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I missed my mark — Earth Day, April 22, 2023 — with this post extolling the poetry of earth. It was germinal then, and it remains germinal today (albeit marginally more mature?) Sometimes a seed germinates with exuberance, practically exploding into existence as if overcome with the glory of imminent bloom and fruit. Other times a seed lingers dormant — cautious or reticent or simply,…

Blurry Beyond Boathouse as Lake Champlain evaporates “lake smoke” at 8:04 am on December 10, 2010 (Photo: Geo Davis)

[A rainy day post, perhaps titled “Pluviophilic Post”?! Or more accurately “Pluviophilic Poem for Ombrophobes” or “Pluviophilic Poem for Heliophiles” or…] XXX A pluviophile is someone who loves the rain… or someone that finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days… (Source: What is the meaning of…

What to do when you run out of dog food but you still have fresh eggs from Full and By Farm and strawberries from the garden? Carley would say it’s an opportunity to celebrate country living with fresh, homemade, farm-to-table dog food! Carley Eagerly Anticipating Farm-to-Table Dogfood (Geo Davis) Over the last couple of years Carley has become an especially loyal fan of Shine Pet Food…

An overdue but super grateful shoutout to my nephew, Christoph, for troubleshooting, sourcing, and installing the optimal movie viewing solution for Rosslyn's icehouse.

As often, I’m overdue for an update on good news already more than a month past. Better late than never? I’d like to showcase (although that sounds a little oversold for a scrapbook story) my nephew, Christoph’s, icehouse entertainment solution. Sounds unnecessarily cryptic. Actually icehouse entertainment system might be a bit of a misnomer, at least in the eyes of Christoph who prefers far more…

Today's tune of transformation of perseverance of mud-to-marvel of struggle to sanctuary of challenge-to-charm still resonates with the echoes of hauling and grinding stones reimagined and repurposed and remortared.

Good morning. Sunday morning. After Saturday night gathering for lawn games and s’mores. Good Sunday morning after Saturday night rain. Unanticipated rain. Wet morning, but barely, now that the sun is out. A reminder that we’ve come along way in one year. The photos in today’s post — imperfect snapshots book ending the difference that 365 days make — provide a couple of “now and then” comparisons…

It’s time to revisit Rosslyn’s driveway tuneup. Bob and Phil initiated the first phase early last winter and completed the second phase three days ago. Since then we’ve endured a +2″ cloudburst (see “Tornado Watch“) that inundated us, but the tuneup faired remarkably well. A few minor washouts that we can easily repair, but considering the tragic damage inland and south of us, I’m incredibly…

Yes, you read that right. And if you’re a sailor, you’ve probably been rerunning this in your head again and again.  Orcas sink sailboat. A big sailboat. A 50 foot sailing yacht!  An orca swims close to the rudder of a boat taking part in a sailing race in the strait of Gibraltar in June 2023. Photograph: AP The prequel to this startling development has been playing out again and again for a…

What do you complain about the most? Such a mysterious adventure story, this thing we call life. Plot twists around every corner. Characters waxing and waning. Textures tangling and untangling, melodies braiding and unbraiding, hues shifting and sifting so subtly we wonder if we’re imagining it,… A mesmerizing mystery so pure, so pulchritudinous as to humble our judgment and suspend our wisdom…

I almost preempted this evening’s post with an update on the rising, rising, rising lake levels. Given the alarming uptick — Lake Champlain has risen approximately 2’ in the last couple of days with waters currently approaching spring flood stage — our attention is focused on meteorological forecasts. But angsty fretting serves no one, so let’s instead honor the hibernal solstice with an exciting…

In an interview with Jimmy Cornell about his recent update to the blue water cruising bible, Ocean Atlas, the effects of climate change feature prominently. Sail Sooner (Photo: Geo Davis) Cornell closes with ominous advice to would-be voyagers. There is no doubt that global weather conditions are changing: slower in some parts of the world, faster than expected in others. All I can say is that…

As political pundits’ newscycle turns to election stumping, our workcycle turns to ash stumping. The inevitable next step in our current homegrown lumber undertaking is to transform the stumps (leftover from five removed ash trees) into mulch and then prepare the ground for grass seeding in the spring. Ready for Stumping (Photo: Tony Foster) After felling five ash trees in the vicinity of…