Category: Nature

The weather has finally moderated (slightly) enough so that the foot and half of snow in my front yard has almost entirely melted away, except for a tiny patch here and there. We’ve had a few spells of rain, but of the raw and chilly kind. This is actually normal for this time of year here in northern New Hampshire but it does make one impatient for the weather to warm up enough to make outdoor activities enjoyable instead of an exercise in endurance.

A persistant breeze blows which carries with it a wind chill factor that discourages me from doing any walking, though I’m hoping the weather forecast for the next week or so for milder weather pans out. While walking is good exercise, it can be a bit tedious at times, since I tend to walk the same route. Still once in a while, I get a little gift which keeps my interests up.

Pussy willows are something to keep an eye out for. Found on various small willows, they are actually the flowers of the plant, the ‘cat fuzz’ is protection for them until the weather moderates enough to justify them turning into catkin flowers. They’re not much to look at, as they are wind pollinated and do not need to be showy to attract pollinating insects. A good breeze pretty much does it for them.

One day during the summer, I came across a sugar cookie dropped on the ground by some careless child.

It quickly drew a horde of ants that I’m guessing were in the process of disassembling it. By the next day when I passed that spot, it was totally gone, whether by the ants themselves or an opportunistic raccoon is hard to say. At any rate, Bon Appetit!

One time, when making a final lap on my walk, just a short ways from home, a dog (name and ownership unknown) living on a side street spotted me and barked. It was not an aggressive worrisome bark that would have alarmed me, but rather an authoritative ‘halt-who-goes-there’ sort of a bark. I stopped and he immediately trotted down and sniffed me over.

Evidently I passed muster as the encounter didn’t escalate. But, nevertheless, he must have thought I was of sufficient concern that he escorted me home (which wasn’t far). After closely inspecting my garage and driveway, he ‘marked’ the corner of the driveway and headed back to his home turf.

By far, though, the best thing I saw, which regrettably I have no photo of, occurred a number of springs ago. While out walking near a small estate called the Boulders, complete with tennis court (which never seems to be used), I could hear the loud honking of some geese. I thought it was odd that the well-to-do people who owned the mansion, would keep geese on their property, but who the heck knows with rich people? The voices of the geese were audible at quite a distance, though it sounded like only a few of them. At any rate, I continued walking, made the round of a church parking lot and headed back. As I came to the crossroads by our local high school, I looked down the road, which is at a downward incline and gives me a long view down two streets. At that point I noticed that not only was the honking still audible but was getting louder.

It was a pair of Canada geese, who had apparently made a brief stop at the Boulders. They had just taken off, and were following the road towards me as they flew along, quite low. I could see them gradually draw closer and closer until they flew overhead and out of sight. While I had my camera with me, I didn’t bother pulling it out as I wanted to absorb the experience without fumbling to take a picture of it.

Now what does one do with a gift like this? One that you can only get if you’re in the right place at the right time? You cherish it of course. And you keep an eye out for more, as there are always gifts being offered like this by the universe we’re embedded in. So pay attention no matter how tedious things may seem.

Peace.