~
Friday, December 31, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
36 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Some peachy colors linger at the edges of the
southeastern cloud banks,
and when the sun’s rays break through they carry the
tint down to the snowy
meadows. It is a very pretty morning; the crows and
starlings have been singing its
praises since dawn. Yesterday was a near-perfect day, and
we walked a few miles on
the Gomer Hill Road, under a sky the color of a spring
bluebird’s wing. The neighborhood
dogs were all out enjoying the day as well, and our walk
was broken up by canine greetings from
farm to farm. Snow has turned to slush at the edges of
the road, and the unpaved sections of road
are as soft as in mud season. We even saw a lad on a
bicycle enjoying a ride through the puddles.
Another walk is in today’s plan, for to stay indoors
on such a lovely day would be a crime.
Enjoy your day,
and see you next year,
Daisy
Thursday, December 30, 2010, 9:00 a.m.
26 degrees, calm, sunny
What a gorgeous morning! The sun is nice and warm,
and there is no windchill to steal away
my breath when walking around the yard. Last night was
beautiful as well, and as I wandered
around outdoors a bit before bedtime, I was thrilled to
hear the call of a barred owl, something
that has been missing from our neighborhood for many
months. I called back, and we kept up our
odd conversation for several minutes, finally giving way
to a pack of coyotes who decided to get in
the last word. I could hear them drawing closer, yipping
and howling as they ran, but I wasn’t able
to see them in the black of night. I was glad I had
stayed within the bright circle cast by our yard light.
Coyotes don’t scare me... as long as I am close to
home. One time I heard them carousing up the Hor-
sey Creek gorge while I was walking in the woodlot, and I
ran as fast as I could to get away from them,
urging the dog to keep up with me, when in fact he was
already halfway home. I retired soon after enjoy-
ing the owl and coyote concert, but was awakened in the
wee hours in time to see a deep orange half
moon rising; although this phase is officially referred
to as a quarter moon, representing one-quarter
of the entire sphere, I have always called it a half-moon,
because it looks like half a circle.
After all, the famous black-and-white pastries are called
half-moon cookies, yes?
Mmmmmm, cookies...
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 29, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
28 degrees, breezy, overcast, freezing drizzle
Fine raindrops fill the air, like fog only beefier.
Yesterday we had something similar, but it was much
colder outside, and I had to run my car for five minutes
before I could leave the yard; the stuff froze onto
the windshield as soon as it landed, and I needed to run
the defroster for my whole ride to work. Coming
home in the evening, I drove through quite a bit of snow
in Talcottville, and I got a bit excited, but it was
a stray storm, with nothing on Gomer Hill. We went for a
walk up the Smith Road yesterday, it was finally
warm enough that the dog could prance along without
getting cold feet. We saw scads of deer tracks along
the roadside, with well-worn paths to the seeps in the
swampy areas that haven’t quite frozen yet. A chicka-
dee followed us for a bit, darting away into the balsam
woods after checking us out thoroughly. I love those
little birds, and only ever see them during the winter
season. It looked like many snowmobiles had been over
the road; the snow has been rearranged and packed solid...
where there is any snow. Sure enough, just after
we returned to the house a party of twenty sleds came
through the neighbor’s cornfield and on up the Smith
Road. The lack of snow didn’t deter several packs of
cowboys from racing through the field late last
night, either. All of our winter sports may have to be
put on hold, as rain is moving in to start off
the new year, but then it should change over to snow by
Sunday. I hope.
have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday,
December 28, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
18 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, snowing
Fine snow is falling; the flakes are so small that the
geometry of them is hard to see when caught
on the sleeve of my fleecy jacket. It is considerably
warmer than yesterday, and the wind isn’t nearly
as daunting as it has been for the past few days. A
starling choir seemed to be singing from the same
score this morning, mostly tuneful whistles, lacking the
usual sound effects of trucks backing up and
dogs barking. It seems that a small flock of these
friendly birds will be spending the winter with us,
and I am happy to host them. We had a visit from several
juncos this morning as well, gathering
under the birch tree to peck at whatever seeds have
fallen to the frosty ground. Deer continue
to dig at the snow looking for fodder, and our meadows
are covered with pawed-out divots
connected by deer trails. It has been an easy winter so
far for the deer; they have been able
to hike just about anywhere they wish to find browse, and
have not yet resorted to eating
twigs and bark. I have seen them gathered in the
neighbors cornfield, where there are
still scads of unpicked ears in the acreage that was too
muddy to harvest.
