Oh, what a beautiful morning, oh, what a beautiful day…”
Such a happy song from “Oklahoma,” and so appropriate for a lovely July morning. It might be lovelier were the temperature ten degrees lower, and no storms were lingering, but that’s summer. Being mindfully grateful is an intelligent way to begin a day, even knowing that there’s every possibility our plans will move unexpectedly from Plan A to Plan Q before the day is over! In later years, it has become sort of entertaining to
“Thirty days hath September, April, June and November….” And the 30th of June is coming right up! Foliage is fully out making good hiding places for birds and small creatures. I see chipmunks slipping beneath the comfrey leaves and a rabbit skirting the current bushes. Mysterious paths are evident in the grass, where a skunk or squirrel has traveled to the sunflower seeds. We are just one week from Independence Day ---- July 4th. The Solstice is past, so summer is here in all its fullness. We
We are nearing the summer Solstice, the time of the longest daylight, directly after which we begin to experience diminishing the light once again. We are also nearing the mysterious Mid-summer Night’s Eve, a time of legend; pixies, fauns, and faeries. Each year seems to speed by like someone on rollerblades; no sooner do I write about the Summer Solstice, than I’m pulling out the Halloween pumpkins and the light is fading at 4 PM. My perception of life flying by, is why making each day fully-li
Three essays on May might well be overkill, fine month that it is, were it not for Memorial Day, the day of remembrance and celebration, just past, but still current. There are enough reasons to extend the celebration for several days; parades, the annual PBS Memorial Day programming, family picnics and visiting family graves. There is the traditional switch to white shoes and clothing if anyone bothers to follow such customs nowadays. And since Memorial Day brings thoughts about family, about
What lush, thoroughly-enjoyable days we are in. Who wouldn’t like May? Birds are everywhere; scarlet cardinals are flying through purple lilacs and the colors don’t clash at all! Dogwood blossoms make white clouds against the dark spruce trees. In the musical, Camelot, they sing: “Tra la, it’s May! The lusty month of May! The lovely month when ev’ryone goes blissfully a-stray…..”* I’m not sure about the astray part, but it is surely easy to feel blissful right now. The month’s name came from Ma
One day post-May Day. May Day or “Carrying little bouquets of flowers to the neighbors Day," which no one does anymore. I’ve written before about making little paper baskets, filling them with early flowers and hanging them on a neighbor’s door knob. It is such fun at age 7 or 8, to be sneaky and kind at the same time. The Victor-area didn’t always have a large variety of flowers in bloom on May 1st, so we had to make do with daffodils, grape hyacinths and dandelions. Our closest neighbor was a
It was odd... this winter, just past, of 2023 and 2024. And, spring seems reluctant to stand firm. Winter keeps making dashes back with a little graupel here and a snowflake there, as if to make up for its earlier lethargy. We are usually safe from deep snow by mid-April, but one never knows. Early in March, warm weather brought out the snowdrops and winter aconite. Potted Easter flowers have gotten me through to now, when my daffodils and hyacinths are beginning to open and bring more life to
Easter parades are over; a total solar eclipse before us. Birds are returning. I heard, in late February, that a friend had seen two bears, locally, and another friend mentioned the return of her bluebirds. The bluebirds were a welcome sign, but we hoped the bears would stay away until May. However, one or two have already come by, briefly, and so we will soon be moving the big seed cans into our storage shed. This means some inconvenience for me --- up our hilly lawn and around to the back of
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold;
When it is summer in the light and winter in the shade….”
Charles Dickens
TA-Da!!! It is just past the Vernal Equinox and in my part of the world, Spring is here -- on the calendar as well as in reality! Spring, in Zones 4 and 5 can be quite liberally seasoned with big snowflakes, and chilly March winds, as has happened this week. We have, in some years, even experienced a blizzard in mid-April
Does anyone remember, back in your childhood, the tale of “Chicken Little”, who panicked from what he experienced in his limited little world, and ran to tell everyone that the sky was falling? Of course, the sky remained right where it was supposed to be. Today, something similar happens regularly; on the evening news, on our phones, on Facebook, in conversations. The tone of the message from all channels and media, is that the sky is falling again and again. We hear opinions and projectio
Due to that recent warm spell, my enthusiastic little crocus bulbs are putting forth green shoots. And this week, we have another warm day or two to encourage them. Has anyone seen skunk cabbage peeking out of swamps yet? My former drive to work took me through swampy areas, so I always noticed those green-y/ purple-y, pointed, smelly leaves. You wouldn’t want them in a bouquet, but they are a visible sign of spring. Spring, on the calendar, is about a month away. But Easter is early this year
February is sort of a transition month. We may still get snow, sleet, and freezing rain but, there is some snow melt, and daylight becomes darkness, later and later. Somewhere out in the snowy woods, high up in a tree, a mama owl is sitting on eggs, warming them with her fluffy self. And squirrels, having found mates, are aggressively defending their territories. Hal Borland*, renowned naturalist, said: “In February, snow will actually melt in very cold weather; evaporating without going thr
A few snow squalls, some bitter wind gusts, and there goes January! The mild weather throughout December and some of January has discouraged the long winter naps for our resident skunk and possum. They’ve been out and about, thieving at bird feeders and the cat’s dish. The birds haven’t been quite as ravenous as when the snows come fast and deep, though the cold of last week sent them often to the suet. The deer have been down from the hill, but not in multiples; I think only one or two. The
We have just exited the Christmas season. Having made it through December and New Year’s, many people are breathing a sigh of contentment, repletion, and maybe —- relief.? Wonderful holidays and the Christmas decorations lovely, but it is time to take the tree down and put the ornaments away until next year. Twelfth Night, just past, is traditionally when the Magi reached their destination (probably not the stable in Bethlehem although all of our creches have them there), to worship Jesus. Regar
It’s March……Little rivulets of joy
Begin flowing down stones,
Through the mosses
Out from the tree roots.
