The mountain laurel is on the way out, and the rosebays, Rhododendron Maximum, are now starting to bloom. It’s amazing how late they are here – they will be blooming through most of July. This is not a heavy-bloom year for them – almost all the plants I saw had far more seedpods than blooms. […]
Category Archives: Life in the Catskills
Rhododendrons in Bloom.
08-Jul-09Laurel in the Catskills.
23-Jun-09The laurel, kalmia latifolia, is in bloom here now. I walked the trail in the Kaaterskill Clove yesterday afternoon, to Inspiration Point. It was not numerous there – nor is it a heavy bloom-year there along that trail – but it was in bloom and priceless. I will try to get as much of it […]
The Eve of St. John.
23-Jun-09Bonfire tonight, in honor of the Prodromos, bright enough to be seen from the next mountain, I imagine. I will add one of my favorite poems, though it is not for all: Light-winged Smoke, Icarian bird, Melting thy pinions in thy upward flight, Lark without song, and messenger of dawn, Circling above the hamlets as […]
Return of the Raccoon.
19-Jun-09You can’t see much in this photo, but if you click it, you can see my raccoon friend, who came back the night after his midnight invasion. I think he’s found himself a little nest not far from my cabin, and may be a frequent visitor. If the bear doesn’t scare him off, that is.
Rain, rain, rain.
18-Jun-09I’m beginning to think that God is going to try to force me to sit in my cabin and write, rather than run around engaged in my silly domestic projects. It just keeps on raining here! I finished reading Rousseau’s Confessions over the last weekend, and I finally sat myself down today to finish the […]
Wittenberg Mountain, from Giant Ledge.
17-Jun-09I climbed Giant Ledge with a friend on what appeared to be a gorgeous, sunny afternoon on Saturday. But it’s strange weather we’ve been having. Every two hours is like a different day. It started raining about halfway up, pouring about three-quarters of the way up. We had no rain gear (this is a short, […]
Last week I had a visit from a handyman who is going to help me install running water at the cabin. When in the cabin, he was surprised to find that I slept between two screen doors, the thicker winter doors being left open at night for air circulation. He pushed open the screen door […]
The Living Forest.
16-Jun-09While climbing on some rocks just below my house a couple of days ago, the top of a rock appeared to move and run off – it was a turkey, who had been incubating on a nest of thirteen eggs. The turkey’s behavior was different from the behavior with young chicks – the parent simply […]
More fawns.
15-Jun-09I went for a walk the other day, and in a hemlock grove I found another fawn who remained in place despite my approach. I was able to get quite close.