That was a loss to the farmer, but a boon for wildlife.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, December 27, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
2 degrees, windy, overcast, snow
After a very cold and windy night, the oil furnace kicked
on at dawn after the temperature inside
the house dropped to 56 degrees. We were comfy underneath
piles of comforters, and since we
stoked the wood stoves the rooms are once again toasty-warm.
Because the wind has been so fierce,
we didn’t dare to retire with too much wood burning.
It is during this kind of gusty wind that
chimney
fires are likely. Better to tuck into flannel jammies
than risk losing everything. Light snow is falling, and
the wind has pushed it around so that it is impossible to
determine whether any actual depth has been
achieved. The road is mostly white, and a few small
drifts have started to form along the berm. It is
beyond cold outside right now; even the dog only took two
steps from the woodshed to rush through
his business first thing this morning. By my reckoning,
the windchill is about minus fifteen degrees. I am
glad that I get to go to work later today, so I
won’t feel too bad about missing any outdoor fun.
Yes-
terday a friend came up to go skiing, but it was so
blustery and frigid outside that we stayed indoors
and made cookies instead. As much as I love winter sports,
I’m no big fan of frostbite.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, December 26, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
8 degrees, windy, partly sunny, flurries
The sun has just appeared above some fast-moving clouds,
and since the temperature is in the single digits
the overall effect is brrrrr ! I am re-thinking
plans to ski today, although if the sun stays out and the
wind calms
down it may not be too frigid. The past couple of days
the nordic skiing has been simply awesome, even though
the snowpack is still very scant. Every night a bit more
frost has appeared from thin air (literally), and it has
coat-
ed the meadow weeds and surface of the existing snow with
fine icy crystals. This means that the high grasses
and alfalfa stubble are no longer little speed bumps
capable of stopping my skis in mid-schuss, and the down-
hill runs have been very zippy. Deer and coyotes have
been using our ski tracks as well as laying down a net-
work of their own trails, and smaller mammals have marked
their routes from tree to tree with tiny shallow
marks. Swallows and crows, my favorite stalwart sleek
black birds of winter, have been abundant the past
few days, great company as I crisscross the same meadows
time and time again. Exploration has been con-
fined to studying the smaller nooks and crannies of the
only terrain that is currently available, and it is by
shrinking my overall point of view that the jaunts on
skis never become boring. A close examination of
cattails, starkly beautiful even before the frost,
reveals a delicate network of lacy rime that has become
one with the plant, binding the dark brown seedheads to
the stalk for now, delaying the eventual
dispersal of seeds. One mature cattail spike can contain
more than a million seeds; the fact that
such beautiful fairy-frost surrounds that kind of
potential for growth is just amazing to me.
Look beyond the ordinary, and you will be pleasantly
surprised.
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
Merry Christmas Everyone :)
Friday, December 24, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
17 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
Such a sparse scattering of snowflakes hardly even
qualifies as flurries;
Old Man Winter keeps teasing us in such a subtle way.
Frost continues to
build up on the trees, and it is very pretty indeed. We
are planning to ski a bit
later this morning, and take pictures of the wonderland
that surrounds us. If you
are awake at midnight tonight, remember to listen to your
pets and farm animals;
it is said they are given the gift of human speech when
Christmas Day begins.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 23, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
18 degrees. overcast, windy, flurries
A few motes of snow are falling and join the masses that
are being pushed across the view by
a pretty stiff northeast wind. Amazingly, the fog frost
that built up on the trees and shrubs has not
been swept away, and the morning scene is a bit
magical, blustery and beautiful at the same time. The
radar map shows some snow headed our way, from the
opposite direction of our usual lake effect storms;
hopefully we will see a few inches from this
nor’easter. I haven’t seen any birds at all
this morning; they are
probably tucked in out of the wind for now. We walked up
the Smith Road yesterday, and in the absence
of much snowcover we have been able to watch Horsey Creek
slowly freeze over, starting at the edges
and the shallow rocky rills; there is very little free-flowing
water currently moving between the banks.
