Three Lighthouses in Provincetown

I had never been to Provincetown, MA until last week, and I actually liked that I got to see this hip, usually packed, summer town on a bleak midwinter's day. It was a cold day (the day before the snow storm), and there weren't very many people out on the street, which made it easier for me to ask to stop the car and take photos.

We walked out on Race Point Beach and froze, but it was stark and beautiful in its barrenness. (I bet in summer it is just jam packed with brave, patient souls who endured the summer traffic up Route 6 - hence my never having been to P'town before.)

Here are the three lighthouses in Provincetown to add to my photo collection of New England lighthouses.
 

Long Point Light

Wood End Light

Race Point Light

"But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days"*

My favorite time of the year is just about to start: FALL! Cool, crisp days; apple cider; chrysanthemums in bloom; red, gold, and orange leaves on the trees and crunchy under foot; pumpkins; Halloween; apple crisp. It always feels to me like the start of something new rather than the end of something. (This is probably tied to the academic calendar and was ingrained at a young age.)

Of course, it doesn't actually FEEL like fall right now with temps in the high 70s F and nearly 90F predicted for Sunday. But the days are growing shorter and soon enough cooler temps will arrive. I think I might put up my fall decorations around the house this weekend.


When I was a kid, my dad had my siblings and me memorize the following poem as an after-dinner contest. (We were always memorizing stuff. Whoever could recite the whole thing by heart first won the contest.) The second stanza has always been one of my favorites; it perfectly captures how I feel about this time of year. 

When the Frost is on the Punkin*

By James Whitcomb Riley 
 

They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere

When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here—

Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin’-birds and buzzin’ of the bees;

But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock—

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

"Look, look, look to the rainbow. Follow it over the hill and the stream"*

Yesterday, I drove home from work through intermittent showers and sun and must have seen four separate rainbows. But this one made me stop, turn the car around, and drive back so that I could get out of the car and snap the following photos.

It was like something you'd see in Ireland. Stunning! (Although there didn't seem to be a pot of gold lying about.)

* lyric from "Look to the Rainbow" from the musical Finian's Rainbow

"Call Mr. Plow, That's My Name. That Name Again is Mr. Plow."*

The first winter I lived in my house, I shoveled after every snowstorm. It wasn't my favorite thing to do, but it was good exercise and I enjoyed being out in the cold air.

Until this happened:

Opening the Garage February 9, 2013

Excavating the Walk February 9, 2013

Let me tell you, four foot drifts are KILLER to shovel through. It took me the ENTIRE DAY to get shoveled out, and a kind neighbor ended up snowblowing a path between our houses because we couldn't find the sidewalk.






So after that debacle exciting adventure, the second winter I lived in my house, I hired a service to snow plow my driveway and to snow blow my front walk and sidewalk. But as I was a new customer, despite the fact they were based just around the corner from me, I was on the bottom of the list, and they sometimes ended up coming HOURS after a storm would end. A lot of the time, I would end up shoveling myself out, because the waiting was driving me nuts. And then the city plow dumped a mountain of snow on the sidewalk in front of my house (a side effect of living in a cul de sac that no one mentions when you are buying the house.) The service wouldn't touch the mountain so I had to chip away at it day after day until I reached the sidewalk. Time for a Plan C.

February 9, 2015

So this winter, I sucked it up and bought myself a snow blower, and it was one of the best investments I have ever made. I have been clearing my driveway, my front walk and the sidewalks in storm after storm after storm.

February 15, 2015

It's actually been really empowering to take on the snow this year.  It's me out there after every storm with all the husbands on the block.  A bonus is that I have been able to do the sidewalk and the apron at the end of the driveway for my fabulous neighbor MJ, who only has a shovel.

But I honestly won't mind when it is time to put this fun new household toy away. Until next winter.


*from The Simpsons.  A work colleague has taken to calling me "Mr. Plow".

On the Eve of Epiphany...

So here we are in 2015. ::looks around:: Seems okay thus far.  2014 left something to be desired for me, which is definitely reflected in my lack of blog entries for the year. My plan for 2015 is to get back into blogging so I am setting a personal goal of 30 posts for the year, a little over 2 posts a month. That isn't a lot. (Actually, it's a little lame, but the frequency of my posts for last year was so pathetic that 30 actually is a reach target.)

