Home Again

We're back from a two-week trip to Florida. I can understand why people go down there for the winter, it was warm and sunny almost every day we were gone, while I hear it was cold in Carolina. We saw some really beautiful places and some really tacky ones too. Florida is a mix of wild places, old developed places and tourist traps and new developed places that all look the same. If you're driving down a strip in Tampa, or West Palm Beach or Fort Myers or any of the big towns along the Atlantic or the Gulf- they all look pretty much the same. Contemporary Spanish, pink stucco with arches and red tile roof's. One shopping center after another interspersed with new housing developments and gated communities with the landscapes all manicured just "so so" as my grand Mama Lu used to say.

But if you can get past all that there is some spectacular wildlife and wild places still left standing, like the Everglades where we spent a week. We paddled our kayaks through the 10,000 mangrove islands on the gulf side, searching for a sandy beach to pull the boats up onto and take a swim or look for shells or eat our lunches. Sometimes there was no where to get out, sometimes it was very confusing and hard to tell one passage or one mangrove hammock from another.

But we found our way every time and managed to make it back to our little rental house on the canal, despite getting turned around or having to paddle against high winds through choppy water once or twice. One day we had to sit in our boats while the fire department dealt with a big motor boat that had overfilled its gas tanks somehow and I guess was one the verge of explosion. All manner of fishing and pleasure boats were starting to pile up around the marina and we were paddling around for about a half an hour before we convinced the Fire Marshall that as kayakers, we didn't pose a risk of sparking anything and they let us get out.

I've never seen so many birds in my life and can't imagine what it must have been like back in the day. They say there are now only 10% as many birds as there were a century ago! Egrets herons, and ibis were plentiful in every marsh and canal and kingfishers and anhingas perched on every telephone wire. My favorites were the huge snow white pelicans with long yellow bills and orangey-red feet that we saw at the Ding Darling preserve on Sanibel Island. Getting there was running a gauntlet through over-development and beach kitsch. But once in the preserve it was pretty swell and the birds are so used to people they don't fly away.

Another favorite place was the Paynes Prairie Preserve near Gainesville where we stopped on the way home. A prairie that's been restored and has a strange mix of animals, including bison and wild horses. From the prairie flows a river that is home to gators and tons of birds and disappears into a giant hole- the Alachua sink. Kind of like a first magnitude spring in reverse.

We also saw wild pigs and turkeys and sandhill and whooping cranes out there on the prairie. We watched a great blue heron swallow a big rat whole! I would definitely visit that park again and they had a sweet campground too where we spent one very chilly night snuggled deep in our sleeping bags.

All in all it was a stellar trip and I'm glad we went and would visit some of the places again. But best of all about traveling is getting back home to sleep in our own bed where the only sounds are of birds and frogs and the quiet hum of the refrigerator.

This morning I spied a pair of red-shouldered hawks making a nest in a tree down near the pond. I could see them from the bed, out the bedroom window, they'll be obscured when the leaves come out but we'll be able to watch their progress til then.

I planted 200 onion plants today, it's supposed to turn cold and rainy again this weekend so in they went, and the peas, spinach and lettuce I planted before we left have sprouted, spring is coming, despite the cold.

Planting Time

Crocus- the ultimate harbingers of spring

It's been a ridiculously warm week with day after day in the 70's so I got out and started digging. Planted peas, lettuce, carrots, beets, spinach, chard, radish and arugula. Hopefully they won't all sprout and get frozen right off the bat, but I was feeling hopeful and went ahead on and did it.

The peepers are calling, the birds are singing, the owls are caterwauling at one another in mating dance and the bluebirds are checking out the bird houses, spring must be just around the corner.

This morning I woke early, the just past full moon was shrouded in a milky fog. As I sat at my desk writing, the sky got pink before the sun came up, I turned off my light and watched the color move across the horizon. I saw, then heard, a line of geese, honking and flapping their way to the days work in some nearby field.

These daffodils, the first of the season, popped open yesterday.

This will be my last post for a bit, we head off tomorrow for Florida, to paddle our kayaks amongst the mangroves of the 10,000 islands and gaze across the salt marshes of the Everglades. We hope to see amazing birds and manatees, swim in clear waters and lay our bodies on the warm sand.

February Has Arrived

This morning we woke to a light dusting of snow. As is typical for this capricious month we have a forecast this week that includes nights in the teens and days in the sixties, Sunday they say may be 70 degrees!

January flew by and now winter begins to ease off. I struggle between my desires for winter to continue so that I can stay inside and cogitate, and for spring to come so I can get out and see the new world unfold. It's a tough thing. Sometimes I wish for a colder climate with a longer winter. I like to spend time reading and thinking, napping and making big pots of soup and beans, sleeping late. Here in Carolina the time for these activities is pretty short, December and January really, with a few wintry days in November and February, but by March, spring is really kickin' in.

The to do list is long as ever, things that didn't get done in the fall, like mulching, always more mulching, and cleaning and staining the decks. Now the spring chores start to crop up too, planting peas and prepping a bed for onions and the earliest spring veggies. Another seasonal cycle rolls around.

Check out my latest column in the News, winter bird watching. I slipped down to the coast last Friday with big bro to look for wintering seaside sparrows. They eluded us, but we did see striking black oyster catchers, marbled godwits, bufflehead ducks, hooded mergansers and a whole flock of loons. I copped two new life birds; purple and western sandpipers, so it was not a total wash in terms of birding olympics. And the day was gorgeous, my spirits entirely renewed by a short walk on a sunny beach, watching the clouds lining up overhead, the waves rolling in. I forget it's so close to go down there, only 2 hours to Wilmington, think I'll try to do it a little more often. The beach refreshes my soul.