The larger stream farther up the road that passes through
the deep gorge is still roaring along at a
good clip, and shows ice only near the banks. There are
still a few stretches of open water around
our springbox runoff, although they, too, have been
slowly turning to ice as the nights continue to be
frigid. I doubt that larger pondsare solid enough to
support much weight, and my skis continue to
find bits of groundwater in surprising places. That hard
rain of ten days ago has been slow to sink
into the ground. When we finally do get some real snow,
we will have to be careful where we ski
near streams and swamps, or we could get wet feet. For
now we will continue to enjoy skiing the
mown meadows and hiking on unplowed roads, happy to be
outside enjoying the changing view.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
18 degrees, calm, overcast, snow
We awoke to fog which has frozen onto every little twig,
so this first full day of winter is very pretty
indeed. The fog brought along a bit of snow in its wake,
and flakes have been drifting down for a couple
of hours. Crows are the predominant bird on the scene
today, and three deer have been doing the tow-step
from seep to seep in the back meadow, stopping to paw at
the grass now and then. All in all, we are enjoy-
ing a view worthy of illustrating a holiday greeting card.
Even this little bit of snow will enhance the skiing,
both alpine and cross country varieties. This is a
wonderful day to enjoy the outdoors, as there is no
wind (so far) so even if it is just a little stroll on
your lunch hour, get out and greet winter head on !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
18 degrees, breezy, overcast, snow
Light snow started to fall a little while ago, and we
sure can use it. It is borne on a northwest wind that
stings a bit on bare skin, and the flakes whip past the
window as if on their way to a big party. Much earlier
today I went outside at 3:00 a.m. to see if the eclipse
was visible, but the sky was laden with clouds. I could
see a glow to the northeast from the lights at Snow Ridge,
indicating that the snowmaking guns were hard at
work giving Old Man Winter a hand. The Snow Ridge Ski
Resort will be open for the season tomorrow;
friends who skied there over the weekend report that
conditions were very good, considering the overall
dearth of snow so far this season. What better way to
acknowledge the first full day of winter than with
some outdoor alpine fun! The winter solstice officially
arrives at 6:38 this evening (EST). Celebrate this
return to the light with a candlelit supper, and raise
your glass to the big wheel that keeps on turning.
Happy solstice,
Daisy
Monday, December 20, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
20 degrees, cloudy, calm
The morning view is calm, with starlings and crows making
enough racket to draw my attention
even with the windows closed. We lost a lot of snow in
yesterday’s warm sun, and it looks more
like an April morn than the day before winter solstice.
There are scads of long narrow tracks in the
meadows this morning, as we headed off on our skis in a
different direction yesterday. We eventually
tied into Saturday’s trails, and noticed that most
of them were overlain by deer tracks, and saw evidence
that several deer had been pawing through the snow to get
at some of the longer grasses. The sun shone all
day, and it was perfect weather for skiing; too bad there
is so little snow. There is a faint chance of flurries
all week long, enough to clean up the view but no big
storms on the way. If the night sky is clear, we hope-
fully will see a total eclipse of the full moon in the
wee hours, occurring just before the winter solstice.
The eclipse will occur tomorrow morning between 2:41 and
3:53 a.m. EST, and the year will
turn back to the light at 6:38pm. tomorrow evening. For
more details of the eclipse check
out spaceweather.com. The moon
will be pretty much directly overhead; We plan to
watch from the comfort of my car, which has a moonroof.
You can sleep after it’s
over, so fill your thermos with cocoa and bundle up to
see this rare celestial event.
Keep looking up,
Daisy
Sunday, December 19, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
29 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
It is so nice to look out the window and see the long
skinny tracks that cross-hatch our meadows,
reminding me of yesterday’s excellent ski outing. As
long as we stayed on the mown paths the gliding
was very good, and the neighbor’s autumn-mown
hayfield was a dream in white, with a vast unbroken
surface just begging for some long downhill glides. We
followed some bootprints and ran into a friend who
had hiked cross-lots to Snow Ridge and back. He reported
that the woodlands and swamps are not yet hold-
ing enough snow for easy skiing, which we suspected from
examining our own woodlot earlier in the afternoon.
We hit some seeps that had not yet frozen, and had to
stop once to scrape the ice from our skis and spray
them with some gliding wax to prevent future freeze-up.
The skiing was very good, considering the total
lack of a base layer. I can’t wait for enough
coverage to be able to go anywhere we want. For now,
it is wonderful to be able to explore the nearby meadows
and get a good workout as a bonus.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 18, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
26 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
A few snowflakes are flying around on this breezy winter
morn. We plowed the yard for the first time,
clearing away the six inches or so of snow that have
fallen during the past week. We could have left it alone,
but the town plow gave us a nice bank at the end of the
driveway, so we cleared that away for friends who
will be visiting this weekend. The roads have been in
great shape; by the time we descend Gomer Hill they
are pretty clear. It is amazing what effect a few hundred
feet of elevation has on snowfall, especially when
the lake effect is in the picture. We brought in our
holiday tree yesterday and have the lights in place. It
took
five strands to cover this one, which I believe is the
largest tree we have ever had. Although we usually have
a balsam fir, they were scarce this year. This one is a
white spruce, and has a beautiful wintry fragrance that
reminds me of my childhood. I guess we must have had
spruce trees back then too. I remember one year my
Dad brought home a scotch pine, and we couldn’t get
the ornaments to stay on. The branches were so pliable
that they bent under the weight of those old-fashioned
glass balls and they slid right off. Finally we pinched
the
hooks shut around the branches, which solved that problem.
