Daffodils above and a Plum tree below. The winter without a winter is followed by the warmest March ever. Everything is at least a month ahead of normal.
First Snow, With Children
December 24, 2011
“Oh no!” I said as I looked outside last Saturday morning. “Oh no!”
We received three inches of unexpected snow. I had cut a large amount of wood in the pasture and left it to split and pick up. Normally I like to pick it up if I cut it, because if it snows, you’re digging through the snow to pick up the wood. I was overreacting though, because the snow melted in a few days and I was able to split and stack the wood on a hay rack to dry.
The boys however, reacted with joy. Each got a shovel and built a private fort. Gameboy’s came up to his knees, but he described it to a friend as a room he could walk in.
Once the snow started to melt and stick together, they built a snowman. Now the snowman is the only remnant of our first snow. Oh well, I’m sure there will be more.
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Posted by curiousfarmer
Autumn for Square-Foot Saturday
October 21, 2011
We had a short, yet brilliant, season of fall colors.
I’m going to give Square-Foot Saturdays a rest, checking in occasionally if anything changes. We are expecting a hard frost tonight, so the growing season is pretty much over.
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Posted by curiousfarmer
New York City Blizzard
January 24, 2011
I was in Citygirlfriend’s mother’s 20th floor apartment on the corner of 1st Avenue and 57th Street, New York City. The sixth worst blizzard in NYC history was raging outside. The taxicabs were sideways, heading up 1st Avenue, avoiding the people who thought they needed to be walking somewhere at 10 pm in a blizzard. I was fascinated. I could see everything clearly, but at that height, there was a curious sense of detachment.
“They have no idea how to drive in snow,” I said. “N0, no, no. Don’t turn your wheels. He was almost out.”
“That’s so arrogant,” Citygirlfriend said.
“Is it arrogant when I know I could have him out of there in five minutes?”
“Ok, I’m timing you.”
Citygirlfriend looked at the clock. I paused for about a two-count, smiled, then started throwing on my warm clothes.
I borrowed the doorman’s shovel.
“Hold up. We need to move some of this snow in front of your car.”
I shoveled like a madman, enjoying the physical labor I was missing on the farm.
“You need to keep your wheels straight.”
I waved at him to gun it when there was a break in the 1st Avenue traffic. “Muchos gracias,” he yelled out the window, with his tires spinning as he drove away.
Citygirlfriend met me at the elevator, dressed.
“What are you doing?”
“It looks like so much fun. I want to go with you. Let’s see who else we can help.”
“Ok. How’d I look out there?”
“Bossy.”
“You can see bossy from the 20th floor?”
“Body language.”
We spent the next couple of hours walking 1st Avenue, helping people move their cars. We had fun.
The next day I snapped this picture of a man beginning the slow process of digging out the city.
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Posted by curiousfarmer
First Snow
December 7, 2010
The first snow is met with enthusiasm by children, snow-plow drivers, and snowmobilers.
The beauty of snow on the farm is tempered by the extra work.
As soon as it stops falling, we push it, pile it, and shape it to our will.
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A Winter Wonderland: What is Rime?
January 28, 2010
Psalm 39: 4-5
“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.”
How many days do I have? Can I find wonder in each day?
It’s easy to find wonder in a day like the one pictured. A dense fog on a subfreezing night led to the ice crystal buildup called rime.
“It’s so pretty!” everyone said.
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Posted by curiousfarmer
