So the North Wind said “Chill out!”

Morning wind chill in low teens; not what we expect in mid-October, even here in the North Country. Brings us to a version of “it’s not the cold, it’s the windchill,” as an alternative to those in the southwest who try to convince us that “yes, but it’s a dry heat” as the thermometer tops 100.

There was a disconcerted red squirrel this morning, trying to figure out  how to get at the plants and pumpkins we had covered with a flannel sheet to protect from frost and freezing. It’s supposed to get really cold again tonight, so we’ll just leave the cover on all day and night. Things, such as temperatures, are supposed to improve after tomorrow night, until the next unseasonable cold snap gets here.

migrating waterfowl

Photo by J. Harrington

We drove past the Sunrise river pools in the Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area today. This morning as we were heading out of town there was one pair of swans. When we returned several hours later, the water was still very high, but there were no birds in sight anywhere. Waterfowl numbers should pick up over the next couple of weeks as the migration begins to include divers and geese.

As this was being typed, we had what I think was a robin at the bird bath. If I’m correct, it’s the first time in the years we’ve had the bath on the deck rail that I’ve seen a robin at it. I’ve seen robins in the puddles in the driveway, but never at the bird bath. This world seems to get stranger by the day.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

By Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

********************************************
Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.