Posts tagged as:

trees

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Three years ago, we picked up this young 4-1 apple tree (four types of apples grafted on a single root stock), and have had perhaps 15-20 apple starts each year, though the harvest was much less. In each of those years, there didn’t seem to be many bees around when the tree was blossoming.

This year, I thought I might help out with the pollination, but shortly after I went out with a q-tip, this bumblebee came by, and put me to shame. (S)he probably visited about thirty blossoms in the first couple of minutes, and didn’t linger on any one for much longer than five seconds. In looking at close-ups later, I saw the evolutionary wisdom of the natural world: pollen scattered over nearly every part of her body. So … as long as there are bees …

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Shadows, Old Saybrook, CT

March 22, 2019

This brings to mind Plato’s Allegory of the Caves, expounded some 2500 years ago, and a staple of any Philosophy 101 class since. There’s a good overview here. Ah, the nature of Reality …

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The March full moon is commonly referred to as the Worm Moon, for the earthworms who tend to make their way to the surface around this time. And lo and behold, I saw a robin out in our garden today, tugging on something.

Down here near the coast of CT, the robins tend to stay around all winter. I’ve noticed that they save the red holly berries until January, and then a whole flock will clean out the shrubs over a few days time. They won’t touch them earlier in the winter, and the same goes for other red berries in our neighborhood.

It was interesting to be out after dark on the river. Though I was only about a hundred yards away from the nearest homes, I felt a bit uneasy, like I was out in a wilderness far away from civilization. There were coyotes howling some distance away, and the intermittent calls of waterfowl settling in for the night. But mostly it was quiet, and in the end peaceful, with an occasional lap of waves on the shore.

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We’re now in the back end of winter here in northern New England, and signs of spring are beginning to emerge. One of my favorites is a more expansive dusk; a month ago, it came and went quickly, now it just lingers, not wanting to miss a thing.

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Big Snow, Ivoryton, CT

January 30, 2019

Nope, just bare ground here in Old Saybrook at the end of January 2019; this photo was taken in 2011, 6-7 miles to the northwest.

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