Adirondacks

“My own prescription for health is less paperwork and more running barefoot through the grass.”

- Leslie Grimutter

I'm not sure I've ever really been a summer person.  I don't like the heat, not too fond of the beach, and I definately favor fall and winter.  For the past few years I've wanted to head north for the summer.  And this is the year I've finally done it.  It's not quite Alaska but the Adirondacks are a close second!

It was a trek to get up here.  The car broke down twice and the 5 hr drive ended up taking about 3 days between waiting for parts etc.  We had a blast though... watching movies and eating Chinese food in the hotel we stayed in.  Also, got to see my sister one last time since she came to meet us to eat some pizza and that was awesome!  Pumping songs from the jukebox. mmm pizza!

The first few days were spent putting around getting errands done and setting up the place. On Sunday morning we decided to get up at 4 a.m. to catch the sunrise.  It was awesome and intense to hike that early but luckily doing down town trash for Pedal People got me used to waking up at ungodly hours ready for action.

Sunday Morning at Cobble Hill

Also, spotted a ruffed grouse on the way down!  I was pretty excited because they are beautfiul and I've heard the thumping sounds they make in the woods many times and still had yet to see one.

We did it again the next day too!  This time on the way up the ruffed grouse and I spooked the bejeezus out of one another.  I definately did the classic "girl sees mouse" shriek... that really got Adam chuckling away.

 

Monday Morning at Cobble Hill

"Cause she'll take your voice and leave you howling at the moon"

 

 

Love me some Tetons...

I'd really like to be back standing there on a day like that again..

or driving on this road...

Animal Peeping...

Now that I live along a river I've been watching the beaver activity like a hawk.  The banks are more and more exposed each day and today I found that my usual sit spot (a downed beaver log) had washed away in the recent melts! 

Here's a part of a letter I just found that I had written to Crystal in early April of 2008.

"Exciting news in the animal department this week I've witnessed many species.  Yesterday I went with Molly and Lisa to the Greenfield farmer's coop and the baby chicken were in.  They were in these big washtubs and there was chickens, ducks, and turkeys all about 3 days old. 50+!!!  I got to ride home with the box of 6 tiny chickens on my lap.  They kept peeping and their mini beaks were beyond cute.  So cute it was..in fact it made my heart feel warm.

Next, last night I had a hard time falling asleep so I took an evening stroll along the tracks.  I first encountered a skunk who was sniffing around and I watched him for a bit.  Once I moved on I only went about 20 feet until my next animal encounter.  I heard a strange squeak from behind the bushes.  It was from a mouse which was getting pawed at by a kitty.  I felt bad for the mouse though...

My most recent animal encounter involves a squirrel.  I saw a squirrel crossing the power lines with what looked like a giant load of food in its chubby cheeks.  But, at closer look it turned out to be a baby squirrel hanging across the mom's mouth, gripping on tightly.  I wastched as the mom teetered for a moment and looked like it was gonna fall.  I was scared for the baby (and the mom!).  I was walking that dog Mare and I told her what was going on."

also in that letter...
"There's supposed to be days of rain ahead of us and that means the possibility for mushroom spotting but, it may still be too cold here for some good sightings"

Reading that in the letter has got me excited because it will be mushroom season soon!!!  Only about a month to go for writing stuff like that again!

Hail And Kill

The Manowar show was amazing and I'm still too hopped up on the all the excitement to settle down for sleeping.

Can you taste the metal?

"Hear the pounding army of the night
The call of metal summons us tonight
And gather we on this site
To behold the power and the might"

My sister an I are probably pumping our fists somewhere within that orange circle.  We were able to get pretty close to the stage even though the dude ratio at the show was probably 10:1.  The bassist (the one in the picture pouring that drink all over himself) told the crowd to cut out the moshing and crowd surfing, pretty sweet for us because sometimes the shows at that venue can get pretty out of control.   My right arm is probably going to be sore tomorrow from all the intense fist pumping I was doing but, it was totally worth it.

• The music was so loud that our hair was actually bouncing on its own!
• I spotted both of our hairstyles blowing from the wind created by the intense head banger in front of us!

We've done a lot of interesting things in out sisterhood and it was really fun to experience our first "real" metal show together!  Now we wanna go to Sweden and see them play because they have a much bigger following in Europe!!

Maybe Iron Maiden is next for us...

I can tell that winter is starting to come to an end.....

Pippi sleeping in the sunlight!