I will hang the ornaments on our tree later this
morning, after I get the rest of the homely chores
finished. It certainly looks beautiful just the way it is,
shining with red and white lights and a homemade foil
star on top. The snow has picked up a bit;
what a perfect winter day!
Have fun,
Daisy
Friday, December 17, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
16 degrees, calm, partly sunny, flurries
Another inch of snow fell during the night, and a
few flakes still fall to earth in slow-motion,
unaffected by breeze on this beautiful calm morning.
Shortly after sunrise there was a single bright
orange beam connecting two layers of glowing melon-tinted
clouds, originating from the flaming orb
as it lay hidden behind the lower strata. Now the sun has
ducked behind some clouds for a while, but
there are still some patches of blue sky here and there.
Several starlings are playing in the stillness, winging
over some of the taller weeds but not landing to feed.
Out of nowhere, a flock of pigeons showed up late yes-
terday, just passing through I guess; we hardly see them
up here on the Hill, although they do hang around the
silos at the farm where our road bumps into the West Road.
Maybe they were on a field trip, and picked our
field. It seems that all of the turkeys from our
neighborhood have gathered at that farm as well, to peck
at the
manure after it is spread on the hayfield. I have also
seen them gathered around the row of round bales, teas-
ing out seeds from the litter that surrounds the fodder.
The cornfield along the Smith Road wasn’t completely
harvested last fall, due to mud, and there are usually
some turkeys wandering through the rows pulling at the
ears, but lately there has been no sign of activity
except for deer. I guess turkeys will gather wherever the
meals are easiest, and until the snow gets too deep to
spread manure they will be drawn to active farms.
I am happy that we don’t have to search for food,
that there is a wealth of choices right at our fingertips.
Aren’t we fortunate?
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 16, 2010, 7:30 a.m.
15 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing !
Yep, snow! Beautiful, fluffy, clean, cold, and
sticking to the ground like it will be here for a while.
I will finally be able to glide soundlessly over the
meadows and through the woods, like I have been
dreaming of for weeks. The Snow Ridge Ski Resort will
open this weekend, and this new powder atop
the manmade snow base should be pretty sweet for alpine
sports enthusiasts. As for us off-pisters, as long
as we avoid the wet parts of the seeps and swamps we
should have easy access to just about anywhere we
choose. Two bluejays seem to be celebrating this little
storm, and have been swooping in and out of the blue
spruce tree in the back yard, the only source of any
color on this black and white December morning. Yester-
day we saw a flock of snow buntings in a nearby field, an
unusual species but starkly beautiful with their black
and white feathers flashing like so many checkerboards in
motion. Believe it or not, when they fly south for the
winter, this is their final destination. To see a picture
of this stunning bird and read a bit more about it, check
out www.seattleaudubon.org.
We plan to bring our holiday tree inside today and
festoon it with lights and
the old familiar ornaments. I finally gave up on an old
string of small bulbs that just won’t glow, even
with new fuses, and sprung for a couple of strands of new
led lights, cheap enough if they will
last a couple of seasons. Snow outside, decorations
indoors, I just love the Yuletide !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 7:30 a.m.
6 degrees, breezy. partly cloudy
Although the sun hasn’t appeared above the
eastern clouds yet, sunrise has been
extraordinarily beautiful this morning. The peach and
crimson glow is slowly fading, but
a half hour ago the sky was lit up like a volcano. The
sky is a deep blue where clouds are
absent, and it looks like it will be a very nice day. I
looked outside at about 3:00 a.m. and the
sky was filled with stars against a clear moonless sky.
