Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree

Heres the song reference, a little before my time but good music NEVER goes out of style,  does it?

The air smells divine this evening.  Yes, I can actually smell the apple blossoms this year – albeit faintly.  Its FINALLY May in New England.  Wedding Season.   I should head up to Stanley Park soon as things should be in  full flower up there by now.  But my side yard beckoned this afternoon.  I like the play of light and shadow on the leaves and blossoms.  There was quite a breeze but the blossoms held on strong.  Its sure been a lovely day today.  We could use some rain – which I understand is finally in the forecast this week thankfully.  Not much else to say.  I’m gonna let the pictures do the talking.  I hope you all  like them!  HUGS!

Afternoon Meanderings

Early Spring Water Meadow along Rte 23  Blandford, MA

View from the Blandford Country Club. North Street Blandford MA  Looking down into Springfield….

Spring Stream. Algerie Road, North Blandford MA

Stone Walls along the Roadway near Long Pond Conservation Area.  Algerie Road North Blandford MA

Canadian Goose in its element, and Remnants of a Beaver Dam, Long Pond Conservation Area.  Algerie Road North Blandford, MA

And last but by no means least, my traveling companion and chauffeur for the afternoon – The Viking – patiently waiting pondside while I trekked in and got pictures. And no, I didn’t fall in, or get muddy!

It was really wonderful to meander those back roads today. I grew up there and nostalgia waxed large as I noted how much had changed – and how much had stayed the same.  The afternoon light is becoming more and more spring-like even though there’s still plenty of snow on the ground up in the hills.  The sounds of water cascading over the rocky stream beds, the wind rushing through the pines and dry reed beds, the honking chatter of the geese and ducks – all made for a peaceful backdrop to my self-imposed photo assignment.  Hell, I’ll call it what it was -THERAPY.    I came home with numb fingers and ears, but quite contented. Best of all, I got to spend the afternoon with my guy!

 

Emerging

Spring has been slow in arriving to New England this year. It’s been a long, cold,and damp March. But the last few days have given me hope. Bluebird Skies, Birdsong, Brisk Breezes. Yesterday I really felt like we were starting to emerge from winter. We opened the windows and let the fresh air blow through the house. Outside, I noted my day lilies are starting to peek up above ground; and the daffodils have started sending their shoots up for their April debut.

We opened up all the windows again this morning; and The Viking and I (who are child-free today) took our canine kids on a long walk. The wind was cold, but the sunshine felt so good on our faces. We walked on the dike along the Westfield River. There have been a lot of changes over the winter. Smaller islands, new channels. We saw Canadian geese and Mallard ducks on the water for the first time. The Viking informs me that a Bald Eagle has been spotted on the river recently – but we didn’t see it this time out. Liberty the Red-Tailed Hawk is still hanging around, but we didn’t see her either. I must remember to bring my DSLR camera on these meanderings!

Sophie and Chewy had a marvelous time exploring along the walkway. Lots of new scents to investigate, and we noted glimpses of fresh green popping up here and there beneath the dry browns and beiges of the winter that doesn’t want to relinquish its grip on us entirely. In addition to the waterfowl, we also saw some cardinals, a few chickadees and a finch (I think it was a finch, anyway). Off in the distance we heard a woodpecker; who was busily looking for his lunch. We also saw quite a few robins. Does anyone remember that song “when the red red robin comes bob-bob-bobbin along”? I can’t get it out of my head now – hahaha!

Now I’m not a big fan of March. Its brown, dreary, drab, muddy, dirty and cold. But I do love seeing all that give way to the green and glorious spring. Especially after the beating we took from Old Man Winter this year. But we are slowly and surely emerging into the warmth of April. I could see it on the faces of the folks we passed on our travels today. Smiling, heads up, and facing into the wind (not hunkered down against it). The Viking didn’t even bring a coat – which he regretted before too long -this is New England after all…

The sun seems to linger in the sky today. The neighborhood kids are out on their bikes. Their happy voices carry on the breeze thats vigorously moving my curtains. The mockingbird in the pine tree is chattering away and sounding like a cat at the moment. Two tired puppies are sprawled, snoring, at my feet. It feels good to emerge today. “Live, Love, Laugh, and Be Happy”. Time for a glass of wine.

Pictures from the Blizzard: Blizzard Blog…

This was the February Nor’Easter from start to finish in my neck of the woods.  First, a “gratuitious” not very well photographed self portrait.  The iPhones are a bit heavy to hold out at the focal length required to get a clear picture. But I do like the two faced camera so that self portraits, however badly shot, are possible.  I just won’t tweet or instagram the bad ones, promise!

Anyway, this is about 9:15 am.  on Friday Feb 8.

Here’s his Mama’s snowy  boy!  Chewy loves to be outdoors with us, We have to check him carefully and limit his time outside because the snow tends to ball up and stick to the fur between his footpads. And that hurts.