The amount of light is growing bit by bit each day and I've heard rumors of the first buds starting to poke out on some witch hazel branches.  I do love winter, but I'm ready for springtime and that ability to sit outside comfortably for long periods of time that the warmer weather brings.

There's two tricks that I've tried this year that help to evoke the feeling of spring by stimulating the sense of smell and touch.

1.  Smell :  Dig up the snow and get down to the leafy mulch layer.  Pull up a chunk of this mostly decayed matter and sniff it.  Yes, it does sound kind of wierd/gross...maybe it pushes the limits of conventional society a bit too far (ecspecially for city dwellers).  But, if you're someone who is really fiending for spring if you really shut your eyes and breathe it in, the experience may whisk you away to warmer days.

2. Touch:  This one I learned by observing Nutmeg (my favorite terrier).  She likes to sit and lounge in the bits of rectangular light that comes in from the windows in our living room.  Today, I decided to do the same and I realized that laying with my face in the sun even though it was inside did give me almost the same sense of relaxation that lying in a field

I started being very interested in the senses when I first started living with ferrets.  They are extremely smart and I remember reading that they test higher than chimps on problem solving!  Anyways, they need sensory enrichment while living with humans because they become bored incredibly easy.  I had a lot of fun building them different things to climb on and bringing in boxes full of snow or leaves for them to tunnel in.

This is Annie.  When I put her down to check out the snow she looked right up at me and scurried with a sense of urgency up my body and crawled right into my hood where she stayed for the duration of the outdoor adventure.  She didn't take to us or the business (a group of ferrets) until she got her torso caught in a hamster tunnel and three of us had to hold her still while Victor cut the hard plastic to release her.  She was screeching and it was horrible but she really took the group after that.

This is Pippi.  She came into my life purely by chance.  Driving late one night in Westboro we spotted her walking down the street.  We put down a box and she walked right in.  She was the best.  I miss her dearly! 


"Ferrets are mammals not rodents and are not even related to rodents. Domestic ferrets are related to minks and weasels, and to the black-footed ferret, a wild, weasel-like animal native to North America."

 Ferrets can sleep so soundly that they cannot be woken up even when picked up and jostled.

Sleeping legs!

There are many old paintings and tapestries depicting ferrets.  They are said to have been domesticated for nearly thousands of years.

Bet you didn't realize how snuggly they are!

"The word ferret comes from Latin and means “thief,” same meaning as the word mouse."  They would snatch many of our items and create a "nest" under the couch of all the things they loved that smelled like us.  

"In the Middle Ages, ferrets were used to hunt for rabbits. Hunters would muzzle the ferret’s mouth, and send it in the rabbit hole to chase rabbits out another end where hunters waited with nets to catch them. This method was used in the United States as well until the early 20th Century."

"They were also used on ships to hunt rats to control their populations. "

Secret Message Acorns!

I'm back in full swing of collecting things again so my head has been swarming with ideas of things to make with all these wonderful nature objects I've been finding.

I just looked out the window to what I thought was giant flakes of snow...  I'm on total high snow alert since what may prove to be the first big winter storm is possibly heading my way :)   But, what I was seeing was not snow at all... it was actually feathers falling slowly!  I looked up and saw a few birds acting casual.  None that I could actually pinpoint as the culprit but the grey feathers did look awfully pretty falling against the wintry yard.  Now that I'm looking out the window again I'm realizing that it is snowing!  yay!

Anyways, I've started making these little acorns out of clay and I decided it would be cool to make a hollowed out area on the inside to hide trinkets or secrets inside of.

I made that set of browner acorns for my Dad and Mary as a Christmas present and I hid a little note inside for each of them.  The other one with the white acorns I made for my sister and I hid some of her tiny frogs in them.  I thought for sure she was going to notice the frogs missing from her shelf of tinies and the jig would totally be up but I slid it past her!

The untrained eye has no idea what lies inside...

Pick up the top to reveal the secret.

The littlest note!

The littlest frogs!

They're about the size of a fingernail!

Joyeux Noel & Happy Holidays

Here's some highlights from my holiday week.  

It all started with a belated birthday celebration for my Dad.  I decided that getting Chinese food would be fun since my dad loves it so much.  Since I didn't get a cake we put the candles in the chicken wings and sang to him.  I think he really liked it.  The candles didn't even fall over when he blew them out!

Note to self:  Don't over eat when it comes to Chinese food.. yikes!

 On Christmas Eve we had a big party at my dad's house where most of the fam from his side came to visit.  My mini cousin Emilie made a really nice dvd of photos in tribute to Grandpa and my other cousin Jean Louis got a sweet tee that said I love being a prick.

