grace tonight’s salad along with some curly
parsley that overwintered nicely. We need to
hang some AOL startup discs in the garlic patch to keep
the deer away from there; I don’t know
if they will eat the emerging green shoots, but there
were enough deer hanging around up there this
morning that I would prefer prevention to disaster. The
gleam of the discs and the noise they make
as they spin and hit the ski poles they are tied to is a
surefire way to keep deer from molesting tender
plants. There have been more deer than ever this spring,
and they seem to be bolder than usual, coming
right up to the house first thing in the morning. We
counted 28 deer in the back meadow last evening as
we sat on the porch enjoying the view. Considering the
havoc just one deer can wreak on garden crops,
we are understandably a little fearful for this year’s
harvest. I believe that many of the does will be bear-
ing twins after such a relatively easy winter,
exponentially increasing the herd size to epic
proportions. As
nifty as it is to watch these graceful animals go about
their business, we are not ready to sacrifice our fresh
garden fruits and veggies for the privilege of such
bucolic entertainment. Perhaps after fullblown spring has
erupted with limitless browsing possibilities, they will
disperse into smaller, more manageable groups.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 22, 2007 9:00 a.m.
58 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Today we celebrate Earth Day, formed in 1970 by Wisconsin
Senator Gaylord
Nelson as a day to educate the public about issues that
affect our home planet. He had
witnessed the aftermath of a huge oil spill off the coast
of Santa Barbera in 1969 and felt
the need to try and effect environvental change at the
grassroots level. He modeled the first
Earth day gatherings after the Viet Nam conflict protest
rallys. As a result of that first event,
many important laws were passed by the U.S. Congress,
including the Clean Air Act extension,
and other laws to protect drinking water, wild lands and
the ocean. Yesterday, on a local level,
the Village of Boonville hosted a community cleanup day,
an annual event to clear away winter’s
litter. Here on Tug Hill, we raked out the flower beds
and started to clear the road sand out of the
yard. All of our crocuses are blooming in a riot of
purple, gold, and pure white, and little blue wind-
flowers have started to open up as well. We walked the
dogs up the road to the pond, where the
edges have thawed just enough for one of them to have a
good swim and the other to get thoroughly
muddy. A pair of ducks rose from the flow, and dozens of
redwing blackbirds perched in a big tree
at the edge, singing and chattering their little hearts
out. It was a long walk done at a leisurely pace to
admire the little shoots of greenery emerging here and
there, or to stop and watch a passel of black
kittens romp in a neighbor’s barnyard. We traveled
with our jackets tied around our waists, and
only felt chilled when the breeze blew over the snow-laden
woodlands. The meadows lost much
of their snowcover yesterday, and now are filled with
more standing water than snow.
Spring marches on !
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 21, 2007 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
A few wispy pale clouds streak across a blue sky,
leftover from a pretty darn
nice sunrise. An ineffable impression of contentment
overwhelmed me as I watched
cats, birds, deer, and one small dog all getting along in
the same meadow, some focused
on feeding and some on frolic and play. A big flock of
geese passed over, honking a greeting,
icing on the cake. There is absolutely no place I would
rather be than on our back porch sur-
rounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of spring.
There is still plenty of snow on top of
Gomer Hill, at least 60% coverage in the fields and close
to 100% in the woods. Still, we
can hear Mill Creek rushing along from a mile away, and
every day exposes more wet
meadow grass and muddy garden spaces. Our garlic has
emerged green and strong;
every clove sprouted in spite of spending much of last
autumn under water. Get out
and enjoy this fine weather, and treasure the memories
you create on this day.
Hooray for spring !
Daisy
~
Friday, April 20, 2007 8:00 a.m.
47 degrees, breezy, sunny
Finally, a morning that is sunny enough to enjoy a cup of
coffee on the back porch !