Below, puppies on patrol.  The top of the dike is paved and gets a lot of foot traffic.  Sophie (back at the fence) and Chewy (mid pic) make sure to greet all pedestrians, cyclists and fellow pooches as they walk past.  Theres about an inch on the ground, approx 10:30 am Feb 8

An afternoon culinary project  for Jillian and me.  Homemade Mac and Cheese with Ham. Recipe is easy:  2lbs elbow mac. Cook in salted water for 7-8 mins until al dente. Drain. Bechamel Sauce:  1 stick unsalted butter, melted  1/4 to 1/2 c flour add to butter and mix. cook on med until roux turns golden brown ( maybe 3-4 mins)   add 4 cups milk and stir with whisk over med heat.  Whisk constantly till sauce begins to thicken, add 1 tsp pepper., 1 tblspn brown mustard, 1 tsp grated nutmeg , then add 4-5 cups grated cheese (we use a gruyere/cheddar/monterey jack mix) and continue whisking until cheese has melted.  Add the elbow macaroni and diced ham and stir till combined.  Spray a nonstick coating (Pam) into a 9X13 casserole dish (or butter it) and pour the mixture in, spreading it around evenly.  Sprinkle more grated cheese and bread crumbs on top. Cover with tin foil and bake at 325 for at least one hour -  or until bubbly.  Uncover and bake for 15-20 minutes more until the top becomes golden brown and crispy.  Remove from oven, and dig in.

Below, our street at what passed for twilight – about 5:00 pm.  Wind had kicked up and it started snowing moderately.

Our backyard about 9:30 pm – at least 6 inches of snow piling up, wind howling.

10:30 pm  Whiteout conditions – taken with iPhone with flash on. Wind definitely out of the Northeast.

Below, a view from my bedroom window (it faces NNE) 11:30pm (ish) Please note that  is NOT fog or mist surrounding the streetlight.  Despite it being an iPhone pic I think its one of the better ones I took during this event.  Snow was heaviest between 10pm and 3am.  At this point we had at least 10-12 inches on the ground. The wind made it hard to tell. In fact, the NOAA later classified this storm as a blizzard for Westfield – we had sustained winds 30 mph or more for at least 3 hours.

Aftermath.  We measured in 4 different places and averaged to get 23″ at our house.  Some spots were drifted to at least 4 ft.

Oh hey – THERE’S  my car!

This is the south side of the house. Small kitchen window with those thick glass blocks. LOVE how they let the light in – especially in summer. But look at these killer icicles!  By Monday the melt had created a small ice dam and the roof started leaking through the canister light directly into our shower. Fortunately the girls and I were home because another storm came through (sleet and freezing rain this time) and our roads were a MESS! (They remained a mess through Wednesday the 12th)  I got up on a ladder and raked more snow off the roof. When the Viking got home, he broke up the ice dams and Voila – no more leaks.

Oh snap!  iPhone screenshot from our local newsstation website:

Can you find Nemo?  Hahaha!

My older daughter was “stranded” with her boyfriend and his family during the storm.  They had quite a scare with power surges that literally melted many of their electronics, caused some minor soot damage and the Hatfield Fire Dept had to come out and check their walls for hot spots.  A transformer blew right outside their house.  She told me that their lights started flickering and glowing brighter and she felt like she was in an episode of “Supernatural”.  Other houses on the street were doing the same.  Then she heard a “pop” and smelled something burning.  They were all very fortunate not to have had a fire. Sadly, there were also some tragic but completely preventable deaths in the area.

Storm Safety Tips:  NEVER run a generator inside your  house, EVER. Run it outside, ALWAYS.  Several people (Darwin Award Nominees for 2013) died of CO poisoning in Springfield because they fired up their gennie inside their house.  “Ladies and Gentlemen – the city of Springfield regrets to inform you that your family members are dead because they were stupid”.  NEVER sit inside a vehicle whose engine is running  to “warm up” unless it is parked in a cleared street or driveway and the exhaust pipe is COMPLETELY UNOBSTRUCTED.  An 11 yr old from Boston died from this during the storm. Completely shut down and unplug any valuable electrical equipment, game consoles, computers, etc . If your lights flicker, dim, or brighten: Shut off what you can,and monitor your walls for hot spots. Call your FD immediately if you smell smoke or anything burning. Take the usual storm related steps and precautions. Batteries,flashlights, blankets.  Make sure you have enough of any medications you take for at least 3 days. Keep important papers etc on hand and ready to take with you if you have to go to a shelter.  Keep a roof rake handy and make sure you clear off your roof – or get someone to do it for you.  Leaks are no fun, and costly. Roof collapses – even less fun, more dangerous and wayyy more expensive.   Winters not over yet here – so stay prepared my friends.  That’s all the news fit to print for now….. Love and Hugs from the Great White Northeast!

