The "Will" to Survive

I came across this tree during a walk awhile back and was impressed by its survival skills.  I guess you can't talk about a tree's "will", not in a Nietzschian sense anyway.  But still, there's something both touching and impressive about this determined tree.  Was it knocked over by one of its fellow falling trees?  Bent by a vicious ice storm?  Just a little twisted from birth?  We'll never know, but this is one yellow birch that just won't give up.  Perhaps a lesson for these troubled times although I hope we don't end up as bent and bowed as our tree after our national economic mess has played itself out.

A Killer's on the Loose

Barry settles in for an evening of hunting.

A closer look at our steely-eyed killer.  (I couldn't edit out the branch obscuring those steely eyes.)

And if you're a mouse you should be afraid.  Very afraid.  Especially if you're a mouse who lives around the foundation of our house underneath the deck and the screened porch downstairs.  If you live down there, bad things stalk you at every turn.  There are the peanut butter baited mouse traps inside the house that the cruel owner strategically places around the basement, and then there is Barry the Barred Owl.  Barry loves mice, as appetizers, as main courses and as desert (dipped in a little maple syrup I presume).  This is the second year in a row that Barry has shown up in late Winter (please let me continue with my delusion that it's now late Winter and not mid Winter), perched in our birch tree and hunted the mice that live beneath the deck.  Last year we actually saw him swoop and snatch.  He showed up again today for the first time this year and although he has done a lot of swooping, we haven't seen him snatch anything yet.  Catherine and I were again impressed at how big of a bird Barry really is.  He must be over 20 inches from head to tail, and he has a really impressive wing span.    Tonight would be a good night for Rocky the Flying Squirrel to stay home, forget about the bird feeders and just watch a little T.V.  Even if he is hungry.  Because if there's one thing Barry likes more than mice, it's flying squirrels.  (Dipped in a little maple syrup of course.)

How Cold Is It?

Our recent heat wave has given way to some bone numbing cold as a cold air mass has descended on us thanks to the good graces of our Canadian neighbors.  In no particular order then, here are some answers to the question in the title of this post.

It's so cold the camera froze up when I tried to take pictures for this post.

It's so cold that not only will the car not start, it implodes as soon as you turn the key.

It's so cold you can't speak while outside or your tongue freezes solid, swells up, and you suffocate.

It's so cold the dogs are watching videos on how to use a toilet so they won't have to go outside for a walk.

It's so cold the trout in the pond are wearing sweaters.  They'd start a fire, but they live under water.

It's so cold you have to dress in 26 layers to go outside and 12 or 13 if you remain indoors.

It's so cold they're thinking of extending the Kelvin scale into negative numbers.

It's so cold even Florida is beginning to seem mildly appealing.

It's so cold that exposed skin can get frostbite within 5 minutes.  And that's in the house!

It's so cold that each increase of 1 mph of wind speed increases the wind chill by a factor of 1 million.  (Or maybe more.  I mean, who knows when it's this cold?)

Those are just a few examples of how cold it is.  I'd list some more, but it's just too damn cold!

Heat Wave Rocks Vermont!!

This ice shelf is doomed if these temperatures persist!

Larry, Moe and Curly, our Adirondack chairs, contemplate the effects of Global Warming.

The river is once again open for navigation.

The dogs plow through the newly warmed snow.

Yes fans, in another sign of rampant global warming, the temperature got up to 38 F yesterday! To avoid heat prostration, I only wore my swim trunks and a a t-shirt on my daily walk with the dogs although I did need snowshoes. (Pictures not available unfortunately.) The snow pack is still about 4 feet deep after all. The warm weather was welcome after the rude awakening I got upon my return from Ethiopia. 75 F (23 Celsius) and sunny all day in Ethiopia. 0 degrees Kelvin and snowing here in Vermont. Takes some getting used to, but now I'm re-acclimated. And since my typing fingers have thawed (what with our heat wave and all) I'm back with some new posts. The pictures above really tell an eloquent story about the recent one day thaw here. If you look really, really closely, you can see some of the snow flakes at the very bottom of the snow pack melting. Kind of makes you anxious for Spring.