Wind is in the Air

A gray tree frog called from the woods while I weeded around the shrubs and the blueberry bushes. The tulips looked glorious in the setting sun. Strong winds kept the bugs at bay. A perfect spring afternoon in our yard.

Looking beyond the neighborhood things are far less sanguine. The winds worry the minds of my farmer friends at New Roots Farm. They lost one greenhouse and some other structures to the hurricane-force storm in February. So, whenever the wind whips up they get nervous, rightly so. Wind in recent days was blustery enough to prevent the laying of plastic, the precursor to planting crops. The greenhouses are full of flats of seedlings waiting to be planted. I wish I could blow the wind away.

Wind is in the news. Cape Wind -- the 130 wind turbine project in Nantucket Sound -- was finally approved, although lawsuits are sure to follow. Likely there are environmental costs, yet many opponents seem more concerned about the impact on their viewshed.

Cape Wind seems at first glance far more preferable to the Upper Big Branch mine that exploded, killing 29 men. And preferable to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that also blew up killing 11 men and which now threatens the ecology and livelihood of the Gulf Coast. And preferable to so-called "renewable" large-scale energy projects such as the proposed solar arrays planned for the Mohave Desert -- read Chris Clarke's blog here to learn more about those impacts.

Sometimes it all seems too crazy to think about. The tree frog and the tulips and the phoebe sitting on its nest under the deck offer a welcome diversion. My thoughts will turn back soon enough to energy. Perhaps a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson is apt: "Do not follow where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." I'm looking for those who've left a trail to a safer and more sane energy future, rather than an oily path leading from a blown rig to the coastal marshes of the Mississippi delta.

Recovery!

Today I heard a black-and-white warbler sing his weesee, weesee, weesee, the first one of the spring. On the same walk I noticed the mottled green-purplish-brown leaves of the trout lily and the single yellow flower dangling among each pair of leaves. The peach tree flowers seemed to have weathered the cold, wet night. The late winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in the last 24 hours farther north missed us thankfully. It's been a good day.
 
But the best part of today was that my laptop returned home with all files intact. Ed at DOT Technologies in Dover worked on it for a week and somehow cleaned, repaired, patched, and generally worked magic on a dying hard drive; long enough to copy all my files, photos, emails, and software programs onto a new hard drive.

I do not know what killed my hard drive. It could have been a virus or spyware or adware or malware, or just a bad hard drive. I've learned a few things though. Back-up often - daily is best. Be careful what you click on - do not rush. Find a good computer repair shop - they can work magic.  Ensure that your anti-virus is working. And to borrow a phrase, Know Hope.

A Crash

My VAIO laptop computer crashed last Tuesday. It went wobbly on me, neither shutting down nor booting up properly. Of course I back-up my computer regularly, but for some reason I neglected that task in the last few weeks. Not a good strategy.

My hard drive is dying as I write. This weekend it sits alone at a computer repair shop. Ed the repairman thought he solved the problem on Friday by cleansing the computer of a virus. But he called back to say that the operating system was unstable in a curious way. The next move was for Ed to try transferring (saving) all my files onto a new hard drive before the existing one dies. I have not heard from him since. Maybe tomorrow. There are things I wish I had done before my computer got sick from a virus or some other malady. Note to self: back-up daily. Be well computer.

The benefit of having a computer in the shop is that you spend far more time gardening, reading, cooking, training a dog, visiting with family, and ignoring the national news. Not a bad outcome.

Our two-week dog-sitting stint ended Friday morning when Phil picked up Teak. Kodi and Teak enjoyed many outdoor romps that included some epic (playful) battles, although on the last walk Teak bolted for the car. Still, he seemed mopey the day that he had to leave.

Teak and Kodi on one of our daily walks; unusual calm

Kodi has started regular (2-3 times per week) doggie daycare at the Yellow Dog Barn. Two young women own and run the place. They host anywhere from 25 to 40 dogs a day. The dogs have several play times in groups of about 15 dogs each with nap times in crates in between. Each day they post pictures of the dogs playing or resting. Kodi will be there this week Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday so feel free to check out the Yellow Dog website and see Kodi in action. He takes play time seriously, so rarely is he resting in any photos.

We've moved into week three of basic obedience. Kodi is pretty good with the basics when he wants to be; other times he can be good at ignoring me. After 4 weeks living with us he seems to have bonded. He is affectionate with both of us, although he seems a little uncertain of most men. In his mind all women are good apparently. One thing is for sure - he loves water, yet he still has not learned to swim. 