2014 in Review: 
On the downside, my health was pretty rotten. My friend MEM had made up this joke about me being her "Sickliest Friend" (which sounds like the title of a song written by either The Smiths or They Might Be Giants), because I kept getting colds, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to winter! But this year, starting just before Memorial Day, I came out with an (as yet) unidentified serious digestive ailment. It ruined my vacation planned in June and spoiled my summer. [I have had a string of tests with no conclusive results, although the big diseases have been ruled out, which is good.](Sorry if that was a bit of an over share. It does explain A LOT about last year though.)

On the upside, I made a new friend (which seems sort of silly to get excited about, but it's difficult making friends outside of work when you are over 35, single, and childless - this isn't just my opinion; it was in the New York Times), and not one, but two, new nephews joined my extended family. [Both boys are cute, but only one is smooshy. The other is a solid little nugget. Henceforth, he will be know as the "Nugget". I don't know what I will call the smooshy one yet; he is the younger brother of the "Sweetpea" so maybe he could be the "Sprout". Need to think on that.]

Big Purchase:
I bought a snow blower, which is new for me as a relatively new house owner. Back in Boston, the condo association handled the snow removal. My first year in Connecticut, I shoveled my own drive and walk. Then we had 4' of snow dumped on us in one storm; if I hadn't laughed about it, I would have cried. Last year, I hired a service plow my driveway and snow blow the walk, but I'd find myself waiting quite a while for them to get to my house and would end up shoveling a lot of the time anyway. So now I have an Ariens' snow blower for this year. I was given a demo by the man who delivered it, but probably should read the manual before the Alberta Clipper scheduled for tonight and tomorrow comes through.

Luckily, the snow we have had up until now hasn't really amounted to much. But it was still pretty to look at.

My Favorite Time of Year: Autumn in New England

Sister K & I drove up into the northwest corner of Connecticut and then into Great Barrington, MA on Sunday. It was a beautiful day for a sunny Sunday leaf peeping drive, as evidenced by some of the photos I took.








I am of two minds when we go leaf peeping on a sunny day. I think it is hard to photograph the beautiful fall colors on a sunny day; the camera just can't do the splendid colors enough justice. It is really better to take photos on a gray day to get good contrast, but I would rather drive around on while the sun is shining. Still managed to get a few shots that I really liked. (We've already planned our drive into the "Quiet Corner" for next year!)

"The falling leaves drift by the window"*

I love these early days of fall.







(I especially love them now that the road construction on my street is nearly done.)


*lyric from "The Autumn Leaves". I am partial to the Nat King Cole version.

Spring has Sprung!

This past fall, I planted a bunch of early spring bulbs up the length of my front walk and outside my front door, and, finally over this weekend, the first ones opened up!!  It is my first spring in my new house, and I am really looking forward to starting up the garden.

My first crocus in bloom!

Definitely going to be planting roses and hydrangeas - it doesn't seem right to me to live in a Cape Cod style house without hydrangeas!!

Blizzard Weekend

A friend from Twitter wished me luck weathering Winter Storm Charlotte (what CT called the storm)/Nemo (what the National Weather Service called the storm), saying that people from Connecticut are made of strong stuff. I like to think that I am made of strong stuff, in a Rosalind Russell/Katharine Hepburn (both Connecticut natives) kind of way. But I wasn't really into being strong when I had to dig myself out of 4' snow drifts. While I got my driveway done (with some help at the end from a neighbor) on Saturday, the street didn't get plowed out until during the second hour of Sunday's episode of "Downton Abbey". Thankfully the melting has already shrunk the piles on either side of my driveway.

(When the birds starting making appearances, I felt a little less like a member of the Donner party. I SO wouldn't have made it through that winter of 1846. The cabin fever would have gotten to me early on.)

I may not have one right now, but you can be certain that I will be buying a snow blower very soon. (I did the research on Consumer Reports over the weekend; I want a two stage with an electric starter. Let me know if you have one that you like!)

Autumn Day at the Cove

Saturday at Wethersfield Cove.

Yes, I am glad to be back in Connecticut.

"Red snappers snappin', Clam shells clappin'"*

Though it seems like ages ago, last month I was down on the Cape visiting with my aunt. After a walk along the beach in Harwichport, we headed over to Rock Harbor in Orleans, grabbed some "chowdah" (Rhode Island style) at Captain Cass', and took a walk along the harbor. It was a beautiful summer day! (The chowder was good, but it had NOTHING on my beloved Chatham Squire!)


