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Old-school snow shoeing
_I'd been tromping some paths down in the snow, but they've all been drifted into oblivion. And more snow is coming.Compared to friends farther north, two feet of snow on the ground isn't so much. But...
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Non-Dormancy
Nearly a month has gone by since I last posted. I'd like to say it was a seasonally appropriate dormancy, but it wasn't.In the interim I turned 50. The second thing I did - after telling Nico to get...
View ArticleThe Flight of the Timberdoodles
Last night at dusk I join a friend at Coogan Farm for the mating flights of the woodcocks.It's a howling, still-winter night and there are only patches of open ground amid the snow. Still, as the...
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A Cruel Equinox
It's the Equinox.Crocuses! Spring is unfolding finally!No! Wait! Noooooo!OK. That's just mean.Only one thing to do. Get that gardening started.Happy Spring People!_
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Uncovering the Garden
The strengthening sun stripped away the snow.From under the drifts, a few cheery chard plants are basking in the cold frames.But the freshening breeze turned violent and toppled a spruce down onto the...
View ArticleThe bees re-emerge.
The first three winters of my beekeeping career I failed utterly to coax a hive into over-wintering. They all absconded, starved or otherwise expired before the spring nectar flow. (0 for 7, I...
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When life gives you treefall - make mushrooms.
_They say when life gives you lemons - make lemonade. But when life drops a spruce tree on your garden, make mushrooms. Specifically, Chicken of the Woods, which thrives on newly fallen spruce.I mail...
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Ending a Hiatus
Mingo County, West VirginiaHmmmmm.2 posts in the past two months. I'm not sure that counts as maintaining a blog.I've kept journals pretty consistently since I was 14 or so. Sometimes they lapse,...
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Star flower, Lysimachia borealis
Where the backyard begins to be part of the forest, the ground this time of year is blanketed with Canada mayflower. And scattered among them are little white star flowers.Canada mayflower
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Pickling Sunchokes
Two years ago I planted sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes. It is a variety of sunflower that creates edible tubers. They are perennials that grow with a weed-ish vitality, which is...
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Kansas City conversations
Barber Shop in StocktonI flew out to Kansas City last weekend to do research on how Americans think about money in politics for a coalition of advocacy groups who work on campaign finance reform. One...
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Garden allies
It's been a dry early summer, and so far - knock on wood - slugs have been scarce. I've seen more toads in the garden than slugs, which could be a contributing factor, of course.Garter snakes and...
View ArticleDurable Mechanics
The other day, I asked my 17 year old son to fix one of our double hung sash windows. Both of the counter-weight ropes had broken. The whole process of taking apart the casing, replacing the rope,...
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Northern Black Widow
Here's a shiny visitor.In the yard, upon a tarp I meant to fold.No belly hourglass, but a tiny row of dorsal hearts upon her.Not a good neighbor, really, when I have cats who might choose to use her...
View ArticleFinding empathy - when abuse victims don't leave
I enjoy following the blog Plowing through Life, as the author, Martha, in her charming, easy and life-affirming way relates her various musings and experiences, shares the photos she takes on her bike...
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Disgorging books
The ceiling of our bedroom slants downward with the pitch of the roof, and creates a triangle of de facto storage space behind the bed's high headboard. I'm clearing out some of the stuff, including...
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A Summer Honey Harvest
One of the girls on butterfly weedI took some summer honey off the high hive today. They'll keep two deep boxes and a medium for their winter lodgings, but that leaves another three boxes on top. One...
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August Travels
August flew.On the second of the month I flew out to Denver. A research question had arisen about how people respond to the idea of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. I had wanted to go back...
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Looking back at my predictions for 2015
I'll emerge from my blogging hiatus to revisit last year's predictions to see if I can improve on my 2 out of 9 from last year. In terms of the big picture, my over-arching prediction from the...
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