On the way to the store to buy two grapefruits at mid-morning (it feels like grapefruit weather) for my nieces' Christmas basket, I flushed a turkey vulture from a road-killed gray squirrel. It was not so many years ago that vultures did not occur in northern New England even during summer months. Now they are nearly year-round - maybe this year some with stay if they find the weather favorable. Fears of climate change creep back into my thoughts. The animals fear not; they move and migrate and evolve, although the pace of change may outrun their capacities to adapt.
Tuesday morning with a temperature of 12 degrees felt more like the first day of winter. Yesterday a warm rain fell most of the day, giving a feel of the first day of fall. Today, spring-like. On Tuesday ice crystals sparkled on the frosty ground. Today, the woods sparkled with rain drops.
Happy Winter Solstice
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteHappy Winter Solstice! There is a local radio announcer here who always notes whether the length of the day is getting longer or shorter. Tomorrow he'll be pleased to announce that it is getting longer. And I'll be happy to hear it.
I don't think I'm quite ready for 12 degres yet though. We still have lettuce, dandelion greens and choi in our cold frames. I think 12 degrees would most likely be the end of them. So I hope it will be a month or so before we see weather quite that cold....