A Beautiful Dawn in the New Year

My mother called very early yesterday morning. I expected it on January 9th because it was Mayhem’s birthday and Mom always calls first thing in the morning to wish her grandchildren a Happy Birthday.  I was not expecting an early call a few days later; so when I saw the caller ID I admit to panicking a bit.  Last year was not a good year health- wise for either my Mom or my step-Dad… sooo yeah.  Fortunately, she was just calling to alert me to the dawn.  She also calls for “rainbow alerts”, and gorgeous sunsets, and unusual bird sightings – outside of our usual conversations.  I will miss that when she passes, which won’t be for awhile yet if I have anything to say about it (which I don’t, but still…).

I threw on a jacket, grabbed my camera, and headed outside in my slippers to the back yard. Our property abuts the dike along the Westfield River, facing southwest(ish) if you’re looking directly out my kitchen door – so the sun actually rises in the winter just outside of left frame in the first three pictures, and well outside of left frame in the fourth. Behind the dike is a cornfield, then the treeline along the river. The next 4 pictures you see are a sort of  “pan” from left to right.  The sky was just beautiful yesterday morning.  By the time I got to work it had clouded over completely and later there was a freezing rain to drive home in. But the lovely start more than made up for it.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Help! Advice Needed.

Awhile ago I talked about creating a coffee table book of my photographs to sell, and donate the profit to charity.  With folks on the eastern seaboard homeless and still shivering in the dark because of Hurricane Sandy, and also my wish to raise funds for breast cancer treatment and research – I think now is the time to do so. I knit and crochet, can sing in the shower, but other than my photos, really don’t have much to offer in the way of marketable talent that would be of benefit to others.  Hence my “big idea”…

However, other than to create the book online using one of the many lovely sites that do this sort of thing, I am completely clueless how I should set things up so that people can view and place orders for the book, and send payment. I am willing to donate 10 dollars  from every book sold to either the Red Cross or Susan G Komen ( buyer to let me know their preference). I will add the ten dollars to (the cost of the book, plus tax, shipping etc – and will not charge anything for my time whatsoever – so the total cost would include the donation).  I assume I will have to set up an online payment service like paypal. I will create a page on the blog to feature the book, and link to a payment service.  ( I think that would be the way to do it, not sure) I would also be willing to sell my photographs individually if there is enough interest, and donate the profit to the aforementioned organizations.

If anyone:

1) has done something like this before – let me know what else I need to be doing
2)  would like to be part of this and contribute a photo or two
3)  thinks this is a stupid idea for whatever reason
4)  knows how to set up online payment services
5)  can recommend a good photo site to make the book

LET ME KNOW.  I’m kinda in the dark right now – not being a business person I am,as I said before, clueless.  You folks have seen my photography and I also hope will be honest enough to let me know whether or not this would be a complete waste of time from an artistic standpoint. (is my stuff good enough to generate enough interest?) Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks!

 

Past Forgetting

Autumn Kalaidescope

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Here are some more pictures I took on our trip to New Hampshire with my Canon EOS Rebel, in the order they were shot. We made quite a few stops on the way up to get many of  these shots. … Continue reading →

Changes

We are born, we live, we die. A simple sentence. Yet what occurs between those two commas is everything. In order to truly do this, sometimes we must embrace change as eagerly as a new lover. Sometimes, we must accept it, matter of factly – as we accept that the earth is round and the sun rises in the east. It serves no good purpose to fight it. We are human, it is our nature to adapt.

We must also recognize that our time here is finite. The Fates, capricious bitches that they are, snip the threads of life too soon for some of us. Which, in my feeble mind, makes it all the more important for me to do something with my life.

There’s an expression going around these days: YOLO (you only live once). Truth. Yet all too often I see it used as an excuse for ridiculously self indulgent, immature behavior. It’s the “Gimme Generation”s self-entitled slogan du jour. But it doesn’t have to be.

We live. Once. I would like to be part of the changes I want to see in the world. I hope I already am. I want to look in the mirror when I wake up and see someone who made a difference to someone else. Some days that’s difficult. Anyone who knows me knows I’m absolutely not -ever- at my best in the morning, so gazing into a reflective surface is going to be a terrifying experience, at least until I’m caffeinated.

Anyway, all humor aside, I just want to point out we don’t have much time, on the grander universal scale at least. We can adapt to change, learn from each other, and grow during the time we have. Rejoicing in our differences, and remembering that we are stronger together BECAUSE of them. Or, we can squander ourselves and extinguish our precious inner light with futile, utterly senseless violence, prejudice, hatred and intolerance. I know what I choose. We are born, we live, we die. Lets make those two words between those commas count for something.