One streaked straight up from the horizon
and lasted a couple of seconds before burning out, a
little leftover action from the annual Geminid
meteor shower which peaked early Tuesday morning. I gazed
out the window for a bit longer, but
that was the only shooting star I saw. It happened so
fast I forgot to make a wish. We are headed
to Utica later this morning; I wonder if there is any
snow at all down that way. I think locations close
to the lakes have been blessed with a large amount of
snow during the past two days; we only got
a dusting. Guess what my wish would have been? Snow
showers likely, that’s what the forecast
says... the part the pundits leave out is but not for
Gomer Hill. oh, here comes the sun, lighting
up all the tiny motes of frost that a frigid day like
this often displays in midair. How pretty !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
8 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
There is little to show for what I thought was a
pretty good snowfall last night, or so it seemed as
I drove home at 6:00 with fat flakes streaming past the
car like the special fx of a Star Wars battle
scene. Less than an inch of snow gathered from all that
bluster, and much of it has been blown away by
the brisk west wind. A few lingering flurries drift about
this morning like mosquitoes looking for a meal. The
sun shone briefly but has retreated behind multiple
layers of clouds. Do these clouds hold any real snow ?
Who knows. This waiting game is getting old. Snow is in
the forecast right through Saturday, but I won’t
hold my breath. Meanwhile, several crows have been
hanging around this morning, silent as they glide
from tree to tree. I saw a few starlings on the high wire,
but they flew off before I could tell if they
had anything to say. Turkeys have been absent for the
past week; they must have taken refuge in
the shelter of the forest during all of the windy weather
of late. I know that I have been happy
to hole up in our warm home when the windchill has been
fierce. Zero degrees on a sunny
still day is fine with me, but twenty with a stiff wind
is a different story altogether.
Bundle up, and have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, December 13, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
30 degrees, windy, overcast, flurries
Yesterday’s hard rain washed most of our
little bit of snowpack away and left several inches of
slush
anywhere there had been a drift or plowed bank. A high
temperature of forty-five degrees as well as
hearty south winds helped to render our view into one of
springtime thaw rather than pre-yuletide win-
try wonder. Fortunately, a lake effect snowstorm is (supposedly)
headed our way for the next few days,
but since we got robbed in the last one my expectations
are low. I can only hope, if we are going to be
on the receiving end of Jack Frost’s magic wand,
that it waits until after I arrive home from work. I hate
to drive in the dark during heavy snow. Already the
flurries are falling fast enough to be moving into the
actual snowing category, which makes me think that
this storm may finally be the real deal. When I was
outside earlier, I felt snow crystals on my face, but
they were tiny and nearly invisible. A lone starling
was the only bird around, but he had enough sound effects
in his repertoire to fill the yard with cheer-
ful tunes, a regular one-bird band. The slush has started
to freeze, and footing is a bit tricky in spots.
Change is in the air; let it snow!
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, December 12, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
35 degrees, windy, overcast, rain
It is a very wet and windy day, and the thick
layer of ice that decorates the sunporch windows
is slowly sliding down towards the sills. This wicked
wild weather is just perfect for doing a little
indoor holiday decorating. I have silk poinsettia lights
to outline two of the kitchen windows, and
crystal ornaments to hang as sun-catchers with some hand
blown glass as well. I will bring out the
Hummel angels and other hand-me-down knick-knacks that
grace the windowsills until after the new
year. We still don’t have a tree, but will probably
go searching later today. I need to test the strings of
lights, as I seem to recall that half of them blew out
last season. I don’t like the look of the new led
lights,
so I hope that I can replace a plug fuse in my old ones
and be good to go. Later tonight all of this rain is
supposed to morph into snow, and that will be very
exciting if it actually comes to pass. Last night the
neighborhood was overrun with snowmobiles running on bare
(closed) roads and through the neigh-
bor’s old cornfield, with so little snow cover that
I am amazed they achieved any forward motion
at all. Yet they were traveling at a high rate of speed
anyway. That can’t be good for either the
farmland or the machines. So far there has been one
snowmobile related fatality. My heart
goes out to his family and friends; please ride safe, and
for pete’s sake, slow down.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 7:30 a.m.
30 degrees, calm, overcast
Valley mist meets the clouds so that there is no hint of
morning colors today, just a faint pearly brightening
to the east. A bit of snow fell overnight, enough to
soften the edges left by the town plow trucks and hide
all of the sand that has been sprinkled during the past
week. We scraped down our own yard in advance
of the rain that is expected overnight and tomorrow.
