As late fall shifts down to winter the pond freezes lightly many nights and thaws most days by midday. But for the last couple of days the temperature hasn’t made it above freezing, and instead of thawing the ice has covered the whole pond and looks somehow more solid. When we left the hill this…
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I’m not sure why I’ve been writing so little lately. I had thought that I would write more with Covid keeping us home so much, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m not even writing to the grand kids. It’s not that there is nothing to write about. There is the morning light, the evening light,…
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The weather zigzags its way through autumn. On Wednesday the wind came up hard and dragged in dark slate grey clouds. Rain came in sheets, thrown against the window. There was pea sized hail, enough to gather in little white piles alongside the house. Friday morning we bundled up in wool hats, sweaters and coats…
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We are back from a few days at Lake Placid in the middle of the Adirondacks Forest Preserve. The preserve is a stunning place, and huge, over 6 million acres. It’s dotted with towns and privately held property, but almost half the area is public land, ours. With so little going right in our country…
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At 4:30 this morning Venus and the waning crescent moon were brilliant in the still dark sky, just a few degrees up from the horizon. By 6:00, the sky was light, but they were still faintly visible, Venus just a pinpoint, high in the sky. I never mind waking up at night here because the…
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On the drive into Cooperstown the roadside is decorated with orange day lilies, blue corn flower, and white Queen Anne’s lace, all about knee or thigh high. At ankle height there are yellow coltsfoot. The mullen, with its floppy pale green leaves and its spire of yellow florettes has risen to shoulder height. There are…
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The Old People Pantcuffs rolled, and in old shoes,they stumble over the rocks and wade outinto a cold river of shadowsfar from the fire, so far that its warmthno longer reaches them. And its light(but for the sparks in their eyeswhen they chance to look back)scarcely brushes their faces. Their earsare full of night: rustle…
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At a time when human life is under so much stress from a new virus and an old injustice, it’s a relief to be living in the midst of so much non-human life. Here, there are five brilliant little goldfinches. I see them sitting in the tiny maple in the front yard, and later behind…
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Charlie and I walked down to the mailbox to post a card for Rowan’s sixth birthday and pick up the mail. I might have missed the small hole in the soft dirt on the shoulder of Gulf Road about 10 feet from the mailbox if Charlie hadn’t been so interested in it. Once I looked…
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