06.08.08
Posted in Nature at 2:34 am by Administrator
This is a view of the Rubies Mountains near the high prairie in Nevada, still snow-covered in June 2008
photo by Patti Ives
This picture is impressive especially when seen in a larger size. I’d forgotten how “open” the west is until I realized that not many trees are showing, on the prairie. In New England, we have LOTS of trees and bushes and greenery. That’s one reason I was happy to move back to New Hampshire, after spending a few years in California and Arizona. Oh, sure, places there are trees there, but not like the “Granite State!”
But, isn’t the snow just so beautiful on those mountains? Patti is feeling chilly today, but here, the temperatures may have hit 80 degrees here, this afternoon. I wasn’t watching the thermometer. Funny how the weather can be so different everywhere.
Just thought you’d like to catch a glimpse of Nevada. I’ll save this photo so I can cool off on the next hot day, by just looking at the snow, and imagining that I’m cooler. Thanks for the great photo, Patti. I’d say that the new camera was well worth it!
Patricia Cummings
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05.18.08
Posted in Nature, Uncategorized at 7:31 pm by Administrator
Cowslips
Charlotte Croft has sent us this photo of a flowering plant that has two different names in Vermont: Cowslips or Marsh Marigolds. At the risk of being trite, we would have to say that a rose by any other name smells just as sweet. These flowers are a bright burst of Spring sunshine. Thanks for sending the photo, Charlotte!
Pat and Jim
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03.29.08
Posted in Nature at 2:26 pm by Administrator
There is a song that campers always used to sing at 4-H camp:
I want to wake up, in the mornin’,
Where the purple lilacs grow
Where the sun comes a-peepin’
Into where I’m a-sleepin’
and the songbirds sing “hello.”
I want to wander through the wild woods
Where the fragrant breezes blow.
And drift back to New Hampshire
Where the purple lilacs grow.
The words of this song always make me smile. New Hampshire is a unique state. At that same camp, where I was a counselor in my college days, I remember leaving my cabin at dusk, only to startle a Bobcat, right outside my door. They are not as large as you might think, and they have wisps of hair on their ears.
In this state, I have personally seen sea otters, moose, deer, bear, opossums, raccoons, skunks, fox, beavers, woodchucks, and probably other critters I can’t recall.
Bird life has its seasons. Right now, we are still seeing woodpeckers at the suet feeder. We did not feed bird seed this year, and as a result, we only heard one mouse in the wall all winter. Soon, the hummingbirds will show up in April, and the Orioles will breeze through in May, usually Mother’s Day weekend.
Between the trees, the mountains, the streams, lakes, and ocean, for a small state, New Hampshire has it “all.” It also has the local characters - like me! From time to time, I’ve considered moving, but when push comes to shove, I think I’m planning to stay right here in New Hampshire, where I can hibernate with the bears in the winter, and where the purple lilacs grow … right outside my window!
Happy Spring!
Patricia Cummings
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