Today should be fairly nice; I am headed to Lee
Center for a gathering of friends, but plan to return to
the Hill in time for a walk. I had fully intended
to get out and ski yesterday afternoon, but holy moley
was it ever cold! I took the dog for a romp up
the Smith Road so he could work off some of his
enthusiasm, and by the time we got to Horsie Creek
we were both fed up with the windchill; we turned around
so that at least the wind was at our backs and
not grabbing the very breath from our lungs. Although the
temperature was twenty-two, the wind was
ridiculous. Since the only good snow for skiing is on our
meadow paths, which are 100% exposed
to the west wind, I called it a day when I hung up the
leash after our short walk. I am sure there
will be plenty of beautiful days for playing outside
still to come. Snow Ridge Ski Resort has been
making snow, but they will not open until next weekend. I
can’t believe there have already been
snowmobiles on the Smith Road, traveling on what amounts
to barely a dusting of snow.
It looks like there is a good chance of snow after the
weekend is over; let’s hope so!
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, December 10, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
10 degrees, breezy, overcast
Brrrrr! Although the temperature has increased ten
degrees from the overnight low of dead zero, it is very
cold outside this morning. We are expecting warmer temps
for the next couple of days, which means that instead of
snow on the scene there may be a wintry mix of snow,
grauple, sleet and freezing rain. While this is
unpleasant
stuff to be out and about in, it will lay down a good
firm base for future snowfalls to rest atop. We plan to
get
out later today on skis for just a test run, mostly to
check out the plethora of animal tracks that have shown
up
in the meadows. Last night I heard both coyotes and geese
in full surround-sound before bedtime, what a thrill!
The high yips and barks of the coyotes was perfectly
offset by the mellow sonorous honks from above, a per-
fect soundtrack to the bright setting crescent moon. This
is the phase of the moon made famous by the lullaby
sung to me as a toddler, Baby’s Boat. Next
time you see the moon on it’s back, think about this
poem:
Baby’s boat’s a silver moon, sailing or the sky,
Sailing o’er a sea of dew while the clouds float by.
Sail baby sail, out across the sea; only don't forget to
sail home again to me.
Baby's fishing for a dream fishing near and far,
Her line’s a silver moonbeam, her bait’s a
golden star.
Sail baby sail out across the sea; only don't forget to
sail home again to me.
Have a peaceful day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 9, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
6 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
The sun was shining earlier but now the sky is
filled with thick pearly clouds,
shapeshifting to expose a single silvery beam now and
then. Lazy flurries drift on
a soft west breeze, and although it is very cold the
little gusts do not take one’s breath
away, not immediately anyway. Yesterday we drove through
some areas of fairly deep snow
on our way to the little town of Theresa, northeast of
Watertown, and there was well over a foot
in our friend’s yard. I understand some places
closer to the lake received four feet of snow from the
last storm. I am sure our turn will come; my friends who
are not as fond of winter as I always say,
“Be careful what you wish for...” The morning
scene is filled with winter birds, crows, starlings,
bluejays, evening grosbeaks, and juncos, and believe it
or not a huge flock of geese passed
over our place just before the clouds closed in. We saw
many flocks of geese yesterday too,
milling around over Watertown but headed south for the
most part. Good grief, that’s cutting it
pretty close, although I believe the lake isn’t even
close to freeze-up. The bluejays may stay around
for the winter, taking shelter in the cluster of
evergreens in the back yard, as they did last year. I
hope
that some starlings will hang around as well, for their
wonderful variety of greetings throughout the
day never fails to bring a smile to my face. I never know
if they are chatting with each other or ad-
dressing me directly; I like to think it’s a bit of
both. Just in case, I always whistle a bit in reply.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 7:00 a.m.
12 degrees, breezy, partly cloudy, flurries
The clouds are starting to pink up a bit as
sunrise approaches. We are leaving shortly for
appointments
in Watertown, and I believe we will see some pretty
awesome show as we head up that way. It is very
cold outside; thank goodness the breeze is slight. We had
thought to get out on skis yesterday but the
wind made us think twice, and so we stayed in. There will
be plenty of more user-friendly days to play
in the snow. There is a chance of more snow today, and
every day through Saturday, with a possibility of
rain mixing in on Sunday. That would actually be a good
thing, to help set a firm base for future snowfalls.
Right now we go right down to the grass with every
footfall, and on skis this would create some unfortunate
episodes of drag where there should be smooth
uninterrupted glide. As the sky grows brighter, several
crows
have landed in the maple trees by the road, calling up
the sun and adding a bit of life to an otherwise dull
scene.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 8:30 a.m.