I sat out with the cats and we all watched juncos and
sparrows pecking at the birdseed
scattered on top of the snow. A yellow shafted flicker
roamed in the little patch of bare grass
and pulled tidbits up with its long bill. This bird is a
type of woodpecker, but feeds mostly on
the ground instead of drilling into trees. It will
excavate big holes for nesting purposes, but will
also move into any empty cavity it can find, manmade or
natural. We also heard several tom
turkeys gobbling beyond the hedgerow, and a lone canada
goose honked plaintively as it flew
in circles around the field. There were so many different
birdsongs filling the air that it was hard
to count them all. Most distinctive was the soft velvety
cooing of mourning doves. The low-keyed
optimistic trill of a bluebird perched on a beanpole is
always surprising in its subtlety, not as loud
as any of its neighbors but lovely nonetheless. Much of
the garden closest to the house has lost its
snow-cover, revealing purple and yellow crocuses blooming
thick and lush after their long confine-
ment. Tulips and daffodils emerge from the muddy soil as
soon as the sun hits them, and I think we
shall soon see the first tentative blossoms of the larger
spring bulbs. Forsythia buds are swelling but
it seems like there has been a lot of winter damage to
the hedge in general; not expecting much of
a show there this year. What a wonderful morning;
anything can happen on a day like this !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 19, 2007 8:30 a.m.
40 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Now this is a beautiful morning ! Sunrise was
extraordinary, full of luscious berry
colors, accompanied by robins in full warble mode with a
chorus of redwing blackbirds
keeping the beat. Clouds have moved in since dawn, but
there are still several encouraging
patches of blue sky, and when the sun pokes through for a
moment we can feel spring’s full
potential in the radiant heat. purple crocuses have
emerged through the snow for the third time,
looking none worse for the repeated burials. Snowdrops
are still under three feet of snow that
slid off the roof; perhaps their very name is prophetic
of such a fate. A warming trend is under
way, and by the weekend we may be overwhelmed by
springtime; one can hope ! Yesterday
we were in Rome, and I was enjoying the antics of a flock
of crows when I saw one pick what
appeared to be a small bird from the eaves of a brick
building. As it flew closer, I saw that it had
grabbed a little brown bat and was taking it to a nearby
tree branch to gobble it up. I know that
crows are omnivores, but this was a real surprise to me
anyway. I have seen crows eat young
birds, carrion, all manner of vegetable matter, moths,
and of course our newly sprouted corn,
but who would have thought they would go after a bat in
broad daylight ? There is much
to learn and discover every day, even when you think you
have seen it all !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 9:00 a.m.
35 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
What a pleasure to be able to watch the sun rise this
morning after nearly
a week of snowfall ! To be sure, clouds quickly appeared
and the sun is now
a faint memory, but for a while it filled the rooms with
light, and lightened my spirit
as well. There is rumor of a warming trend beginning
today, but until I can actually feel
the sun on my bare arms, I will treat it as mere rumor
and not get my hopes up too much.
The cats have deemed it a perfect day to go out and play
in the snow after their long con-
finement, chasing the juncos who are always one leap
ahead of danger. mourning doves
have set up shop in the lilacs for the day, and may be
thinking of building a nest there
later. A pair of bluebirds has inspected all of our
nesting boxes, and if they can
beat the tree swallows to the punch they are welcome to
any one of them.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 9:00 a.m.
28 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
Well, what do you know ! It is snowing ! The wind is
blowing, the snow is whipping
by the window at warp speed, and anticipation for any
hint of spring is building. Here is
what my spring radar has detected: The roads are clear,
pansies bloom in their cellpacks
on the sunporch, and potted geraniums are knocking
themselves out to compete for size and
quantity of blossoms, proof of the season. Ladybugs and
flies are multiplying exponentially in
window casings, and a few mosquitoes have come out of
hiding as well. Yesterday’s stormy
weather broke up as I traveled the upper road to
Boonville, and I noticed the beaver pond
on the way is beginning to thaw. It won’t be long
before that is full of geese resting for the
night on their way back north. Huge flocks of starlings,
redwing blackbirds, and juncos
were milling about in flight as well as on the roadway,
and a pair of english sparrows
(the first I have seen this spring) greeted me from the
clothesline after I returned
home. So, although I will have to dress like an Inuit
before heading out today,
spring has manifest in many ways other than the weather.
Hope springs eternal,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 16, 2007 9:00 a.m.
29 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
It is snowing very hard, wet sticky stuff that has
plastered itself to all of our windows,
north, south, east and west. There is at least a foot of
new snow in the yard, probably more.
