Hunting for Beauty, and Finding It Here

To those of you fellow citizens who awoke to a grey sky this morning. . .

if you had been up at 5:30, you would have seen the glorious sky known as the “pink – blue sky” to the east, above Wantastiquet.

It only lasts a short time, but it is a good sight for the eyes that have just come out of the dark and from sleep into the day.

It also reminds me of an idea I had for a photo excursion. In the winter, I frequently suffer from the blahs; the dark crowds in on me, and the cold saps me some. I have taken to going out, when I am in a bad mood, and trying to find beauty. Just the activity of trying to find moments and scenes of beauty, is restorative to my feeling of well being.


July 31st – SeVWA’s Fourth River Monitoring Day of the 2013 Season

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s(SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA).The 2013 river and stream monitoring program began on Wednesday, June 19th and this past Wednesday was SeVWA’s fourth 2013 river sampling day. 


Turtles to Toads – Live Animal Program at the Brooks Memorial Library

Turtles to Toads – LIVE ANIMAL PROGRAM at the Brooks Memorial Library 
Explore the worlds of repitles and amphibians through an interactive slideshow, touchable artifacts and live animals.

Saturday, August 3, 10:30 AM
Main Room

Presented by the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum as part of the Dig into Reading Summer Reading Program. 

Space is limited. Register by calling 254-5290 ext 110.


A Wood Thrush Sang In Forest Square

Through most of late June and early July, it was impossible to live anywhere near the town woods and not hear the eerie call of the wood thrush.  They seemed to be everywhere.  For a while, believing they were rarer than they are, I thought it might be just one or two who got around a lot.  But I heard them so regularly and in such scattered places — Cedar Street, Forest Street, the Retreat trails — that I decided there must be more than a few.  


July 17th – SeVWA’s 3rd River Sampling Day of 2013‏

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s (SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA). This past Wednesday, July 17th, was our third 2013 river sampling day.

Thankfully the weather had calmed down a bit in comparison to our last sampling day two weeks before – though the temperatures have been extremely high. The hot, dry spell has the rivers back to more normal levels and it has also influenced most of our sampling locations’ E. coli numbers to be at acceptable levels for swimming and/or boating. There were a few sites on the Williams and Saxtons Rivers that were just above the 235 E. coli per 100 ml. standard.


Turtles to Toads – Live Animal Program at the Brooks Memorial Library

Turtles to Toads – LIVE ANIMAL PROGRAM at the Brooks Memorial Library

Explore the worlds of repitles and amphibians through an interactive slideshow, touchable artifacts and live animals.

Saturday, August 3, 10:30 AM
Main Room

Presented by the Southern Vermont Natural History Museum as part of the Dig into Reading Summer Reading Program. Register by calling 254-5290 ext 110.


July 3rd was SeVWA’s Second 2013 River Sampling Day

Southeastern Vermont Watershed Alliance’s (SeVWA’s) water quality monitoring program was begun about 10 years ago. At that time, in 2003, the organization was known as West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA). Our 2013 stream monitoring program began on Wednesday, June 19th and this past Wednesday was SeVWA’s second 2013 river sampling day.

Things went well for most volunteer monitors on Wednesday morning – though rivers and streams were running murky, high and fast. Volunteers typically sample between 6 – 7:30 AM on scheduled monitoring days. Because of the amount of rain that had fallen in the region the previous 24-48 hours, the water level and flow was too deep and fast for three sites to be sampled along the Williams River, but generally the sampling, drop-off/pick-up/delivery schedule for getting samples to the lab for testing went smoothly.


Golden Eagles Near Vernon?

Yesterday I was driving North on 142 in a wooded section of Vernon, when a very large brown bird flew across the highway. A split second later, 2 such birds recrossed the highway

They were NOT turkeys, vultures, hawks or ospreys.

I’m thinking golden eagles, but it appears they are extremely rare in Vermont.


Flood Watch in Effect for Windham County

There’s a flood watch in effect for Windham County for most of the day, and a showing every day now through Independence Day next Thursday. A very wet week.

The Windham County Sheriff’s Department posted this photo of the Whetstone this morning:


Summer 2013

Summer officially began today at 1:04 AM EDT. 

This photo of the sun was taken in Italy by someone else. 


Dominion Over Everything That Creepeth Upon The Earth, or, Not

With the future of “life as we know it” increasingly entering a gray-zone of uncertainty this might be a good time to stand above the controversies of can we, or can we not, save ourselves.

Confined to our small planet, we humans evolved an anthropocentric view of life, believing that “human beings are the central or most significant species on the planet, or the assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective.” ~Merriam-Webster

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” ~Genesis

And so, creepeth we did.


Spectator?

This unexpected “visitor” appeared at Bellows Falls Country Club.

Is it here to play golf or just to watch? 


We’re All Downstream

This past weekend, I went up to the White River Indie Film Festival, to see the screening of Chasing Ice. Missed it when it was here.

For those who don’t know, this film is a record of the retreat and melting of the glaciers. Twenty something cameras were set up to automatically take a picture an hour, for three years. A composite video was made to show the change to ice forms and landscapes.

The film is breathtaking, sobering, depressing…actually beyond description. The vanishing glaciers, and unprecedented melt astounded the expectations of all participants.


Exit 1 Spring Planting and Greenup – Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m.

Last fall we planted 1,000 daffodils at Exit 1. They are starting to bloom! We invite you come out to Exit 1 on Greenup Day to help plant more flowers, help greenup the Exit 1 end of Canal Street (if you wish), and admire the daffodils.

Come at 10:00 a.m. to Exit 1, where we will have Greenup bags and coffee and doughnuts on offer. Wear sturdy clothes and shoes. Bring a trowel for planting if you have one. Park at the Outlet Center. Plan to buy more food and drinks, if you need them, at the nearby Irving gas station, Burger King, or Price Chopper. 


Weird Clouds in the Sky Today

All day the clouds passed over town. I have seen these type of clouds only in photos of HAARP clouds. So I ask myself why would we have Chemtrail HAARP clouds over our little town?

They looked man-made. I have pictures, but I hope you all did look up today and noticed them yourselves.