*lyrics from "Rock Lobster" by The B-52s

Greenfingers

Last year, I received some miniature amaryllis bulbs as a gift, and, sadly, they were duds. Only two bloomed, and they were an orange color wasn't really anything fabulous. I was determined not to let that happen this year, and I actually succeeded! Woo hoo!!

I picked up this magnificent bulb at a Christmas plant sale at work. (Don't ask what happened with the miniature cypress I bought; it wasn't a pretty thing.) It was a very slow starter, but it definitely has made up for it. Not only does it have four deep red blossoms, but there is a second stalk with a bud starting to grow. There is something so nice about having something blooming so boldly in the house during these cold days of winter.

(Okay, I will tell you what happened with the miniature cypress. I didn't look at the roots when I bought it, and I realized too late that it was sooo pot bound that it wouldn't drink the water. It dried out faster than a chopped down spruce, poor wee thing.)

"If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes."*

I was visiting my family down in Connecticut this weekend for what I thought was going to be a weekend of leaf peeping, photography, and apple cider drinking. Instead, there was a blizzard which dumped close to a foot of heavy, wet snow, pulling down trees and power lines.

The snow began at 11:00am on Saturday. After the power flickered off and on again several times, my parents lost power for good at 4:15pm. I started a fire in their fireplace at 5:00pm when we finally agreed that the power was off for the duration. This is the view of the backyard during the storm. (Please note the dogwood tree in the lower left-hand corner which is doing an impersonation of a shrub.)

This birch tree bended closer and closer to the house until it was leaning on the roof.


All night long, the silence outside was interrupted by loud CRACKS, which were branches breaking off of the overburdened trees. It sounded like gunshots! The next morning, I went out to take some photos of the yard post-storm. (This is the pretty part.)



THIS is what was waiting for us at the end of the driveway. I didn't see how we were going to get out.



As the day progressed, the sun came out, and the snow started to melt. The house was okay, but the dogwood trees didn't make it. My parents lost a lot of trees in and around the yard.


Some kind neighbors (with chain saws) chopped back some of the limbs to create a path around the fallen tree and wires so I was able to drive home to Boston, and my parents could drive to Sister K's where there was power, and more importantly, heat! It could be a week until my parents get their power back.

Between storms Irene and Alfred and all the snow at the start of 2011, this has not been a good year for weather in the state of Connnecticut. Hang in there, everyone, and stay warm!


*Mark Twain, himself a CT resident had a lot to say about New England weather

Nothing like an Autumn Day in the Northeast

When I was in elementary school, we used to sing a lot of seasonal tunes in music class. (I'd like to think that they still do that.) One of my favorites for this time of year went like this (yes, I still remember the words):

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate.
The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "We don't care."
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."
"Woo-ooo" went the wind
And out went the light
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

Here are some pumpkins in a patch that I saw yesterday down in Chatham. (I wish it were a little more practical to have a pumpkin/jack o'lantern in my apartment in Boston.)

As far as pumpkin patches go, this one looked pretty sincere*

Even though I have worked at the 'Tute for the last eleven years, this was my first visit to the MIT Glass Lab's Great Glass Pumpkin Patch sale. So many cool, unique glass pieces. I picked up a couple as gifts and one for myself. Really great turnout this morning, even with the rain. (Glad that I wore my boots though; the lawn was extra soggy.) I wish I had gotten a few more photos in situ, but my hands were kind of full. :-)








*If you are not familiar with this reference, you need to rent "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". This is not optional: it's a classic.

"I've been a wild rover for many a year And I spent all my money on whiskey & beer..."*

This time last year, I was touring around Ireland with Sister K. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime, and it was completely worth the early morning calls and hotel changes to see so much of the country in only ten days.
I have been thinking about that trip because 1. JR & RH are heading out today for their own trip to Ireland, and 2. the weather in Boston is doing a fairly accurate impersonation of the weather we had when we were in Dublin. (That is to say, it has been on the cold side and raining on and off for the last two days.) I am a little jealous that they are getting to visit Ireland again, but I need to start thinking about my next big trip. Scotland, anyone? (I'd love to get Sister K to come with me, but we'd have to sort her out with the accent first!)


Photographs by Sister K (actually it is one panoramic photo by her, that I cropped into two photos)


* "And it's no, nay, never, No nay never no more,
    Will I play the wild rover No never no more."   The Wild Rover