One of the unexpected aspects about our stay in the Florida Keys is the wind: It has been fierce. With the exception of a few days, the wind has whipped around our little sand spit of a peninsula constantly. It has averaged around 20 mph with some days the wind clocking in the low 30s. […]
Tastes just like chicken or why did the iguana cross the road?
When visiting the Florida Keys one feels as if one has entered a foreign realm. Neither the plants nor animals have any direct northeasterly comparisons. There are no palm or mangrove trees on the beaches of Connecticut. Prehistoric looking pelicans do not swoop down catching fish with their pterodactyl-like beaks in Stamford harbor. And a […]
Early blossoms
As our home in Connecticut is threatened with a potentially nasty winter storm later this week, Juana and I are relaxing in the relative warmth of Gainesville, Florida. Late in life snowbirds, we have taken to spending much of the winter months in the tropical Florida Keys. We visit the homes of family members on […]
December freeze
As Christmas approaches so does the colder weather that heralds the arrival of the winter solstice. While the light from the sun is at its nadir for the year, it is only beginning to become cold. Moving forward the temperatures continue to retreat to the teens and even lower. It is the beginning of the […]
Divided sky
By early December all the deciduous trees have dropped their leaves. The surrounding lawns have been blown clear of detritus and the only sign of the former foliage is in the woods. The leaves have long since lost their color and are an uneven gray separated by small mounds of green moss that cling to […]
Snow flowers
Flowers that emerge from the snow usually arrive in the Spring. The aptly named snowdrop is often the first followed by crocuses. The Fall is different as this rarely happens. Fall crocuses, such as saffron, have come and gone by the time the first snow has arrived. So too have the flowers of late blooming […]
Early snow
November is often when the first snow of the season falls. If we are lucky, all the leaves have fallen from the trees leaving a barren landscape that is ready for a coating of white. Some years, it comes early covering leaves that still need gathering. Regardless, it is temporary as it often (though not […]
Indian summer
The phrase “Indian Summer,” is often misused in late October or early November after an unseasonably warm day. To be accurate, an Indian Summer is when it becomes unseasonably warm AFTER very cold weather or a hard frost. The Old Farmers’ Almanac has even more stipulations but I think it goes a bit far. I […]
First frost
The first frost of the season usually arrives in October though the year we arrived in Connecticut it came in late September; in some years it came as late as mid-November. October though is when the growth in the garden slows to a crawl as the leaves quicken to abandon their hosts. The tips of […]
Black and blue berries
This growing season continues to mete out surprises. Last week the golden rod was blooming and this week the blackberries started to arrive in the middle of blueberry season. Not that Charlotte was complaining. Yesterday we went to pick blueberries and she noted, “Pompi (her name for me,) there are blackberries to pick!” Before I […]