Acair Fearann

Proclamation issued by Gov. Wilbur Cross on Nov. 12, 1936.
Time out of mind at this turn of the seasons when the hardy oak leaves rustle in the wind and the frost gives a tang to the air and the dusk falls early and the friendly evenings lengthen under the heel of Orion, it has seemed good to our people to join together in praising the Creator and Preserver, who has brought us by a way that we did not know to the end of another year. In observance of this custom, I appoint Thursday, the twenty-sixth of November, as a day of Public Thanksgiving for the blessings that have been our common lot and have placed our beloved State with the favored regions of earth – for all the creature comforts: the yield of the soil that has fed us and the richer yield from labor of every kind that has sustained our lives – and for all those things, as dear as breath to the body, that quicken man’s faith in his manhood, that nourish and strengthen his spirit to do the great work still before him: for the brotherly word and act; for honor held above price; for steadfast courage and zeal in the long, long search after truth; for liberty and for justice freely granted by each to his fellow and so as freely enjoyed; and for the crowning glory and mercy of peace upon our land; – that we may humbly take heart of these blessings as we gather once again with solemn and festive rites to keep our Harvest Home.
Given under my hand and seal of the State at the Capitol, in Hartford, this twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirty six and of the independence of the United State [sic] the one hundred and sixty-first.
Wilbur L. Cross

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A nice day for a walk! or not. Actually, work. Now why we managed after months of sun to finally get back out in the field….on a Sunday, in the late afternoon, in a rain/snowstorm, to wallow in the mud?  Well, because that’s just the way the project runs! It made for a pretty drive home though, in the dark, once one climbed out of the valley the snow was collecting quite handsomely in the trees. (and the truck was warm)

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I guess, after several years, I have to accept that they really are not Christmas Cactus and not even really Thanksgiving Cactus. As always, blooming in early November:

The big old one, which I think is a different hybrid, does bloom later. But the ones that are gold, orange, or light white/pink definitely prefer the earlier days when the light is shortening rather than lengthening.  Rather spectacular plants. And forgiving, the big orange doesn’t seem to mind that I dropped it on its head the other day, it being rather out of balance in its pot. I do like them. Someday I am going to get a genuine white one.  The only real challenge is that their growth habit makes them a bit ungainly (hence the dropping on the head).

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Finally, not much (about three quarters of an inch) but a little bit. It is always remarkable how that changes the fall leaves. They go from being crunchy, almost sharp feeling, and Loud, to a soft, quiet blanket in the forest.

It’s been an odd fall. We’ve had some cold night, enough to kill off things like marigolds, but nothing that has lasted. Consequently, I still have beets out in the garden. I could have chard too, but we pretty much ate our way through it; which is a good thing! For once it was us and not the deer. Not sure exactly where the deer are.  There is plenty of evidence in the woods for deer having been there, but they seem a bit more elusive this year, I’ve only seen a few at the bottom of the meadow. And one or two passing through the house lot.  It may be that the idea that the soaring bear population is crashing the deer population is being answered with a resounding ‘yes’.  Since both the bears and the deer are actually highest in number in suburbia, this could be a very complex interaction indeed. It will keep the wildlife biologists busy!

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Well not really for some other reasons, but a nice quiet place all the same. Amazing how much sand eons of erosion, a few glaciers, and some more erosion can create! However, such sand deposits are very local, another river valley not far away is primarily cobble without a bit of sand in sight.

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Armistice Day or Veterans Day, either way…let us remember

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I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear —
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Optimism is a second cutting of hay on October 31st in New England.  The nights at this time of year tend towards heavy dew and or frost and are combined with short days and cooler temperatures. Not exactly ideal for drying hay.  But, he just might get something off of it.   At least a few big round bales for his cows. I think that is probably the latest date that the field has ever been cut though! Usually in a year with good rain it is early-mid September, without good rain generally the first week in October. First cutting ranges from early June to mid-July and is largely dependent on what type of hay the person is aiming for.  Or should be: from not quite mature and high in calorie content to past mature and high in fiber. Second cutting is pretty standard grass hay, though this year due to the late date and the drought, it won’t be very high in quality.

Now, will it regrow at all in the next few weeks? It might actually, which would be nice for the horse if nothing else.

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A Lot deeper than it looks! And that log in the foreground is a massive 24 inch plus white pine which came downstream at some point.

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Nice to have snow tires….

And at least it wasn’t a repeat of the infamous 2011 storm!

Still a bit early and a bit odd, especially after months with no rain, that makes it even odder somehow.

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