Ten Little Celebrations - March 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. Here are my top 10 for March 2015.

Snow Day. It was pretty…and I enjoyed it - but I was ready for it to be the last one of this season.

A Muddy Hike. Who knew it would feel go to be outdoors on a cold cloudy day - squishing through the mud to find animal tracks. It felt good to get out of the classroom.

A March Day. It seemed like there have not been very many of the sunny, breezy, warmer days yet this year but there was one - and I celebrated it between the recurring waves of cold weather.

Fungi of Belmont. The snow had just melted and the jelly fungi were making fruiting bodies - a first bit a spring color to celebrate.

Magnolia puzzle. It is sometimes challenging to identify something with just dead leaves from last season and buds….I am planning some hikes to watch the trees flower this spring to make the final ID.

Brookside on the edge of spring. There was not a lot blooming last weekend ---- but there was a hint of the season. It will be worth a weekly trek to celebrate new flowers.

New hiking boots. So comfy! They felt great as soon as I put them on. I have worn them on one hike already - just to confirm that they are ready for a day long hike. The old ones still have some life in them - but I’ll wear the new ones for the longer hikes.

Last class of the week. March has been a busy month for classes…sometimes 3 days a week. I generally like class - but I’m saturated and celebrating when the last one ends for the week.

A day at home. I celebrated that I had no reason to leave home on one of the icy days early in the month. It seemed like I had a commitment to be somewhere else every other day that week!

Mailing books. I celebrated mailing off books to family far away. It harkened back to when I was mailing off books frequently via paperbackswap and I enjoyed the trek to the post office with my packages.

Zooming - March 2015

The first half of March has been full of winter weather…and then a thaw.

The ice coated pines, deer browsed azalea, frozen drips on the bushes and the red buds of maple adding some color - all were topics for photographs in March.

Later we got a snow that was not heavy but it stuck to the tulip polar branches, sycamore seed pod, and cat tails. The lady bugs seem to like the indoors this time of year. I couldn’t resist adding at least one Zentangle ®to the Zoom collection this month.

When the thaw stated to occur - the Master Naturalist class made a trek into the woods and found fungus very easily: jellies, shelf fungus with pores rather than gills, and several kinds of lichen on stones and tree trunks.

By the end of the month there will be a lot of spring color. I’m already looking forward to compiling the Zoom collection for April!

Is spring on the way?

Just 5 days ago we were in the grip of winter. We’d had a significant amount of snow and the temperatures were down in the single digits. The timing was good; the roads were bad during times I had plenty of food in the house and no need to get out. I put off shoveling the driveway.

The sun came out but was very cold. We managed to get out down the driveway but decided we would have to shovel since it was not going get warm enough to melt anytime soon. I was surprised that the snow was light and managed to shovel the driveway in one long session….with some soreness immediately afterward that was gone by the next morning (all that bouncing while working on the computer does keep my back muscles in shape!).

And now 5 days later - the snow in the sunny places of the yard has melted leaving it very soggy. The piles along the driveway from the shoveling over the past month will be the last to melt….although we have gotten snows in April in some previous years!

The maples buds are very red and I can see the enlarged buds on the cherry and oak….so the trees are readying for spring. The robins have been searching the soggy lawn for worms that are probably near the surface to avoid drowning. So - there are signs that spring is on the way...I’ll be optimistic and plan as if there is no more winter!

Snow Day - February 2015

It is not spring yet at all here in Maryland. The melt we had yesterday has been refrozen and more snow is falling today. We are enjoying a snow day along with all the children in the neighborhood! Here’s the plan:

• Make our favorite kind of snow ice cream: coconut!  I’ll be sure to collect new snow rather than the snow that is icy with the freeze thaw of the past week. I’ll make a batch to have after lunch (allowing time for new snow to accumulate. My usual recipe includes half-n-half but I only have almond milk in the house. I do have real coconut which should help with consistency. In summary - the ingredients will be: snow, almond milk, stevia, coconut, vanilla, coconut flavoring, and food coloring. The food coloring is the indicator that the mixer has blending everything thoroughly.
• Fire in the fireplace. My husband says it will be the last fire of the season. To optimistic? Maybe - but it will be a nice interlude during the day. Maybe will watch a movie too.
• Take magnified snowflake pictures. I did more pictures last winter than I have this year and have been frustrated with the attempts. The flakes have been too fluffy or too small…or it’s been too windy and cold. The forecast if for snow all day long today so there will be lots of opportunity.
• Catchup on class reading and projects. I have another week of Master Naturalist class work to internalize after yesterday. After being in class all day long - I never feel up to thinking about it during the evening afterwards.
• Stay warm. Since it is going to snow all day long - we have the perfect excuse to put off shoveling the driveway until tomorrow morning. I’ll make soup for lunch!
• Stay warm. Since it is going to snow all day long - we have the perfect excuse to put off shoveling the driveway until tomorrow morning. I’ll make soup for lunch!Snow on sycamore seed

