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Mudcat Seasonal Almanac
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Subject: Poor Richard's Mudca'nac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 28 Sep 00 - 02:35 AM I was delighted to read thruogh the 'Autumn songs' thread, and it gave me this idea! Since we are all over the place on the face of the earth, how about posting the seasonal changes you notice around your vicinity? We could have a great deal of fun with our various climates, perceptions, and seasons! For instance, maple trees abound in the northern hemisphere, and they turn at different times, depending on altitude, prevailing winds, proximity to oceans, latitude, etc. We are such a perceptive bunch around here, and sensitive to a poet's extreme... let's share the call of nature in our very own MUDCAT NATURE JOURNAL! In Portland, it is warm by day, but the nights are cooling off... but nowhere near frost. Roses are still in flower, Yarrow is pretty well croned but some white flowers are still in bloom. Many tomatoes, few of 'em ripe. Maples and Alders are juuuuust starting to turn, and in the big winds, leaves are just starting to let go. More tomorrow! ttr |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: CarolC Date: 28 Sep 00 - 04:21 AM In which portland are you located, Thomas? |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: bill\sables Date: 28 Sep 00 - 04:57 AM Thomas, a good idea, but like Carol says Which Portland. I live in Yorkshire England and I know of Portland Oregon and I think there is a Portland in Maine near where Kendal lives but we also have a portland in Dorset England In Yorkshire the weather is cooling off and we are getting a bit of rain and the leaves are just starting to fall but they haven't realy started to change colour yet. Cheers Bill |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,Roger the skifler Date: 28 Sep 00 - 05:11 AM Ah, 'tis autumn term again and the students are emerging from their summer grazing and returning to their winter quarters so the air is filled with the twittering of bloody mobile phones. RtS |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: sian, west wales Date: 28 Sep 00 - 05:39 AM Howling gales brought down the last of the crab apples on the tree opposite my office window yesterday. The sun is now shining on Carmarthen, West Wales, but not for long; the ferry crossings, Fishguard to Rosslare, have been cancelled for a second day - a real sign of autumn. The rose hips in my hedge are just turning that amazing shade of coral and the nasturtiums are desperately trying to get in one last flash before the first frost turns them to jelly. There don't seem to be many berries on the mountain ash this year. They say that if the birds strip the trees of berries after the first frost, it will be a hard winter - it won't be much of a feast for them in this part of Wales if that is so. I must remember to watch out for trees of crows' nests out in the country; my aunt tells me that nests low in the branches mean a hard winter, high up in the crown means an easy one. Which is best? The Welsh have a saying that a green winter means a full graveyard. And on that cheerful note, back to work! sian, west wales |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,Michael in Swansea Date: 28 Sep 00 - 05:55 AM Three days of rain, but then again Swansea is the wettest place in the UK, according to the national press that is. Well we have to be first at something *BG* Mike |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Catrin Date: 28 Sep 00 - 06:33 AM No, no, Michael - Rainy Grey Manchester has got to be the wettest place in the UK. Raining here too - and in big cities, you don't gwet a feel for the seasons in quite the same way as you do in the countryside. - Which is why I want to move to Wales as soon as i can organise it. Cheers, Catrin |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,Fibula Mattock Date: 28 Sep 00 - 06:44 AM I moved to Bristol three days ago from my beloved Norn Ireland and it has rained incessantly since I got here. I asked someone if it was always like this and they said, only October. That worries me. It's not October yet,and my gear doesn't get shipped over for another week, so I have to go raincoat shopping this evening... The night I "emigrated" there was the most fantastic sunset over Strangford Lough, amazing colours and light - you could see the Mourne Mountains in the distance, everything was reflected on the water....beautiful. Oh well, Bristol's scenic too! |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: paddymac Date: 28 Sep 00 - 08:30 AM Here in Tallahassee, FL, we had an "official" 7.86 inches of rain in about 3.5 hours last Friday (9/22) thanks to Tropical Storm Helene, but nary a drop since. We're still about 15" behind on rainfall for the year, and in the third year of a drought. Thanks to a series of Highs after Helene, temps have been in the mid 60s and night and mid 80s during the day. For us, that is indeed a delightful change. It's a tough time for trees right now. Because of the drought, many species have been dropping leaves all along, or not putting forth the normal abundance. Many have died, and many more are severely stressed and vulnerable to insects and fungus, etc. There are those who seem to think it's a major crisis, mainly because they've never personally experienced such things, here or elsewhere on the globe. It is, however, all a part of the natural scheme of things. Thanks to TTR for starting this thread, for it gives us all a reason to stop or slow down long enough to get reconnected in some degree to the natural world around us. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: AllisonA(Animaterra) Date: 28 Sep 00 - 10:06 AM First killing frost expected tonight in southwestern New Hampshire. I just brought the plants in from the porch and later I'll bring in what's left of the few tomatoes of the year. The colors have just started in the lowlands but the hills are a rainbow of red, gold and green. This frost will accelerate the growing brightness, and with it the voices and exhaust of the annual migration of "leaf peepers" |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Llanfair Date: 28 Sep 00 - 11:46 AM The sun is shining now after three solid days of rain. The river is very high and brown with the peat that it brings from the hills. The crab apples in the garden need to be picked as soon as there has been frost on them, so that I can make lovely pink crab apple jelly to have with pork. Tomatoes are ripening, and I'll use the ones that are green to make chutney. The leaves are on the brink of turning brown, and the smell of bonfires and burning wood is replacing the smell of barbecues. Bron. (who loves the autumn) |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Patrish(inactive) Date: 28 Sep 00 - 11:51 AM I started the thunder and lightening thread a few days ago, because it was here in Yorkshire. But today at nearly 5pm I look out the window and the sky is a beautiful bright blue, the trees are still green with just the odd russety leaf. As I gaze on this lovely scene a thought runs through my head........"what the hell will I make for tea tonight" Patrish |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: mousethief Date: 28 Sep 00 - 11:57 AM We had a glorious solid week of sunshine, with crisp nights (lows in the 30s/40s) and nice, summery days (highs in the mid 70s). That's gone now, and now we're back to our beloved Seattle overcast gloom. Some of the maples are just starting to turn, but the oaks, horse-chestnuts, alders, poplars, and such are still green. From my window here on the 8th floor of the beautiful Kilroy Tower North, SeaTac, Washington, USA, I can see very few trees in anything other than green. If Fall is coming, it's taking its sweet time. (Of course our most common native tree is this area is the douglas fir, which is evergreen.)
Fall-less in Seattle, |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Ebbie Date: 28 Sep 00 - 12:48 PM Here in southeast Alaska we're deep into autumn. Our most common tree is the Sitka spruce with a smattering of hemlock but we have sparse saplings of maple and willow, clusters of mountain ash with bright red berries piled high, big cottonwood poplar, and lots and lots of alder, most configured in 'alder hells', mixed in. All the deciduous trees have turned colors of gold and brown and rose and burgundy. Flocks of American robins that here live in the forest rather than in town are raiding the mountain ash berries. Soon the Brewers Waxwings will stop off on their migration south and strip off the last of the berries. They must enjoy the thought of the 'Berry Cafe' they know they'll find here. There are three cottonwoods lining my lawn and it's high time to rake the leaves. I like leaves dropping onto green grass so I always let them stay until they start the second layer and then I rake like crazy for a few days. And again and again. The two very best things about this area, in my mind, is #1, the people, and #2, the sweet, moist, pure air so cool on your face; at this time of year, it's redolent with the season's ripeness. Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Amergin Date: 28 Sep 00 - 01:05 PM Well, I know that it is exactly like what TTR has described Portland here in Portland, OR...nice warm days and cold nights...no serious rain yet, but will be soon, it is Oregon afterall, the damn environment here has screwed with my DNA, causing me to sprout webs between my toes...but then that might be because of the defunct Trojan Nuclear Power Plant which is less than 30 miles from my house.... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 28 Sep 00 - 01:09 PM Hey! Sorry 'bout the Portland confusion... Orygun. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Amergin Date: 28 Sep 00 - 01:16 PM Cool! I live in Saint Helens... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 29 Sep 00 - 01:57 AM Amergin, you drive past my place and you don't even know it... I look out at the beautiful St. John's Bridge, in all it's gothic splendor. I love driving under it, looking up at the rows of pointed arches! Queen Anne's lace has a few white (with that one tiny red) flowers, mostly crones. our stream down the street is still dry, it is still the end of summer. Ornamental Maples are turning reddish, in veined variations, and gum (sweet gum) is getting that dark red variegation. We have a popular succulent here that sends an umbel-like pink flower and lots of them are blooming. Sprinkles on my windsheild tonite means warmer night tonite. Squashes are still producing, tho fungus has overtaken. Clay soil has hardened like cement in the areas that recieve little water. Squirels are looking busier now, and birds have lost their care free ways. Mt. St. Helens got snow on it's rim last week 7-8000 ft., but its mostly gone. I saw a crokus in bloom today. Dog caught a garter snake. Leaves on some lawns are beginning to cover it. Saw my first raker in action. We are waiting, patiently, for the rains. Whole maples are dark green, whole forests of that clearcut tree the alder, are shaded with healthy green leaves. Cosmos in bloom, sunflowers finishing off. ttr |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,jaze Date: 29 Sep 00 - 02:15 AM Here in Central Virginia the days and nights are getting cooler.The trees here have just a hint of wanting to change. A few more weeks and it'll be time to head to the Blue Ridge Mountains! All you guys in New Eengland make me so jealous! |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Lonesome EJ Date: 29 Sep 00 - 02:21 AM In the Colorado Rockies ,the Aspen signal the arrival of Autumn.High up on the distant ridges,they create bright gold patches,and rivers of yellow and orange in the creek drainages.We've had our first snow,about six inches last Saturday,and as if in response the herds of elk are browsing the last of the summer sweet grass in my yard.I stack wood close to the back door,so it will be kiln-dry for the coming fires of October.I seek out my jacket in the back of the closet,and find a lost pair of sunglasses in the pocket.The grocery store has a huge stack of colorful candies,and masks of skulls and comic Frankensteins who leer at the shoppers.The window,open just a crack to the night air,sends in a cold current that casts a heavy spell of sleep on the dreamer,and whispers the promise of deep snow and moonlight. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Peg Date: 29 Sep 00 - 12:57 PM Boston. Gorgeous fall days this week, crisp air, blue, blue, blue skies, the leaves turning a bit later than usual this year because of the damp summer (which, we are told, will bring brighter colors than usual--last summer's drought made for a fast and drably-colored season). Last night was COLD; first frost for many in southern New England. My favorite time of day in Autumn is between four PM and 6 pm; the quality of the light, the smell of slow decay and changes in the plants and soil, nuts and fruits ripening and falling, the constant rush of deja vu brought on by whatever it is that fall does to us...have others experienced this? Tomorrow I spend the morning in a nearby apple orchard with a friend. We will take a magical autumnal wander and avoid the apple pickers and their kids for as long as we can; then we will become apple pickers (and kids) ourselves...then buy treats in the farm stand attached to the orchards, along with freshly-made cider donuts. YUM! These orchards, some of the largest old ones in the state, were nearly sold to developers two years ago. The town of Peabody bought them, thank goodness. They are a favorite setting not just for apple harvest but for weddings and such at apple blossom time...I sang at one such ceremony last May and it was absolutely beautiful. Many of the old orchards of New England are being razed because the apple market is dropping out due to cheaper imports from China. Growers who used to get a decent price on drop apples for cider and juice now cannot compete with China's prices. So there are fewer old orchards (which require more upkeep) and lots of those newfangled dwarf trees which produce more apples per square foot... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU Date: 29 Sep 00 - 01:15 PM Greenville, North Carolina. Beautiful partly sunny and mid-60's outside. With a cool breeze. This is what we've longed for all summer! But we're still watching out for Isaac & Joyce... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Allan C. Date: 29 Sep 00 - 01:26 PM See this post |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Ebbie Date: 30 Sep 00 - 09:28 PM I just got back from my favorite walk and it is glorious up there. Tremendous sweeps up the mountainsides in shades of golds and greens. The snow is almost halfway down the mountains, almost to the colors of the treeline, although it will probably retreat again before it heads seriously downhill. Filmy mist clings to the lower mountainsides, outlining every crag and crevice. The ravens are much in evidence today, swooping in large, effortless spirals voicing their musical calls so different from summer's family-focused raucousness, and two eagles sang their rusty hinge songs to each other. Today I would love to be a bird. Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Llanfair Date: 01 Oct 00 - 04:29 AM The Banwy valley is full of mist this morning, with the sun shining above. There was a slight frost last night, so I picked the crab apples on the way back from feeding the hens. Only a small tree, didn't take long. Cheers, Bron. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 01 Oct 00 - 04:31 PM The rains came with torrents and downpours all night and yesterday... mist is now a regular in the morning hillside trees. The dry streambeds are starting to gurgle and sputter... water is brown. The hillsides that are predominatly maple ('bigleaf maple' is indigenous here in Portland) have largely turned yellow in two days... The cottonwoods that line the Willamatte and the Columbia, are still dark healthy green, and ther rivers themselves are running as low as they are going to get... The sailboat race sunday on the lower Columbia was well feuled, About 20 knots, steady. I haven't been able to see the mountains lately... the snowline is a bit of a mystery... Maple seeds are flying like little propellers, and whole clusters are being blown free, to pile on the ground... It doesn't just feel like autumn here now, it is fall. My very favorite time of the year. It is time to watch "Old Man And the Sea". Cheers, and good thoughts, ttr |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Linda Mattson Date: 01 Oct 00 - 07:18 PM Another report from Portland, Oregon. The linden tree in the backyard is losing leaves like mad. What I love the best about autumn is the wind. It has come back. Not very strong (by Wyoming standards where I grew up) but cool and breezy and delightful. Last night at 2am I heard birds, and I can't imagine what kind they were. Thomas the Rhymer and Amerigin, any ideas? (I've only been here a year.) Lawns are turning green again with the recent rain. Here in Portland the lawns are green in the winter because of the rain, and brown in the summer because no one bothers to water lawns in summer. An odd switch from places that have snowy winters. In three days I'll be experiencing autumn in the UK! -Linda |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,mrmouse Date: 01 Oct 00 - 07:51 PM Is it a season or what? Samhain, or something, and where is that Scot ish or is it Scots ... bagpiper.
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: CarolC Date: 01 Oct 00 - 11:22 PM The tops of the trees are starting to turn colors in eastern West Virginia (U.S.A.). (It's time for me to go hide under a bed until spring) Carol |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Noreen Date: 02 Oct 00 - 05:37 AM Still very green, but heavy rain pouring down the window today, here on the edge of the Pennine moors. The frogs in my pond will be very happy. Like CarolC, I always feel like hibernating at this time of year... Yesterday however, the sun shone and we drove up to Malham in the Yorkshire Dales. The first signs of autumn are just touching the trees there, but no nip in the air yet. Torrents of water were cascading down Goredale Scar- too much to allow us to climb- so we walked round instead, up to and across the limestone pavement above Malham Cove. It was warm enough to doze in the sun after lunch while the children chased each other up the hillside. To make the most of the last knockings of summer, we're spending next weekend at the far end of Cotterdale, a side arm off Wensleydale. No doubt we shall return laden with real Wensleydale cheese, whatever the weather sees fit to throw at us. Noreen |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Crazy Eddie Date: 02 Oct 00 - 07:05 AM Rain? What's that?..........Oh yes, now I remember, there was a shower on the television last month. We all sat around to enjoy it. Temperatures are certainly falling, we are down to high thirties at noon, and overnight lows in the high twenties. I'll be able to switch off the air-con soon- at night anyway. Humidity was down to 60% yesterday, which was nice. Funnily, the date-palms and the flowers don't seem to change much, with the weather. Maybe it's because they're irrigated (or was that irritated) all year long. Really looking forward to winter. It'll be nice to be able to go to the beach again! Hopefully we'll get some rain this year, we didn't get any last winter. All the best from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Lyrical Lady Date: 03 Oct 00 - 02:35 AM Sunny skys over our little Island in Beautiful British Columbia. My roses are still blooming, the dahlias are vibrant, fall asters are everywhere and the branches of the apple trees are breaking from the weight of this years crop. I'm still picking beans, digging potatoes and gathering my tomatoes which finally decided to ripen. Anybody want any Zucchini? The maples are still green but the leaves from the Arbutus trees are falling and their scent is mingling with the blackberries, a sign that Fall is in the air! The birds have stripped the berries off the Ash trees and the wasps are drunk from the ripened fruit. The smell of wood smoke is drifting from house to house and people are busy filling their wood sheds and putting their gardens to bed for the winter. