Acair Fearann

Some days one gets bogged down by the size of this place, the eternal questions of ‘how to pay’ and ‘who will care for it next’? No good answers there.

But then there are days like today. When the sun is shifting north in the bright, blue winter sky: cold and clear. But the light is alive. When the hemlocks, pines, and spruces are shining evergreen. When countless shrubs have turned to color: red and gold glints in and amongst the gray, green, brown bark. The rugosa roses are a deep ruby color. I was looking particularly closely at them since I was thinning the section along the gravel path. It is so much easier in the winter when one can see the structure and walk where one needs to walk.

Winter is long and dark. This is true. But every day, even in the cold, is lovely and full of life. We overlook it so often and then a moment will reach out and we will be alive.

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or not. A constant in this state is grumbling about the evil utility companies. But you know….they really aren’t that bad….Somebody did something (or a tree did something) and knocked the power out at about 11:30 last night. By 12:15 am it was back on.  Middle of the night. They have crews on constant standby. And a lot of them. And we take it for granted. Actually, we tend to grumble that it went out at all. But considering the size, age, and complexity of the system; that it works at all is a minor miracle.

Still we do have a generator, large, noisy, gas-guzzling, and very tough.  Thankfully, the furnace doesn’t take much power, but does need a little bit to get started. And I don’t think that bypassing that little starter would be very wise!Keeping the fish pond unfrozen would be a trick too.

I am glad the power came back on. I don’t want to have to use the generator. But I wouldn’t not have it. Sort of like a fire extinguisher or a first aid kit. You don’t buy it with the intention of needing it, or the desire to use it. You buy it because if you don’t have it and you do need it, it is much too late to get it.

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The big old pine at the corner, which has been a picturesque snag for as long as I can remember*, finally toppled in the rain and the wind. It made the expected mess out of the surrounding area; but it missed the young spruce, and the sheep laurel, mountain ash, shadblow, etc will probably recover just fine. However….it isn’t actually, quite on the ground. The butt end and some of the branches are, but most of its weight is being taken by a four inch red maple that it fell on and bent double…and didn’t quite break.**  Not really a problem, I’d just leave it. But I would like to fix the boundary fence that it smashed. Only, the top of the maple (under load and ready to recoil like a demented trebuchet) is tangled in the fence, and the pine is leaning on it.  And I have a nasty feeling that if I poked at the fence, Something would let go. Boing!!

Or maybe anyone who is fool enough to walk through that area will get what they deserve? Still it would be nice if it was actually on the ground. I dislike hung trees.***

*Over twenty years, amazing how wood lasts.

**I had sort of intended to leave that maple, but there are more than enough of them.

***of course there is also the Damocles Sword bit of another tree, suspended above that same bit of fence, thoughtfully left by the state…

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is very odd stuff….Julie’s pond is mostly frozen….mostly. Except for the main spring, the secondary spring just west of the center, the outflow sections, the….well just don’t go skating there alright?

The rivers are freezing over nicely, which usually means it is rather cold, since they are rocky and fast flowing, which means that ice has a bit of work to do if it wants to form.

But the fish pond? The little fish pond kept open by the bubblers and heaters? It was frozen over yesterday, but today it was wide open water. It is appreciably colder today. So what changed? Solar gain (sunny today, cloudy yesterday), something with the ground water (which is right there), sheer perversity?

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