Master Naturalist Training - Week 2

This week was the second of eight days of training to become a Master Naturalist in Maryland. Like last week, the day was sandwiched between snow days; the roads were clear but snow was still piled up and salt was being sprinkled on walkways. We keep saying that hikes are part of the training days but it hasn’t been possible so far. I took a few pictures in the morning as I walked into the classroom building at Belmont. The cypress stands at the edge of the ice covered pond (above); we noticed the knees on a hike down to the pond last spring. A pine provides some contrast to the bare trees and white ground looking over the hill toward the forest. Since the class, another 3 inches of snow has fallen. The forecast does appear to be warming - but will it all be melted by next Wednesday?

My preparation for the second class included reading the Science of Science section of the notebooks - which was provided to us during the first class….and I did the web based pre-reading as I had done before. The area I spent the most time looking at was web-based: Criticalthinking.org - I read the complementary articles.

When I got to class - the topic for the morning was focused on local activism toward sustainability using Bethesda Green as an example. The presentation then small group collaboration on specifics for our county was invigorating. Now I’m dangerous and thinking about what to do next to further sustainability. I am already consciously making changes in the way I live but it is clear that there are challenges that cannot be addressed by individuals acting alone. Even some well-intentioned actions at an institutional level can go awry; we heard examples of a university cafeteria providing compostable to go cartons….and then not providing a bin for compostables (so they were treated as trash); a corporation having recycle bins in offices but the maintenance people emptying everything into the trash as they cleaned the offices at night.

In the afternoon - we looked more closely at rocks in our area. At mid-afternoon we were looking at bins of rocks and trying to identify them. We have a field trip in late March which will take us through areas where we should see many of the rocks along the trail! I bought the Maryland’s Geology by Martin F. Schmidt, Jr. (our instructor) to refresh my memory before the hike.

The second class was an intense and the first. I am very glad that the class days are a week apart. This is the type material that could not be absorbed in back to back days!

Backyard View - February 2015

Our backyard has been snowy for most of the month. It wasn’t that we got a tremendous amount of snow - just that it lingered for a long time because temperatures never got warm enough to melt it completely. A few times the grass began to show a little.

There were tracks through the snow too - mostly deer. They have a route between the houses and through our backyard to the forest. Sometimes they linger in the yard - look around. There is not enough for them to eat anywhere right now. The squirrels are active on sunny days. They are enjoying their store of acorns. So far they have not dumped any of the bird seed we have on the deck. The birds make their rounds to our water (heated bird bath) and seed several times a day: cardinals, titmice, chickadees, blue jays and doves. The crows are around too but not on the deck.

I’ll start weekly pictures of the backyard in March since I anticipate quite a lot of changes during the month!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - February 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for February 2015.

Zentangle® Class - There were 4 classes in the course and I got to three of them; there were 2 snow days so the class extended across 6 weeks rather than the 4 planned. And now I am hooked on Zentangles and do at least one each day because they make the day better.

A day in the 70s - I celebrated the warm days in Texas - knowing there would be none that warm in Maryland in February.

Snow - I do enjoy snow scenes (in Maryland) as long as I don’t have to drive until the roads are treated and plowed. It has been so cold that the snow has lingered for most of the month and I’ve enjoyed feeding the birds and watching it slowly melt in the sunshine.

Snowed in at home - There have been a few days when it was snowing hard enough that we didn’t get out at all --- and I celebrated the days warm at home. We had plenty of good food, a fire in the fireplace, and a movie to watch.

Piles of books - I ordered over 100 books via paperbackswap to use up most of my credits before mid-February and now I am savoring the piles. It is a lot like Christmas when they arrive in the mail and then I have lots to choose from for winter reading. Every time I see the stack - I celebrate all over again. I’ve read 6 so far so the pile will be around for a while.