The wind is currently whipping down straight from the
north, and the dog had to hurdle over
quite a windblown ridge to go out for his morning ritual,
which was very brief indeed. He came
in plastered with snow, more sheep than dog for a while
until it fell of in little puddles wherever he
walked. Snow fell for most of yesterday, but the roads
were good until nightfall. The plow went through
a couple of times this morning, but if the snow doesn’t
let up I may call in sane to work; no sense risking
life and limb for mere money. Schools in our area are on
“spring” break, which is a good thing, as there
are no snow days left for them to use. Trees are down all
over our area, with a giant one entirely blocking
Route 46 just south of Boonville. It didn’t seem
possible, but more branches have been torn from our big
sentry trees, who have been battered by winds more than
usual this year. I am glad we pruned the dead
wood away last summer, or we might have had some damage
to our buildings from windfall boughs.
Wherever you are, take a good look at what is going on
outside your window. This day will not
pass by again, so take from your own view whatever warms
your heart.
Enjoy your view,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 15, 2007 9:00 a.m.
34 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
It is snowing hard, and the yard is sporting six
inches of new wet stuff. The town
plow has passed by twice, and birds have gone back into
hiding. A nor’easter is the
culprit, and before it has finished having its way with
us we could see a couple of feet of
new snow. I have to head out this afternoon for an event
that has been planned for months
and cannot be cancelled; hopefully it is raining south of
here instead of snowing. Yesterday
was a fine day for a walk, with the sun peeking out just
often enough to elicit a wow, lookit
that! from us as we hiked. The swamp up the road is
covered with snow, and still frozen
underneath as proven by the lob-a-giant-rock test, but in
a week’s time there should be
a change as things warm up. Things will eventually warm
up, won’t they ? Enjoy the day,
whatever you do,
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 14, 2007 8:00 a.m.
28 degrees, breezy, overcast
A beautiful calm snowy morning is unfolding before us,
and the birds have resumed
their spring courtship in spite of the slide back into
winter wonderlands. A pair of mourning
doves sings their haunting melody in the lilac grove;
they have had a nest there before, a rough
collection of sticks and twigs that will hold only two
eggs. My bird book describes the mourning
dove as the most abundant game bird in the country; I can’t
imagine that there would be more
than a mouthful of meat on this elegant bird, a poor
feast indeed. Yesterday was unbelievably
windy, with gusts up to fifty mph as recorded on our
anemometer. Snow and frozen grauple
flying through the air at that speed is actually painful
when it hits bare skin, so outdoor activi-
ties were simply not in the picture for me. It was a
perfect day to take care of business inside,
organizing and sorting through drawers and closets and
taking pleasure in that simple act, warm
and snug surrounded by mementos of bygone days. We should
have some sunshine later today,
so if we take an extra long hike we will make up for
yesterday’s sedentary activity.
Hey, that might be a new oxymoron !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 13, 2007 8:00 a.m.
30 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
A large flock of juncos (snowbirds) is camping out
in the middle of the
forsythia hedge, arriving not in advance of the storm but
swept right into the
neighborhood by it. As the bushes still lack foliage,
there is darn little protection
offered from the 30 mph wind gusts that are so frequent
they are not really gusts
at all, more of a steady gale. At least with this kind of
blow the snow doesn’t have
time to settle and add much more depth; yesterday’s
eight inches was plenty for this
time of year. Of course, when I left the Hill for work I
also left behind the snow, with
clear roads and only a dusting of powder between the
bottom of Gomer Hill and Boon-
ville. Even from my window I can see that the road is
clear right up to our property line,
and there is a fresh two inches from there on up. It’s
like living in a whole different world
at the top of Tug Hill. On the other hand, sometimes we
are bathed in gorgeous sunlight
while lowlanders are swimming in fog, so I guess it all
balances out in the long run.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 12, 2007 9:00 a.m.
32 degrees, windy, overcast, wintry mix
A wintry mix just about covers it. I had snow in
the heading, then sleet, then rain,
then back to snow, it can’t seem to make up
it’s mind what to do; the sky is falling !
A big hunka something just slid off the roof, and there
is enough snow piled up at the
end of the driveway from the town plow that we had to
remount our own plow on the
pickup truck to scrape it away. The snow is very wet and
heavy, and is actually quite pretty
in a slightly annoying way. Our patience is certainly
being tested this week, with yesterday’s
teaser of sunshine and warmth getting our hopes up only
to have them dashed and buffeted by
this new storm. Crocuses even emerged again to shine
purple and gold through the snow, elegant
and all too fleeting. I wonder if they will be able to
keep up their brave front after another week
buried under this heavy stuff. On the other hand, we have
been granted a reprieve from spring
cleanup chores, which will be prodigious after all of the
fierce winds of the past season. Enough
limbs and twigs have fallen to kindle a hundred fires;
the question is, will the wood ever have
a chance to dry out? Not this week, that’s for sure.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 11, 2007 7:30 a.m.