Turnips, Pigs, and Salamanders

I spent a few hours at New Roots Farm this morning, my weekly visit to help out in exchange for amazing seedlings and fresh vegetables as the season goes along. After a near collapse of the tomato crop last year from late blight and a hurricane-force wind storm that took down their newly constructed greenhouse in February, the farm looks as good as ever. Jeff and Renee persevere - they are farmers.

New Roots has a larger crew of helpers this year that includes interns, assistants, and volunteers. The new greenhouse is rebuilt and is already filling up with seedlings. The garlic is eight inches tall and growing. The sheep and goats graze on fresh pasture. The pigs feast on turnips.

Emily, one of the young interns, and I helped clean out a few hoop houses in preparation for new plantings. We pulled a raised bed full of turnips that had gone to seed. Three bushels of roots, stalks, and flowers were carried up to the pigs. They like turnips more than me. Rarely do farmers let root vegetables go to seed. As Emily noted, the flowers of many root vegetables are quite beautiful, perhaps worthy of their own root vegetable flower garden.
 

The pigs enjoy freshly pulled turnips, flowers and all

The hoop houses are warm and moist so various animals live there too. The voles are plentiful, but not welcome. Renee overturned a board and uncovered a rather uncommon and beautiful blue-spotted salamander, which was left to carry on. On a farm some visitors are welcome and some are not.

The Mayflower in April

One of the best times for a walk in the woods is just after (or during) an April shower. We are at the tail end of four days of rain - steady but not hard rain. The sun, yet to emerge, is still working its way through the clouds. Meanwhile, as the rain subsides raindrops linger at the tips of buds, the underside of twigs, and on newly emerged leaves.

April showers are truly meant for May flowers, especially the Canada mayflower. This diminutive woodland wildflower carpets the forest floor. Its green leaves shine in the understory, freshly rinsed by the recent rain.

The Canada mayflower, Maianthemum canadense, also known as wild lily-of-the-valley, will sprout starry-white flower clusters in May. But I think April is its month and the leaves steal the show.

Shadbush

Blooming shadbush herald the first run of American shad migrating upstream to spawn in New England rivers. The early blooms also mark the beginning of planting season, which feels a little early this year. The silvery shad are not running yet, and certainly run in far fewer numbers if at all, compared to historic times. Dams and pollution messed up their migratory paths. But the shadbush are in full flower, regardless of the fate of the shad.

In late afternoon, as the sun drifted toward the horizon, I set out with Kodi for a walk. We barely made it to the end of the driveway when he yawned and sat. He was tired. Today he went to the Yellow Dog Barn for a half-day of doggie daycare. There he played with 15 other dogs and was surely overwhelmed on his first day as new dog in the school.

Since Kodi was drowsy I put him back in his car crate where he drifted off to sleep. I set out on my own for a walk-about the neighborhood in pursuit of the flowering shadbush. The small tree or large bush grows in slightly moist soils at the edge of fields and pastures and along roads. Not far from home I found a half dozen in bloom. The flower clusters snow white beneath an April blue sky.

Amelanchier canadensis is known by many names -- shadbush, serviceberry, Juneberry. By whatever name you choose it is the shrubby plant sprouting pure white flowers in mid-April.

Shredding the Constitution

This was a good day to start Kodi's basic obedience training. The day he decided to shred the Constitution.

Dog toys are strewn across our floor, but Kodi likes paper and books and human things. He does not go after furniture legs (like Aria did when she was a pup). Instead, he likes movable objects that he can pull off shelves or sofas. He is stealthy too, sneaking quietly into the next room to look for his next target.

He clearly was not purposely shredding the Constitution. Being in this household he knows its value. Unlike the tea partiers gathered in Boston who seem to want to shred the real thing. Maybe I should send them this copy to satisfy their urges. But why waste time on them. Back to Kodi.

We joined about nine other women and their dogs at the Ellis dog training center- the dogs were an equal sex ratio. We sat boy-girl by dogs. Kodi and I were at the end of a half circle. While I tried to listen to Diane the instructor, Kodi kept a fanciful eye on the neighboring female English cocker spaniel. Diane is forceful and strong. We were all sitting straight, although the dogs were not -- maybe they will by the end of the six week class. A couple large labs were a bit dominant so they were used as teaching tools. A few dogs were completely calm and pretty much ignored the rest of the dog crowd. Kodi was unsure why they weren't all together in the middle of the room playing.

After an hour we left with our homework. Practice 10 minutes, twice a day. Kodi won't really care what kind of progress he makes in a week, but I'll be cowed if Diane thinks that I did not make progress. She is the leader of the pack.