16 degrees, mostly cloudy, windy, snow
What a blustery winter morn! We are at the edge of a
broad lake effect storm system and are seeing
more wind than snow at this point. The town plow has been
up but most of the road had already been
blown clean down to the tarmac. At the most, two more
inches of snow has fallen since yesterday, but
if the current lake effect band drifts a little farther
southeast things should pick up. Right now Copenhagen
is getting hammered. Snow Ridge Ski Resort plans to open
on Saturday, but as always, it wouldn’t hurt to
call or check snowridge.com
on Friday before heading up to Turin. If the wind dies
down, we plan to get
out on our skinny skis later for a quick spin around the
meadows; but as cold as it is right now, the wind-
chill is daunting, down in the single digits. Seed
catalogs have been arriving, and it is time to sort
through the
leftovers from last year and begin to plan the 2011
garden. Don’t forget to check out ommas-aarden.net
for
a good local source of seeds. You know, every year we say
we will have a smaller garden, but there are so
many things we haven’t tried yet, it is hard to cut
back much. We were thrilled with the rainbow swiss chard,
which was new to us, and would still be enjoying it fresh
from the row if the deer hadn’t pruned it into
extinc-
tion. This was also our first attempt at growing black
shell beans, and now that will be a yearly crop as well.
We also need to start a few indoor basil plants, as the
one from last spring is starting to look a bit ragged a-
round the edges. Several rosemary plants are looking hale
and hearty on a sunny windowsill, and if I crush
a tiny mote between my fingers I am transported back to a
hot August afternoon in my mind’s eye. The
seasons turn and often mingle in such a wonder-full way,
as our memories come and go. Thus the scent
of evergreens on a warm January day as we ski beneath can
remind us of the first greening of April
as we strolled the paths, through a common remembrance of
such a sweet perfume.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, December 6, 2010, 8:45 a.m.
18 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
We awoke to about four inches of fluffy powder, the kind
of snow that puffs away from the bootsoles with
every step. There is a lull in the action right now, with
just a few flurries passing by the window from west to
east, and it is very cold outside this morning. I was
foolish to think that I could empty the ashes without
suit-
ing up properly, and by the time I returned to the house
with the empty pan my ears were burning with cold
and my icy hands could hardly grip the metal. Not to
mention that is the last time I wear my clogs out to the
ash barrel without socks, especially when the snow is an
inch deeper than my footwear. Duh. We tried to
take a walk yesterday, but the wind had picked up and
even all bundled up it was just too cold. I think that
even the dog was happy we turned around. He was content
to make a few trips to his favorite spots around
the barn and outbuildings while I fetched kindling and
brought in some potting soil. A friend had given me a
beautiful shamrock plant last spring, and it had
overgrown its small container so much that it was hard to
extract it for transplanting. I also had several
christmas cactus cuttings to put into dirt, the result of
a
minor tragedy when it was knocked off its perch a month
ago. The main plant must have needed
pruning; it is doing quite well since losing several of
its branches to sudden gravity syndrome.
So far there is no sign of flowers, so perhaps it is
really more of a valentine’s day cactus.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, December 5, 2010, 8:15 a.m.
18 degrees, calm, cloudy, flurries
Beautiful big fat snowflakes drift slowly to the ground,
uninhibited by wind, a true representation
of a December morn. Snowbirds (juncos) arrived along with
the flurries, and add to the monotone
slate grey and white color scheme of today’s view.
As the day progresses, we may see some lake effect
snow; so far all of those previous storms have avoided
Gomer Hill. Today is the last day of hunting season,
and no doubt as soon as we have a couple of inches of
real snow the snowmobiles will arrive. The cross
country ski trails have been cleared on our woodlot, and
I can’t wait to explore the forest after a good
snowfall. There is something about the peace and quiet of
a North Country winter’s day as experienced on
skis or snowshoes that satisfies the spirit in a totally
different way than a trek afoot in June. Tug Hill gives
up
its secrets in winter, the footpaths that Mom
Nature’s family follows, seed hulls and bones
leftover from meals
and snacks... sometimes even a gruesome hunk of flesh and
fur dropped in haste. And poo, lots and lots of
poo, telling of foodstuffs digested and passed in the way
of omnivores everywhere. By now the local bears
have scoped out their den, and are probably beginning
their long winter’s nap. Varying hares will make
their presence known; there are certain places where we
ski where the only tracks we see will be hares and
coyotes, who often dine together, but only one will leave
the meal alive. For today, we will have to
be content walking along the road, as there is not yet
enough snow for backcountry fun, and
the wet spots are not frozen solid. perhaps we will get
the snow we crave this week. It looks
good at this point for a white Christmas, even if we
continue to get just an inch of snow a day.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 4, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
20 degrees, breezy, partly sunny, flurries
A lovely drift of fat flurries floats every which-a-way
in a soft breeze.