22 degrees, calm, sunny
What a perfect spring morning, if we overlook the frosty
air. The porch is almost
warm since there is no wind, a rare treat. A fat male
bluebird sat on the grape arbor
and sang a lusty ode to spring, hoping to find the love(s)
of his life. One male will mate
with as many females as possible, traveling from nest to
nest with food for the young and
even occasionally helping to hatch the eggs. Birds gone
wild ! Everybody should put up
a couple of nesting boxes if they have the right terrain
for them, just to be able to enjoy
the sight of these colorful birds, a true sign of spring
in our neck of the woods. The view
is full of birds this morning, enjoying the lull between
storms, as should we all.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 8:30 a.m.
26 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
The sun is making an appearance, filtering its light
through the thinnest part
of the clouds. Shadows cast from trees and buildings are
blurry around the edges,
but what a treat to have any shadows at all after days of
grey skies and nearly constant
snowfall. For all that the air has been alive with
flurries and squalls, accumulation has not
been significant, less than a foot overall. It is calm
this morning, and flurries mosey slowly
to the ground, crisscrossing in their aimless wandering
before finally settling. Yesterday’s
brief walk revealed scores of deer and turkey tracks,
proof that they are on the move from
meadow to meadow in search of food and companionship. The
creeks are running freely, but
there are still awesome snowbanks and fragile cornices on
both sides; the threat of avalanche is
very real this time of year. It is ten days since trout
fishing season opened, but getting to the creeks
of Tug Hill would be a real challenge. Fish are still in
torpor anyway; everyone knows that they
won’t really start to bite until the first of May.
Roads were bare between here and Boonville
yesterday, and only when you reach the higher elevations
on Tug Hill do you notice freshly
plowed snowbanks. It took winter a while to get here, and
it seems to be taking its sweet
time making an exit as well. Spring really may be just
around the corner;
enjoy the transition,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 9, 2007 8:00 a.m.
22 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
We are still having some lake effect snow showers, but
the good news is
that it has been so windy we don’t need to plow the
yard; all of the snow has
blown through right down to the ground. We suited up to
take a walk yesterday
but were discouraged by thirty mph gusts that blew snow
into every seam of our
outerwear. Our own private Gomer Hill Easter Parade
included bonnets that were
actually fleece watch caps, and our stroll down the
avenue was more of a heads-down
-leaning-into-the-wind trudge. The dog gave up on the
doorstep, and we turned back
at the corner. It is slightly less windy this morning,
and I believe I will try to make it at
least as far as Horsie Creek before leaving for work.
Most times it isn’t as bad outside
as it appears from indoors; yesterday was the exception
that proves the rule.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 8, 2007 8:00 a.m.
20 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
Five inches of new snow fell overnight, and now even the
wet spots in the fields
are covered in a bright layer of white. Robins are
undaunted, and have remained in
the area even though it must be slim pickings for both
food and water. A pair of blue-
birds has hung around as well, and the male is perched on
an aspen branch, looking down
at me through the window. This snow is widespread, from
Michigan to the nation’s capitol,
where cherry blossoms are all frosted white this morning.
Even Florida is chilly, much to the
dismay of spring break partiers who expected to bask in
southern sunshine for a few days. In
many places, this Easter Sunday is colder than last
Christmas Day. We are under a Winter Storm
Warning until 6:00 tonight; my guess is that the Easter
Bunny had to press his pals the snowshoe
hares into service to get his baskets delivered this
morning. For some reason, our christmas cactus
has just burst into full bloom, after resting in dormancy
through the entire winter, an example of how
topsy-turvy the natural order of seasons has been lately.
If nothing else, our parameters of weather-related
phenomena have been expanded to include new
possibilities; as long as we are open to them, it’s
all good.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Saturday, April 7, 2007 7:30 a.m.
