Musings

Possibly the oldest tree in Britain, the Fortingall yew is 2000–3000 years old. It’s behind the wall with the vertical stones on top. The center is gone, and it’s now three remnants of its one-time girth.

Still seeing snow remnants on peaks.

Loch Rannoch. We came here to visit the Black Wood of Rannoch, considered among the oldest forests in Britain. It seemed to me that the section we walked in had a few older trees, all twisted and looking like loggers had left them behind as not long-tall enough, interspersed among newer growth, although the sphagnum and other ground-cover looked less disturbed than I’ve been seeing.

Here’s another of those ancient places that were once centers-of-the-world and now are virtually ignored ruins. This is the recently stabilized ruins of Kindrochit Castle, used annually for many years by King Robert II (1357–1390, coronated in 1371), grandson of Robert the Bruce, and the first Stewart king.

One of the last highland scenes today, before we drove over the last summit (modern cairn there with at least a dozen bunches of soggy, desiccated flowers, left in memory of at least a dozen dearly departeds).

Here’s the view from the cairn, with a few fields of brilliant yellow canola we haven’t seen for a long time, and the canopy of a hang-glider? parasailor? In the way, way distance is the sea, which is a half-mile from us over some dunes, as I wrap this and prepare for bed.

Posted at 5:41 PM | 1 Comment »

This is a new term I’ve learned, and it means, rainy, cold, windy, and generally unpleasant outdoor conditions…. And that was what we had today.

I have neglected to mention that we had several lovely days with ShedMan and CheetahWoman…lots of laughing and good times. Today, however, that came to an end….

CheetahWoman had told us about a magical cemetery island she found in the River Snizort, and we were going right by, and so stopped in. Despite the rain and many cow-pies, we discovered a sliver of the magic she had observed in the fading light of day (no rain).

Given that it was in the high 40s (F) in the valleys, it’s not surprising that at elevated elevations, the precip was white. I think there’s new dusting atop remnant snowpack from last winter….

I really loved the narrow long chutes of water the mountains were shedding…. More a result of the rubbish weather….

In light rain (still rubbishy), we checked out the Caladonian Canal (along the Great Glen Fault), which we paralleled for part of the day….

We finished up our touristing with a quick visit to Old Inverlochy Castle, which is in pretty good shape for dating back to about 1280. This view is through both gates, all the way across the interior courtyard. It had round towers in each corner, and the wall bases and part of the walls remain outlining the exterior walls and towers. The huge rounded stones are different than in stonework we’ve seen so far.

Finishing a day of rubbish weather is uplifting….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 3 Comments »

If you lived here, you’d be home now.

Needs work.

Ready to occupy.

We also took a ferry. Not too much open water….

I was expecting the horn to blow at any moment. I’m in the corner because it was rather cool and windy.

The crew loaded those large trucks first. They had to back on, and did it like they’d done it dozens of times before. The crew cinched the trucks down with big chains. No chance they’d shift during passage! For most of the trip, we were serenaded by several car-alarm horns; clearly they had not been calibrated for sea-worthiness….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on IYLHYBHN (aka land…and sea)

It’s been rainy and cool, like spring, all day. The rains have been around so long that the ground is soggy.

Spring.

On the other hand, I used Thai basil from our new plant in last night’s dinner—it was already blooming! And here are healthy tomato buds, waiting for the precip to stop so they can open up and welcome pollinators.

Summer.

Aha. I have it. “Transitional.”

Posted at 6:02 PM | Comments Off on Which season?

Damage isn’t quite the right word. A storm changes things. Above this display, the tree is mostly leaves with only a few petals remaining airborne. And look at the petal-carpet! This is a very large and mature tree, and it was loaded with blooms…. Poor, frustrated tree…it’s an ornamental, so all that energy invested, and it’ll produce no fruit or offspring (via seed).

I’m pretty sure that rain/wind also brought down this wasp nest (it may not have been built/used by wasps, but that’s what I call these multi-celled nurseries). So delicate….

Yes, you are right to assume I got out for a walk—finally. Still have phlegm/cough, but better better! Good mental/emotional boost….

Posted at 6:44 PM | Comments Off on Storm results

We drove through clouds for a while this afternoon. Some miles were pure pea-soup, and we could see almost nothing beyond a grey-white that hemmed us in. Other miles were a fog-blurred reality, with looming ghostly trees that, opposite expectations, honed my sense of what I was seeing, or at least that was my perception.

Posted at 9:19 PM | Comments Off on Unexpected visual purity

The redbud buds are being supplanted. I noticed today that the trees are producing real shade, spotty still, but shade. Some of that is from spring-parts and not leaves, however shade is shade on these sunny, warm days.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

Rain today brought changes—it downed pine (and other) pollen, and it downed magnolia petals…and petals of many hues. These are a type of deciduous magnolia with far larger petals than the ones I showed the other day. This tree was so prolific that it created a veritable carpet of petal-decay, still fresh when I strolled by in the mist, but no doubt chemically shifting to the brownish hues as the night marches on.

Posted at 10:57 PM | Comments Off on Rain change

I did see my shadow twice today—very briefly!, although a meteorologist on Monday said no sun until Saturday. Still, it’s been mostly (super-mostly) cloudy. Despite what the light looks like here, the sun was NOT out when I took the photo, just almost out*….

* Somewhat analogous to William Goldman‘s “almost dead” in The Princess Bride. …I just finished reading Cary Elwes‘s memoir about the making of the movie version of the story, As You Wish… (2014).

Posted at 6:10 PM | Comments Off on Red ornamental

This was the height of accumulation in this neighborhood (much like yesterday)…temps too warm for more, even in the late afternoon. This came from moments when there was sleet, snow, and rain, all together.

Now, north of the core metro area, they’re getting white stuff and freezing and yucky conditions. Here, the rain is reducing all to moisture. We’ll see what it’s like after midnight….

I heard that yesterday there was freezing fog (!!) in the metro, but I missed seeing that; I saw just the fog.

Posted at 8:27 PM | Comments Off on Precip trio (momentarily)