The event was a big success—collecting almost 50 Christmas trees and other holiday greens and multiple boxes of food donations and $1,700 for the Lee Food Pantry, which serves residents from several communities in the area.
When I posited that harvesting rainwater and conserving water use is in order, Brian Fuchs of the National Drought Mitigation Center countered, “Conservation should be practiced all the time. We don’t know when a drought might be on the horizon.”
When clock time springs ahead an hour, not-so-early risers may look out a southwest-facing window at dawn to find star-like Jupiter rather low to the horizon.
As winter turns toward spring, I’m inspired to dig deep into my pantry and pull out dried seeds that may have been there for many seasons; to look them over and turn them into the fresh food I crave – by sprouting.
During the months on either side of the spring and autumn equinoxes, there’s an elusive phenomenon, the zodiacal light, a glowing cone of light that is visible only in very clear and very dark skies.
When we grow our own roots, greens, herbs, flowers and fruits – plying mostly with human-powered tools and ingenuity – we build body and spirit and contribute to the health of our world.
Every morning during the span of this post, it is worth the effort to be at a location with a west-southwest view an hour before sunrise to see the pairing of Jupiter with Virgo’s brightest star, bluish Spica.
Mt. Washington is going from almost no Internet and sporadic cell service to faster speeds than even Great Barrington, the nearest large hub town, which is served by cable but not at speeds high enough to support a thriving, 21st-century economy.
A commotion of flapping colors, shapes and sizes approaches and persists as birds take turns digging into the high-energy food we provide, whether the most modest or lavish spread.
Perseus evades the casual stargazer and is not well known because the star pattern lacks brilliant stars that create outstanding stick figures like Orion that are visible even in cities.
Soon the great bird backed down the post in pulses, turned its body and leaped onto a branch near the middle of the bush where it proceeded to feed on the red fruit.
Most of us are focused on one simple aspect of the astronomy of the season: the solstice that occurred on December 21. Unless we look closer, the fact escapes us that the darkest mornings of the year begin this Thursday, the 29th.
Beginning with an aspect of the backstory of seed development seems fitting as the old year turns to the new and all of us have already or will soon choose seeds for our gardens and farms.
Although moonlight will screen out a view of all but a fraction of the shooting stars in the Geminid meteor shower, “a patient observer may be able to spot 20 or so per hour, even from urban locations,” according to the United States Naval Observatory writer.
By day’s end, 15 inches of snow had whitewashed whatever we’d wished to accomplish in the garden before winter. Snow accentuated every landscape and architectural feature, creating new beauty.