16 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
It has been snowing off and on since Thursday but isn’t
amounting to much for some
reason. There are some impressive drifts in the meadows,
but some bare patches around
the wet spots as well. As soon as the town plow scrapes
several inches from the road it is
bare down to the asphalt. We haven’t had to plow the
yard, as a stiff west wind pushes any
accumulation in one side and out the other. The only
place snow had been a problem is on the
back porch; I swept nearly a foot of the stuff away in
order to get to the supply of kitchen stove
wood when the box needed filled, and there is another six
inches piled up this morning. Since we
removed the sideboards from the porch there has only been
one day where we could enjoy sitting
out there to listen to birds and admire the sunrise, and
even then we were bundled up against the chill.
A crested flycatcher has found a spot under the eaves to
attempt building a nest. We hung some wind-
chimes in that area to discourage her, but she still
swoops in now and then to check things out. More
snow is in today’s forecast, right through the
middle of next week, when the snow will begin to mix
with rain for something a little different. Apparently
our winter will be the normal length this year,
even though it never arrived until February. This too
shall pass, and make springtime even sweeter.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 6, 2007 9:00 a.m.
15 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
Now this is a nifty way to ease into Easter Weekend, with
a snow day happening when
schools are already closed for the holiday. Most schools
in our area have used their quota
of weather closings, and would be removing days from the
upcoming Spring Break if any more
were necessary. When I left the Hill mid-afternoon
yesterday, it was snowing and blowing hard up
here, but all was calm on the flats, with very little
snow and clear roads. Traveling home at 9:00 was
exciting, with blinding bands of lake effect snow
alternating with clear starry skies and a waning full
moon
lording it over all. Fortunately there was little traffic.
We have received about eight inches of snow so far,
and it doesn’t show signs of stopping any time soon.
Our Winter Storm Watch has been upgraded to a
Warning; hatches are battened and brass monkeys have been
safely stowed away. A herd of robins is
valiantly striding along the newfallen snow, poking
through the stuff to get to the underlying garden mud
where their breakfast lurks. A vast flock of redwing
blackbirds was hanging out in a big maple tree earlier,
drowning out the starlings’ morning greeting with
their frenzied spring shout-out. They took off in a
clatter
when the I ventured outdoors, seemingly mindless of the
storm, driven by flock business that is heedless of
the wind and weather. The starlings remain, year-round
sentinels steadfast in their watch over the farm,
cheering us on from their lofty perches. Turkeys are
staying in the woods this morning; watching their
spring shenanigans in the meadow as they court and spark
has become part of our daily routine.
Yesterday they stayed perfectly still in the area just
below the spring, forty hens and three toms
with their tails fanned and necks fluffed, hunkered down
motionless against the storm for several
hours. When a car door slammed in the yard, they finally
came to their senses and high-tailed
it lickety-split into the forest. How I love the change
of seasons! This stormy interlude will
allow for an even deeper appreciation of spring’s
true charms when they finally do arrive.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 5, 2007 9:00 a.m.
22 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
Even if the month is all wrong, I still enjoy the sight
of fresh snow piling up outside
the windows. I could tell as soon as dawn’s first
light crept past the curtain that snow
had arrived overnight, its white gleam adding shimmering
highlights to the sun’s faint lum-
inescence. The very air seemed different, radiant and
purified. Our area is under a winter
storm watch for the next two days, with up to a foot of
snow possible. Right now there is
a break in the snow, with a big patch of blue sky slowly
opening up amid big grey clouds.
Yesterday’s icy mardi gras beads are still flung all
over the trees and shrubbery, and tiny
motes of snow cling to the western sides of them, like an
exercise in shading spheres for
an introductory drawing class. As the sun hits the
droplets, the lesson shifts to one of light
and dark, chiaroscuro and pointillism existing together
in the twenty-first century; techni-
ques that spanned 200 years of art history are brought
together courtesy of Mother
Nature. This lovely scene would challenge even the most
gifted artist’s attempt to
capture it on canvas; fortunately, the mind’s eye
requires no paint or palette, just
quiet contemplation until the beauty of the day is
uploaded onto memory’s hard
drive. This is a morning to be cherished during July’s
flyspecked swelter for sure !
Drink in your view,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 4, 2007 10:00 a.m.
31 degrees, windy, overcast, freezing rain
We spent a pleasant interlude yesterday in the beautiful
village of Little Falls.