On Christmas morning Dad, Mary, Becker, and I gathered round the tree and got ready to open our presents from one another.  Just as we were about to start Mary asked me a question so we all turned to look at her.  Just then... her chair started to crack and she started a slow descent towards the piano bench.  Luckily she wasn't hurt and we were all able to have ourselves a great laugh.  It was strange how good the timing was though...

Here's a good pic of Dad holding his troll child!

Solstice Traditions

I love traditions/celebrations and have been spending some time researching different types of Christmas and solstice traditions. 

Here is a tradition I found from Newfoundland which holds roots based in the old Roman celebrations of the solstice.
"Mummers, also called ‘Jannies’, have been a tradition in Newfoundland since colonists from England brought the custom at the beginning of the seventeenth century.  Mummer comes from the old French ‘momer’ which means to wear a mask; pantomime.

People would disguise themselves with old articles of clothing and visit the homes of their friends and neighbours.  They would even cover their faces with a hood, scarf, mask or pillowcase to keep their identity hidden.  Men would sometimes dress as women, and women as men.  They would go from house to house. They usually carried their own musical instruments to play, sing and dance in every house they visited.  The host and hostess of these 'mummers parties' would serve a small lunch of Christmas cake with a glass of syrup or blueberry or dogberry wine.  All mummers usually drink a Christmas "grog" before they leave each house. (A grog is a drink of an alcoholic beverage such as rum or whiskey.)
When mummers visit everyone in the house starts playing a guessing game. They try to guess the identity of each mummer. As each one is identified they uncover their faces, but if their true identity is not guessed they do not have to unmask.  For a time the old tradition of "Mummering", or "Jannying" as it is sometimes called, seemed to fade, especially in the larger centers of Newfoundland. " 

This sounds familiar to me as the ancient frocophone tradition called  Mi-Carême (mid lent) practiced in Acadia (the maritime provinces)  My grandparents on my dad's side were from this area and just about every time they dressed up for Halloween they made up costumes that looked alot like the photos I've found of the Mummers and Mi-Carême.  I wonder if they ever celebrated this.  I've talked to Crystal and she seems interested in hosting a party like this! woo hoo!

I've been collecting/observing/thinking about nests for a long time.  IThe collection is growing and I'm fascinated with the different ways that animals create their homes.  Since I am moving soon I've been pretty hardcore thinking about nests as I am about to leave one and create another.  In the past I've thought of building a big bird type nest around a loft bed to climb up into and sleep....maybe I'll do something like that at my new place.  Other times I've thought about just hanging a hammock in a room and having the rest of the space be workspace...

"A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs and/or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building. Human-made materials, such as string, plastic, cloth, hair or paper, may be used.
Generally each species has a distinctive style of nest. Nests can be found in many different habitats. They are built primarily by birds, but also by mammals (e.g. squirrels), fish, insects (e.g. wasps and termites) and reptiles (e.g. snakes and turtles).
The urge to prepare an area for the building of a nest is referred to as the nesting instinct and may occur in both mammals and birds."

Some of my favorite nests in my collection are the ones that  use human made materials.  I like to think that they are unique nests that represent this time in history.  This could be seen as negative...like nests are made from trash.  I like to think about how 200 years ago nests looked different then the one's you can find in cities today.   Maybe 200 years from now they'll be filled with different materials too.

Appalachian Trail

I ventured out towards Stockbridge today and I got to see my first signs of snow on the ground! woo hoo!  I'm getting excited for snowy nights!  We stopped at a bathroom that had it's hand dryer positioned directly above the trash can.  It made the lid of the trashcan spin like a pinwheel at rapid speed if you moved your hands out of the direction of the air.  I'll admit I wish I used it twice so I could watch the lid spin again... 

You can see the snow in the bottom right corner. 

My Aunt Marie Paule has always wanted to walk on the Appalachian Trail so today was her day.  It was a nice day for a 10 mile hike.  I was nervous at first about the cold but we warmed up as we got into it.

The most notable thing for me was the amounts of different types of scat.  I'll spare you from the pictures of how many different types I saw.  Here's a pic of the biggest tree along the trail. 

I measured it using photoshop as 8 1/2 of my heads across!

 Nice stretch of the trail that opened up into a field.

And the best part of the day for me was coming across this little creature.  I'm gonna spend some time later tonight trying to figure out what exactly that thing is on it's head!