SNO-BAMA!

What a day. First to wake up to snow, something we haven't had in these parts in almost 5 years. Everything white and it was still coming down until about noon, schools were closed and everyone got a day off. I had about 6 things I had to reschedule but I didn't care. It was worth it to see the world white, just another example of how we are at a moment in time where we can wash the slate clean and begin anew.

And the snow made it easy for us to all watch the inauguration of Barack Obama. Once again we got to marvel at this amazing man who is so forthright and honest and apparently clearheaded about the challenges that he, and all of us, face at this time, and he doesn't hold back in his frankness about the severity of the situation or the fact that ALL of us are going to have to work to dig out of the hole we are in at the moment.

We must go from walking blind through the world, like my bird woman here,To accepting the situation and doing whatever we can to correct it.

Everyone I spoke to today was thrilled, energetic, with a renewed sense of hope. Many said they cried, as I have, again and again when I hear Obama speak. So many never believed the day would come when we would elect a black person to be president of the U.S. And I had lost faith that we would ever again elect someone to the office that could re-inspire hope in the people of the nation and in me. I was unsure I would ever have faith, respect and an affinity for and with a president the way that I do with Obama. Amen. May we go forward with strength and courage and good will to the new administration.

Nine Degrees!

Well winter arrived with a vengeance. I know people up north will think I'm silly when I say its been really cold. I know compared to places where the mercury has been below zero for days that 9 degrees could seem like a heatwave, but its cold in this house, despite burning the stove hotter than normal, I can feel it seeping in through the windows and the walls. And it's not going to warm up much for several days.

I'm so glad I do not live in the north. We took a stroll down to the creek this afternoon to check out the ice and there was quite a bit decorating the edges of the creek around the rocks, abstract patterns created by sheets of ice thawing and refreezing. It's a rare sight around here and made everything extra sparkly in the sunlight.

I've been meaning to post these photos of the garden taken on January 3rd. This time last year I had made a big harvest of veggies just before a cold snap. This time I put the blanket over it all and am hoping for the best. I have not peeked under there but I will tomorrow and see how things fared. Monday I harvested tatsoi and kale and last week I actually harvested a bit of lettuce that was protected under the big leaves of the broccoli plants.

For this design, I pounded 2 foot pieces of re-bar into the ground about a foot deep and then slipped PVC pipe over the re-bar to form the arch. The remay is two layers thick and I weight it down with bricks and open it up when its warm, close it at night. I tried clear plastic to see if it would be warm enough for things to actually grow but it got too wet inside and things just started to rot so I scratched that idea and went back to the remay row cover.

The veggies are all tucked in and I hope you are. Keep Warm!

Sky Lust

MOONRISE January 12, 2009

The past few days I've been feeling a powerful desire to be out under the sky. The air is so clear, the stars so brilliant. The weather systems moving through cause dramatic changes in the clouds and light as the days and nights move along. The moon has gone to full and past since Friday.

Saturday evening we lingered what seemed an hour up at the crossroads, chatting with neighbors going back and forth, watching the sky change, the clouds roll in, that amazing thing where the sky has gray clouds hanging low, but the sun as it sets cuts beneath them, lighting up all the tree tops along the eastern horizon, it's a surreal effect.

I missed the full moon rise last night- too cloudy. My brother Jon called to ask if I had seen it and we talked for a good while. He is sounding very content, enjoying winter in his new home. Tonight I thought I would slip up to the corner and watch the just past full moon rise. Luna was coming up golden and lopsided through hazy clouds. Venus* was still shining in the west. I hoped Jonny was watching the same moon wherever he was tonight.

I tried to capture what I was seeing, three dark power lines overhead cut cross ways by a white, disintegrating jet trail that fell slowly across the sky, slipping through Orion. But what I got was the shot above, interesting, but not what I saw with my eyes at all. I lingered there a bit, watching the hazy clouds roll in, covering up the stars and planets, until the moon slowly glided behind a cloud.

* The other day I said I saw Jupiter at dusk but I researched, and Venus is brightest in the evening sky just now. Jupiter is hidden near the horizon during sunset. oops

Working Outside

I worked at the nursery all day yesterday, an extra day this week as someone is on vacay. Amazing how many people are ordering plants in the middle of winter, for some, in the south and California and Florida, it makes sense. I guess people living in the Midwest do it out of hope that the cold will eventually pass, but we can't ship there until it warms up a little bit.

I'm pondering taking more hours at the Forest as one of the staff will be leaving in late spring, and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. Being able to work outside is really amazing, despite that sometimes its freezing cold and other times blazing hot, I appreciate being in the elements. I like hearing the birds and seeing the sky. I like the kind of people that come to see and buy plants and the gentle people that work with me.

And I love being able to walk to and from. I headed home at dusk last night, glad that I knew my trail and that the moon was rising. Although my feet were sore and my nose was cold, I walked on up the road to get the mail, just wanting to be out under the darkening sky for a few more minutes. The moon was almost full and fighting and winning the battle with huge and amazing Jupiter for brightest light in the sky.

The silhouette of the trees against the sky was fantastic and when I looked down the break of the power cut to the horizon, the sky glowed orange. I am so glad to live in this place. Coming back down the road, the cows were settling in for the night, finding a spot on the freshly strewn hay to slumber in the cold, nostrils steaming.