It was warm and sunny in the valley, and we could walk
about with only light
sweaters. As we headed back north, the sky darkened with
big rolling clouds,
metallic and undulating like rumpled satin sheets. Rain
moved into our neighbor-
hood early last evening, and grew in intensity as the
night wore on. A little while
ago it started to freeze on to the clotheslines, with icy
drops hanging like a string
of fragile crystal orbs. Rain is forming a thin crispy
film on the vehicles that were
left outdoors as well. Perhaps it is our altitude that is
transforming the rain into a
wintry mix, but I believe this whole part of the state
will eventually succumb to a
brief resurgence of snow as the day continues. A female
bluebird is perched on
the clothesline, an azure and amber jewel set among the
intricate beadwork.
As I write, the rain has changed into sleet; can grauple
be far behind ?
Stay snug,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 3, 2007 8:00 a.m.
36 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Sunrise was very colorful; the same clouds that reflected
such pretty pinks against a
pale blue sky have drawn together into a curtain that now
blocks the sun altogether. We
lost much of our snowcover in yesterday’s fog, and
dozens of deer are drifting slowly across
the meadows in search of spring’s tender shoots.
When they wander too close to the house I shoo
them away, fearing for the tulips and daffodils that have
emerged like spears from their winter dormancy.
Little purple crocuses are blooming right through the
snow, hardy harbingers of spring. Snowdrops have
spread from their two main locations and dot the lawn
with their delicate orchid-like blooms. They will
be living up to their name tomorrow, when wintry weather
will return to Tug Hill for a few days. We
enjoyed a walk in the fog yesterday; the trek was eerie
and quiet, not knowing what lay in our path
twenty yards ahead. Birds appeared out of nowhere and
disappeared just as quickly. The dirt road
has thawed completely and was very muddy underfoot. The
heavy clay-based muck showed tracks
of all the turkeys and deer we have been watching the
past week. The fog lifted after lunch and by
the time I returned from work at suppertime the sun was
shining brightly. Stars slowly appeared
after a long purple dusk, and by the time full dark was
here the golden full moon appeared,
bathing the whole hillside with its gentle light.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 2, 2007 8:00 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, foggy, rain
A huge flock of redwing blackbirds just left our biggest
maple tree after filling the
airwaves with the boisterous happy sound of spring. The
audio and visual do not line
up on this dull drippy morning; with eyes closed, it
seems the epitome of a fine spring day.
Then the eyelids rise to view a scene of dense fog, dirty
snow, and mudbogged clearings. A
strong south wind drives the dampness right through my
jacket seams. Another layer will be
added if I am to stroll too far from home today.
Yesterday we walked for a couple of hours
up the Gomer Hill Road. I was looking forward to seeing
some migrating wildfowl at a pond a
couple of miles up the road, but was disappointed to find
it still frozen solid, not a bird in sight.
I lobbed a big rock onto the surface and it bounced a
couple of times without breaking the ice.
Even the shallow ditches had a thin layer of ice over the
swiftly flowing water, which bubbled
and oozed underneath like a long sinuous lava lamp. We
saw lots of blackbirds, huge waves
of them advancing before us, always keeping a couple of
trees ahead. Several pairs of plovers
chased each other around a muddy field, their shrill dee
dee deeeeeeeeee a counterpoint to the
gobbling turkeys from further afield. It was a fairly
warm day, but a damp south wind started to
pick up on our return trip and hit us full in the face
with the smell of an approaching storm. We
arrived home just before the rain started, complete with
a few rumbles of thunder to usher in the
change. The fog and rain will eat away at the remaining
snow for a couple of days until Thursday,
when more snow will fall. If April showers bring may
flowers, what do April snowstorms bring ?
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 1, 2007 8:00 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Our meadow is filled with both deer and turkeys this
morning. The fowl are in
full springtime mode, with gobbling and clucking sounds
filling the air. At least six
toms parade around with their tails fanned and neck
feathers fluffed out so they look
huge. Some trick of perspective makes the turkeys seem
almost as large as the deer. The
fields are about fifty percent clear of snow, so there is
plenty of newly emerging growth for
all herbivores to browse through. Although this morning
certainly seems springlike, there
will be a return of wintry conditions off and all week,
with snow in the forecast for much
of our area. Best to get out this morning before the
messy weather arrives.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
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