For nature stories
With the arrival of Spring at our house, we become like the Russians who throw their doors and windows open to the fresh air as soon as it warms up. We go outside a lot, for no particular reason. Stroll up and down the driveway, perhaps, or check on the transplants in the side yard. Pull a weed or two, contemplate the grass that probably needs mowing.
I had an exciting squirrel Friday. It turns out that “our” squirrel – the one that hops over to say hello to us – is a female. And she’s a new mom, too!
Friday afternoon, one of her youngsters made the daring decision to follow her out of the nest for the very first time. It watched her hop to a branch, and did the same.
For the next three or four hours, the little squirrel alternated between sitting very carefully on the branch, and trying out some squirrel skills. Mom squirrel helped a bit, but also was tough and made the little one try things on its own.
Wednesday evening was the beginning of some rather strong wind gusts in Brattleboro, leaving many without power, phones, internet service, trees, or some combination of the above by Thursday morning.
We had a meeting in West Brattleboro earlier today. Along the way we passed repair trucks from just about every telecommunications provider. I counted six trucks parked with employees conferring just beyond the Farmers’ Market. There were others.
Join us in the gardens learning plant medicine through hands on outdoor classes in our gardens. ~ My beloved friend and farmer Chris is teaching at Gaia this spring!!
There’s forsythia blooming on Pleasant Street
1858: “The mild and balmy breezes of Spring are at length upon us. The snow banks, in which all moisture has been suspended for weeks, have commenced discounting freely while their deposits are daily diminishing, indicating a very free circulation. There is less inquiry for mud; occasionally a patch of ground grows a shade firmer, while ladies dresses are slightly on the rise. But this state of things cannot last.”
We blew it. Yesterday was International Polar Bear Day, an annual event that raises awareness about the impact climate change has on polar bear populations.
This has been quite the cold snap, eh? A stretch of single and negative digits for over a week. How are you holding up?
Join others to help clean up the rivers of Southeastern Vermont!
The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) finished its monitoring program for the summer of 2017 on Wednesday, August 30th. Volunteers this year collected samples from 34 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week throughout the summer. This year, we had sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.
Today’s the day for the solar eclipse. It won’t be total here, but some eclipsing will happen early this afternoon. Here’s what the National Weather Service in Albany says says:
I noticed a racoon walking around this afternoon on lower Canal St, a little bit up from the coop…
The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) continued its monitoring program for the summer of 2017 on Wednesday, August 16th. Volunteers this year are collecting samples from 34 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.
Due to the weater, the water survey of the Retreat Meadows scheduled for July 25 at 4:00 is postponed to Wednesday, August 2 from 3:00 – 5:00 PM. Below is information on that and other upcoming suvey events:
The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) continued its monitoring program for the summer of 2017 on Wednesday, July 19th. Volunteers this year are collecting samples from 34 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.
The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) continued its monitoring program for the summer of 2017 on Wednesday, July 5th. Volunteers will be collecting samples from 34 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.
The Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance (SeVWA) began its monitoring program for the summer of 2017 on Wednesday, June 21st. Volunteers will be collecting samples from 34 sites on nine rivers and streams every other week through the end of August. This year, we have sites on the West River, Flood Brook, North Branch Ball Mountain Brook, Rock River, Williams River (including the Middle Branch), Saxtons River, East Putney Brook, Sacketts Brook, and Whetstone Brook.
June 21, 2107 So much for my previous astrological prediction of some kind of news announcement today. Oh well, they did announce an electrical outage for a short period at the State House. That didn’t stop their tongues from flapping on the roofs of their mouths, they just brought in a generator. U.S. News & World Report, 6 hours ago, MONTPELIER, VT (AP) “Power has been restored to the VT Statehouse following about an hour-long outage as legislators were…” So, while I was still waiting for some news on marijuana legalization, I studied other seriously important astrological issues, combined with real life Space astronomy, that yield amazing new predictions!
Just noting for the record the rather spectacular rainfall we just experienced in Brattleboro. This was some of the hardest rain I’ve seen in quite a while. “Buckets!” as they like to say.