They’ve been there all the time,
just hidden down under
Where they’ve quietly added sparkle and glow
To the ice, and crunch to the snow.
There’s a warm glow over the earth
In the setting sun………*
This is one stanza of a
What a variety of weather February is bringing us. Shortly after Valentine’s Day, environmentalists on social media began encouraging us to leave garden debris for a few weeks at the beginning of the “season”, and “don’t pull dandelions.” I’m thinking, “Umm.….there are still patches of snow beneath my shrubs, plus what we just got, and dandelions haven’t dared show a glimmer of green. There’ll be no debris-removal until mud season is over and my fingers won’t freeze.”
Regardless of yoyo
February in the Finger Lakes is like a mild case of the flu. Instead of sneezing and coughing, however, our symptoms are less patience with and more grumbles about cold, snow, graupel, ice and slush. We will assuredly survive, but we are ready for more sun and a few signs of spring. Yesterday was a good start! I try to look at winter as a performance and I’m interested to see how the scenes play out. Will Acts I & II (mid-December- Mid February) bring cold and blizzards, or will it be a
Snow, snow and more snow! Winter snows and winds have impacted several of our trees, especially our lilacs. The oldest one, probably at least 60+ years old, had three large broken branches that we removed from its center. Now it looks like two champagne flutes with space in the middle. Kerm taped another newer lilac back together, hoping it will reattach. Butternut and tulip trees have shed limbs all over the lawn, and one crab apple tree is split right down the middle. The deer have been
Happy New Year again, now that we are actually in 2023. I have so appreciated the holiday season that is just past, and wish some of the benefits could go on and on, as this says: “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”* New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were both busy and engaged because our granddaughters were here all week, and then our adult kids were here and life was lively. There wasn’t a lot of time for year-end introspection, but in the back of
We’ve decorated, baked, caroled and the Season of Noel is approaching its end. We do have until January 6th ---- 12th Night ---- before we must pack the shiny ornaments away and we head into true winter. It has been two weeks of being together with friends and family, good church services and special music. One of our remaining tasks would be sending out Christmas cards. We have more time now, to write notes.
New Year’s Eve is coming and it is, for many, a time of merriment and partyin
Starry skies --- crisp nights ----- occasional snow feathering down ----sleds, sleighs and church bells. That is what all the beautiful winter cards depict. In real life, we often have what the meteorologists call “graupel” plus sleet and freezing rain, with a little mud underfoot, making slush, rather like what we’re getting here today ---and tomorrow. The cards keep us looking for that bit of winter magic. I wish that I could find a better use for the many beautiful cards, especially hand
Turkeys can now relax; their season is over while we humans have stepped from November (Thanksgiving) into December (Christmas) with hardly a moment of transition. We are one week into Advent; hanging of the greens at church occurred this past Sunday. For nearly all faiths, this is the Season of Lights. Pagan holidays emphasized light because December brings the longest nights of the year, and asking the gods to send the sun’s light again seemed a survival necessity. The Jewish Chanukah cele
What a rapid run through November we are making. Days are flitting along like leaves blown by November winds. Thanksgiving is a week away. Am I prepared for the holiday season that follows? No, I am not! But somehow, we always manage to celebrate royally, ready or not. I enjoy Thanksgiving because it is about family and gratitude. There are fewer dizzying activities like wrapping gifts, running hither and yon, and all the hullabaloo that goes with Christmas. The weather is usually better
November, the month of golden topaz gem stones and heaps of topaz leaves fallen from trees. November is a month of birthdays; my husband’s is today and one son’s is at the end of the month, with several family members in between. Kerm’s birthday means strawberry shortcake tonight. That is his choice over any cake I could bake. My eldest brother shared my husband’s November 3d birthday. Kerm was born about the time Frank went to war in WWII but regardless of their age difference, they both ag
“I like the fall --- the mist and all. I like the night owl’s lonely call --- and wailing sound of wind around….”*
Especially do I like those things if we have a cozy fire in the wood stove and a c up of hot chocolate in hand. We are well into October and Halloween is approaching. If you don’t like Halloween, how about “All-Soul’s Night” and “All- Saint’s Day” instead? Festivals marking the end of the growing season seemed also to have evoked the memory of those who’ve gone on. Our Hal