They mosey left, right, down, and even up. I understand
that heat escaping
from the house might cause the flakes nearby to rise on a
thermal wave, but what
makes the ones out over the garden lift up as if shot
from a peashooter? I feet the breeze
when I ventured out earlier, and it was right out of the
northwest, frosty on my face. These
morning flurries seem to be playing by their own rules,
unaffected by the wind at all, glittering in
the sun like, well, actual silver glitter is being
stirred around by a giant’s unseen whisk. I could
sit
and watch this for hours, but there is much to do in the
way of “redding up” as my granny used to
say. Yesterday we walked up the Smith Road for a few
miles, and saw dozens of deer tracks cros-
sing back and forth, so if you haven’t found your
winter meat yet there are still plenty of candidates
out there. Regular deer season in this area closes at
sunset tomorrow; good luck! We also saw
many turkey tracks, most of them by streams and standing
water; it looks like they have flock-
ed into one big group for winter. Little bounding tracks
of red squirrels and smaller mice, shrews,
and voles dot the meadows and other open areas. We only
saw one set of porcupine prints, which
will probably become even more scarce as the days grow
shorter; they like a winter’s nap, although
they do rouse themselves frequently to nibble on twigs
and bark. We saw some older coyote tracks,
filled in with a bit of snow, evidence of a Thursday
night foray. We only received a dusting of snow
yesterday, and it doesn’t look like this morning
flurry will produce much in the way of further depth.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, December 3, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
25 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
Wednesday’s frozen slush is covered with a
pretty layer of fresh white snow, not yet enough to
play on but a big improvement over the dull grey
boilerplate that greeted us yesterday. A band
of lake effect snow hovers just south of us, and it
looks like when we head into Boonville later
this morning we may drive right into it. The yard has
already had several visitors, mostly birds,
but a doe and two fawns just left the newly plowed potato
field, probably sampling some of the
roots that were turned up by the big steel blades. Two
bluejays, three crows, and a handful of star-
lings were vocalizing together, and a small flock of
juncos did a flyby, stopping only long enough to
peck halfheartedly around in the frozen lawn. The sun has
just sent a bright shining beam straight down
to the ground, a nice reminder that most clouds do indeed
have a silver lining. Now the flakes are a little
bigger, and there are almost enough to be called snowfall
instead of flurries. Yippee! if we get even
a couple of inches atop this frozen base, I should be
able to take a few runs on the skinny skis.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 2, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
28 degrees, windy, partly cloudy
The sun has been shining with enough frequency to force
me into lowering the curtain behind
the computer monitor, otherwise I can’t see the
screen. But there are some impressive big clouds
running the length of our view, rushing by from west to
east, so far (sadly) not carrying any lake effect
snow as cargo. The Watertown area is getting dumped on,
and some places in Erie County have received
nearly two feet of snow... so far. We drove home from
Rome yesterday afternoon in a blustery storm of wet
snow mixed with grauple, which built up on the roads as a
treacherous layer of deep slush, so the going was
slow. When the wind shifted from south to west late in
the day, the temperature dropped into the twenties
and the sky cleared; the night was starry with no
snowfall in our neck of the woods at all. If the current
lake effect band shifts to the south, we may still see
some pretty white stuff before the air clears. Our
entire area remains under a lake effect snow warning
until dawn tomorrow. We spent some time
parking our cars in the newly-cleaned garage, and put the
plow on the truck, so we are
ready for anything Old Man Winter want to throw at us. I
love winter !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 1, 2010, 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, overcast, rain
Windy doesn’t quite cover what is
happening out there this morning.
The steady wind speed has been averaging about twenty-five
miles per hour,
with gusts as hearty as fifty. I was awakened before dawn
by something that sounded
like a bugle on the roof; I have no ides what made that
clarion call, but it repeated a few more
times. It probably has something to do with the air
passing over a vent, like blowing across a pop
bottle. We have a rope secured to the roof, and the end
of that has been beating on the tin as well,
so it was a different kind of wake-up call from the usual
friendly birdsong that greets us every morn-
ing. For sure, the birds are scarce today, tucked in
somewhere out of the weather, which is
destined to change tonight from rain into snow. It seems
that December is coming in like
a lion, which is okay with me, as I really love snow: the
wind, not so much.
Have an interesting day,
Daisy
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