Mount Everett, at 2,602 feet, is the highest peak in the South Taconic Mountains. This arctic image of the dome of Mount Everett, as seen from the town of Mount Washington on February 2, 2024, 5:23 p.m., was fleeting; ice and snow melted within two days. After our recent snowfall (overnight Thursday, December 5), I observed a shroud of clouds where the mountain would be, prompting the publication of this spectacular moment.
Snow-painted young hemlock regeneration among ash trees dying and standing dead, killed by the invasive Asian emerald ash borer.
Deer tracks through a mowed field, uninteresting for food, lead to leaf litter scattered to reach buried acorns, nuts, berries, bulbs.
Snow defines and enhances architecture and colors of garden structures and plants, including winterberry bush and hemlock tree border.
Downy Woodpecker at suet feeder, hemlock tree background.
Please consider this inconvenient truth:
Western Massachusetts and parts of neighboring Connecticut and New York are designated Severe Drought by U.S. Drought Monitor, December 3, 2024.
Let’s prepare now for implementation of the listed goals: Identify and plan removal of invasive plants; replace areas of lawn and gardens with native plants (research, list, plan to barter or purchase organic compost and plants); schedule assistance, if needed, for spring gardening and landscaping; property lighting considerations. All of these actions will address recurring drought as well as the imperative to promote biodiversity. Search The Berkshire Edge for gardening, landscaping, and lighting information/resources.
A single snowflake, with its dendritic (tree-like) endpoints, shows its beauty while nestled among other snowflakes. We linger here before parting.
