Musings

I know this is a battered specimen, yet it’s the first hyacinth I’ve found in my neighborhood wanders this year. So, it’s a record-breaker!

I was additionally surprised at my find because the overnight temps dropped below freezing last night, and it stayed cold all day, and will drop further overnight tonight. I know the polar vortex is a nightmare elsewhere, and the comparatively mild cold here lacks parity with the snow and power outages elsewhere.

But. For here: brrrrrrr. As in: wore my Goretex neck gaiter for my ENTIRE walk (first time this winter). And my gloves for all but the last half-mile.

Posted at 9:22 PM | Comments Off on Compensating

After several lovely days of sun and warmth, we’re in winter mode, and winter here means rainy. I listened to the morning meteorology report and zoomed out early to miss the rain. Instead I got misted on, while if I’d headed out in the afternoon and timed it properly, I could have missed the precip entirely.

Mist. Missed. Didn’t intend to do that!

Watching “Only Connect”—name drawn from the EM Forster in “Howard’s End”: “Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted.” Show is addictive.

Posted at 8:37 PM | 2 Comments »

Evidence of how windy it’s been lately—the pine-needle top dressing has redistributed from it’s careful alignment along the sidewalk edge, revealing…subsoil?

I keep thinking this is true: wind can only be captured in a photo through physical bits affected by wind…and not the wind per se.

Posted at 9:10 PM | Comments Off on Zephyr tracks

I took a different street today early in my trek, one I’ve been down before, but not lately. I had forgotten about this bed with extremely early croci until the color awakened my eyeballs, pfffft! Wow!

Later, it occurred to me for the first time that picking the saffron crocus is truly backbreaking work, as these flowers are darned close to the ground!

Posted at 8:26 PM | Comments Off on Oh, spring, you surprise me!

Not surprisingly, I imprinted on my childhood and teen-hood seasons with respect to the calendar (in the Midwest), and based on that, we are now in winter, early winter, but still winter. Fully winter.

However.

Yes, um. Now I live in the piedmont Deep South. And here…well, December does not have ice storms and snowbanks…maybe a bit of white, but not sustained white. And white only perhaps umpf years out of every decade.

So, here we are: December on the calendar, with recently fallen (piedmont GA) oak leaves and lichen-decorated stone steps. So aesthetic.

So not winter in the Midwest.

Posted at 8:56 PM | Comments Off on Adjusting to the local

Nice, super-nice today! I wore shorts and a T for my mid-afternoon walk. Wonderful!

Purely temporary warmth, however; there’s talk of snow flurries on Friday evening. Of all things.

Posted at 6:59 PM | Comments Off on Lucky, lucky

Front came through last night. Sometimes that means fine, clear weather. Today: no. Wind increased all day, and the sun barely came out at all when I walked, although I went out early enough to give it a chance.

Even though I encountered several noisy leaf-blowers, I did manage to enjoy my outing just a tad. Outdoors is oh-kay. And I found a lovely burgeoning rosebud.

Posted at 8:24 PM | Comments Off on Maybe eighty seconds of sunshine while I was out; maybe

While today was cool and windy like yesterday, it was sunny—and lovely in comparison. The ginkgos haven’t yet dropped their leaves, and are rather brilliant in their yellow-green way.

Posted at 6:06 PM | Comments Off on Lovely, lovely sunshine

My apologies—this photo is from the other day…when it was sunny. Today was overcast and windy. The temps started dropping mid-morning, and that is never pleasant this time of the year. The meteorologists say there may be snow overnight in the mountains. Here: nope. Cold cold cold, however, as in below freezing overnight, and tomorrow night, too. I turned up the heat a degree as the house has only mediocre insulation.

Posted at 6:10 PM | Comments Off on Winter is arriving

I’ve been aware of the changing day length, as it does this time of year. I haven’t noticed as much the shift in the sun angle. And…tah-dah! here it is!

Posted at 9:35 PM | Comments Off on Turn, turn, turn…