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 03 Oct 00 - 03:36 AM Portland has been so damp and chilly, that it is hard to recognize the place...Huge changes happening fast! It will be time for the delectable mushrooms now, and I for one can't wait! The woods are taking on their fall smells; a combination of wetness, decomposition, and the vitality of mycelium growing heartily... It is happening so fast here. Blackberries have a few ripe ones yet, but most of the unpicked berries are whithered and going to seed. It is time for music, stories, and dream time! ;>) Dahlias going strong, roses too, corn fields are mostly turned in now, though a few rows are seen here and there. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Lonesome EJ Date: 03 Oct 00 - 03:20 PM LL and TTR, I'll take those zucchinis and blackberries!Two of my favorite foods. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Ebbie Date: 03 Oct 00 - 03:29 PM Snow on green grass! That's what I woke to this morning. The earliest it's happened in my memory. What kind of winter are we in for!! Ebbie |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Metchosin Date: 03 Oct 00 - 11:19 PM Ground Zero
Just outside of my window it's raging
The bodies are sere and discarded
And up in the corner I see her
Copyright©1999 S. Grieve
Ballet
Autumn's prelude
Copyright©2000 S. Grieve
The end of summer on the southern coast of Vancouver Island is heralded in small ways and by two creatures, the Termite and the Orb Spider. When they appear, I know that the season is reaching its end and except for precious few deceptive hot days and warm nights in September, Autumn is on its way.
Spiders, spiders everywhere, from the Orb spiders' classic web outside the front door, to the wispy stuff, that unseen, unknown denizens use, to decorate the corners of my house, brushed away in the day, to return the next. Or as in my first poem, in the corner of my kitchen window last year, retained and watched despite the fact that it grossed out my daughter. As yet, I haven't heard the shuffle of a solitary Wolf Spider on the floor beside me late at night, but when I do, I will know that the rains have come in earnest. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Lonesome EJ Date: 03 Oct 00 - 11:30 PM When I can hear the shuffle of a spider,it's time to move to a drier climate. LEJ(sleeping with big hammer under the pillow) |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Metchosin Date: 03 Oct 00 - 11:36 PM Its true they're big LEJ, but they don't bother people. *BG* ....much.... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Joe Offer Date: 05 Oct 00 - 03:22 PM Note that I pasted in the final version of Metchosin's "Ballet" poem above. there had previously been a draft version posted there, but now you have the finished product. Take a look. Good stuff. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: Thomas the Rhymer Date: 24 Oct 00 - 03:46 AM Portland Oregon is in her full fall swing. Native maples are losing leaves fast, and walking in the maple woods is so much brighter in the day! Streams are beginning to carry a steady trickle, but except in the sheltered gullies, and cedar bogs, the ground is still thirsty. Mushrooms are abounding, with Lobster, Chantrelle, Stropharious, Russella, Oyster, Leppiota, Agaricus, to name a few. Plenty of rain, with warmish sunny days too. No frost here yet, and the nights, though cool, barely get into the thirties yet. Snow is staying on the top two thousand feet of Mt. St. Helens, leaves are accumulating on the ground in town. The quality of the sunlight is wonderful as the angle diminishes it's intensity, is seems to become more yellow... Coyotes are howling regularly. Squashes finished this week, tomatoes are still striving, Morning Glories are done advancing, Sunflowers are done. Hillsides are streaked with yellow and moss is fleshing out again with it's vibrant dark green. Fishermen line the big rivers, and silently wait for fish I know not of.... |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: CarolC Date: 26 Oct 00 - 04:21 AM A lot of the leaves are down now, but I can still hear crickets. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: GUEST,JB Date: 26 Oct 00 - 06:46 AM We don't get as much change with the seasons in Houston. We're just glad to have the worst of the summer heat behind, highs around 80 (F). The pecan tree in the back yard is dropping leaves like crazy, but there are lots more to fall. I love this time of year, not least because it signals the beginning of the best 2/3 of the year, here. Still some brown days (ozone alerts), unfortunately. (Please don't vote for "Dubya" - it will only get worse!) |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: CarolC Date: 08 Nov 00 - 11:42 PM Most of the leaves are down now in eastern West Virginia, but I can still hear crickets. |
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Subject: RE: Mudcat Seasonal Almanac From: katlaughing Date: 09 Nov 00 - 12:37 AM Snow, wind, snow, single digit temps at night; too bright sun reflecting off of snow and more of the same to come. |
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