Carrot cake - I couldn’t resist buying two slices in my Mother’s grocery store….and celebrated that they didn’t skimp on the spices. It was good carrot cake.

Sizzling apple pie - One of the Mexican food places I went to in Dallas served apple pie on a hot skillet with sizzling syrup and topped with cinnamon ice cream. Yum! It becomes my favorite place for dessert in Dallas.

Birds at Josey Ranch Lake - It is hard not to be joyous at the sight of birds and people in the park.

Beginning of Master Naturalist training - I celebrate the content - the intensity - the instructors - the students. Everything was even better than I anticipated….and I did more follow up studying than I thought I would do too.

Coming Home

I enjoy traveling…but coming home always feels good too. This past weekend was no exception.

The flight from Texas was smooth until just before landing in Baltimore when gusts of wind started buffeting the plane. The pilots did an excellent job getting the plane to the runway; there was applause in the cabin. All around us on the runway snow was swirling and the runway was just as white as the air. There was a little delay getting to the gate so we all had time to notice how bad the weather was and realize that there was a 50 degree temperature difference between the Dallas afternoon we had left and the Baltimore evening. Walking through the jetway to the terminal gave us a hint of the cold. When I got to baggage claim, it was even colder because of doors opening and cold air coming up with the luggage which was delayed in arriving due to wind and snow challenging the baggage handlers. Before it came, an announcement was made that the airport was closing. After that - the situation improved for me: my baggage came, my husband arrived just outside the terminal, and we got home without incident (even though we saw cars in ditches along our route). It was scary enough that I didn’t think to take pictures.

When I got home there were piles of books I’d requested from Paperbackswap - using up my credits. What joy to have them just in time for the really cold days of this winter!

And the snowy scene from my office window is appealing too.

Another joy - plants at the kitchen window that survived the 10 days I was gone (my husband watered them).  The green leaves sprouting from the celery cores and the pleats of the red potato leaves are like a little spring garden with the snow and ice of hard winter in the background.

Last but not least - I actually enjoyed shoveling the driveway yesterday. It was the first time for this winter and was a very light snow that was easy to shovel. I am still celebrating the winter season!

It is so good to be home again!

Ten Days of Little Celebrations - January 2015

Noticing something worth celebration each day is an easy thing for me to do. The habit of writing it down reminds me to be grateful for these and a myriad of other things in my life. This month has been full of ‘little celebrations’ - as had been the usual for the past few months. Here are my top 10 for January 2015.

Winter

Snow in Tucson. The year started off with a pictures from my daughter of the snow they got --- on the palms and cactus near their apartment. It was a beautiful scene to celebrate the New Year.

Fox. A healthy looking red fox walked through our back yard then trotted behind several other houses before turning into the forest. I watched from the window of my office - celebrating the grace of the animal as it moved through the winter landscape.

Fog. The forest and our neighborhood filled with fog. The temperature was in the upper 30s. It seemed like the fog damped sound as effectively as it did sight - celebrating a warm house in the isolation of winter.

Snow. Snow that falls when I can simply stay at home until it melts or the streets are cleared by the plows is my favorite kind of day. It is the classic winter scene worth celebrating.

Other

Dishwasher. Our dishwasher became very loud so we arranged for servicing - anticipating that it would have to be replaced. Hurray! It was quickly fixed and our kitchen is a quieter place.

Zentangle® class. I saw a blurb about a Zentangle class offered at the local 50+ Community Center. It was a good incentive to investigate the place! I’ve been to the first of four class sessions and am enjoying daily ‘tangling’. I’ll post a slide show of my creations once I’ve accumulated a few more. I’m celebrating both the class and learning about the 50+ Community Center.

Arizona and Tucson

Bald Eagle. In recent years, the bald eagle population has increased on the east coast and we see them more often….but when I saw one as we drove into Grand Canyon National Park - settling into the top of a pine tree - it was a first sighting in the west for me. Hurray!

Grand Canyon. Awesome place. I’ve been there before --- it is worth celebrating again and again.

Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. The times I’d been before were in summer and late spring. This time it was decidedly cool/cold. The colors were deeper in Painted Desert because it had snowed/rained. The Petrified Forest glistened when the sun came from behind the clouds. Both places are special…and worth celebrating.

Tree Ring Lab. I’m celebrating that the place lived up to my expectations - interesting from scientific, architectural and historical perspectives. If I lived in Tucson - I’d sign up as a volunteer docent.