Late September is often when it is time to light the first fire of the season. A cold front swoops down from the North, temporally bringing an early-season chill that needs to be removed first thing in the morning. Letting the dog out, a cold air fills your lungs with little piercing needles telling you […]
The humidity is on
The first truly hot day of summer often happens in July and that is today. In New England we get heat sometimes in May or June but never with the oppressing humidity that defines an uncomfortable and sticky day. Most of us notice little as the air conditioned dwellings and cars make us immune to […]
A lost season
The last few months in the garden have been a blur. It was a mild winter but we experienced the coldest day ever at -16 degrees. The quinces flowered around Xmas, went dormant, budded again in March, went dormant and are now attempting to make good on earlier promises. The daffodils shot up early creating […]
The coldest day
The part of winter that I dislike the most is the coldest day. In either January or February it arrives causing the Mercury to plunge to a yearly low, though we may not know it at the time. In Connecticut, the low is often around 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Some years it can be in the […]
First flurries
The first snow of the year comes with anticipation. By the time the first flakes can reach the outstretched tongue of a child, the annuals have long since died and the perennials gone dormant. The leaves have lost most of their color becoming a gray carpet that periodically crunches underfoot. Broken branches are scattered waiting […]
January cold
Regardless of temperature, the cold of a January morning should never be unexpected in New England. Letting the dog out in the morning I am greeted with a fresh blast of air that stings my cheeks and tingles my fingers. Slamming the door quickly on the elements and the dog, I bundle up to load […]
Christmas greens
We collect greens for Christmas to enhance the holiday decorations at home and remind us that while it is Winter, Spring is around the corner. Clippings from holly bushes; ivy vines; spruce, cedar and pine trees adorn our mantles providing a nest for candles, glass ornaments and other seasonal tchotchkes. They, the rhododendrons, azaleas, bayberry […]
Winter skeletons
Winter has come by date but not by nature. Record warmth has taken its place. Without frost or snow the gray and brown tailings of fall lie exposed. The birds, squirrels and other creatures that should be asleep scamper around finding seeds and other food easily. The bird feeders don’t require refilling daily. The wood […]
Falling Light
The beginnings of Fall have long since passed by time but only in the last week have the temperatures started to drop. It has been a warm season that makes one believe that the cold will be delayed indefinitely. There is a seasonal constant, however, that does not waver in its reminder that Winter is […]
Waiting for rain
For the past month, the weather forecasters have been delivering nothing but bright and wonderful prognostications with the exception that it is sometimes too warm and humid. Sunny skies and no rain have been the the repetitive mantra of their joyful predictions. Unfortunately the garden doesn’t see such a forecast as goodness as the lack […]