210414 ridge stream newborn calves trout lily

 Apr. 14

Is today an "ides" or is there only one in March? 

This view is familiar to you by now, I know. There is a perimeter, along the borders of our lawn, of seemingly random fence posts. They are unprocessed bits of tree and seem to have no purpose. However, yesterday the fence was repaired and where the posts were down they've been re-planted. The fence, invisible at this distance, is lengths of wire, able to be electrified. The farmer at the bottom of our road will be bringing his cattle up to our meadow for two weeks out of eight throughout the summer. Just now they are calfing. Every day there are new skinny calves standing unsteadily beside their mothers in the field below the farm. Won't it be fun to watch them growing up! 

There is such charm in the work-a-day bits and pieces visible in the idyllic environs of this house. The mismatched fence posts, the crooked birdhouse, the horseshoe board, the abandoned chicken yard with its ramshackle day-shelter. These are the trappings of the earthly human world; like thorns on the rose, they bring down to earth the natural beauty of our surroundings, reminding us that this is not actually heaven, but a living, breathing, earthly domain painted in the real, imperfect brushstrokes of material creation. ("It's all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at these schools". I am reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in french just now!)*

Along the hills of Vermont there are two lines of wind turbines that stand up against the sky. They are visible (when it is clear) in the day, and at night they blink in sequence the eastern line and then the southern line with red lights to warn air traffic. One might be tempted to think them intrusive but they are champions of hope to me - humans working towards a sustainable environmentally-responsible way of life. 16% of Vermont's power is wind energy.** There are some 68 thousand wind turbines in the USA. Canada stands at about 67 hundred wind turbines.***  According to audubon.org is is important to the birds of the world that wind turbines be placed to allow habitat and migration protection.**** Hundreds of thousands of birds are killed by wind turbines each year, although audubon.org affirms that the death numbers are significantly lower than from domestic cats (they specify "outdoor cats", haha) and from building collisions.(same ref.) Audubon.org is active in the political arena of sustainable and ecologically-protective power sources.(same ref.) A couple of companies have developed bladeless wind turbines that work by oscillation. If we can transition to or even just include in the mix, bladeless turbines, that would be another good step. Bladeless turbines can be placed in suburban communities and rural, bird-friendly, and safe for side-streets and back yards!*5

*****

I went to the ridge this morning with Fig. I love the pond: the water is clear to the bottom, which is brown just now with a seasons' leaves; the fallen-in logs, last summers' reeds snow-bleached, and the emerging green among the surrounding tree roots. The frogs have fallen largely silent except in the evenings, now that they have mated and lain eggs.

These, that I saw a few days ago are lovely and eager, standing up a foot or more in places. I will know what they are, hopefully, once they begin to flower! The plant on the right - seems as if I should know it, but again, without its flower, i just don't recognize it. I am not usually wandering in the woods so early in the year, obviously!

          


Blackie joined us while we sat by the stream.



Here is the third witch looking grey and twisted, but she is waking up and beginning to bud.



*****

K and I have been taking a walk in the mornings, now that it is warmer. Today we went down the road to the farm at the corner. I wanted to see the baby cows. As we came abreast of the herd, several of the beasts turned to observe us. K wondered what they were thinking in their "slow bovine minds". (It was a small herd of 12 or 15 cows and several calves. The farmer may have taken some to another field, or they were among the trees, or below the crest of the meadow out of sight.) 



Here are trilliums about to bloom - the first I have seen this spring!


The farm field was full of Carolina Spring Beauty!



And the first trout lily in bloom!


The lane past the farm is bordered in coltsfoot. Here are some orange ones, like I remember from Ontario. 


*****

I ended the day as I began, with a walk over to the ridge, just as the sun went behind it. Here is the ridge pond. I wonder if the cattle will trample and ruin it. But it is theirs after all. 



Here is the broken stone above  the bridge crossing. I wonder how long it has stood there broken: a thousand years? ten thousand years?



The sleeper. The sun, gone behind the ridge, still casts a light on the valley.



We need rain. The sky is overcast tonight - there are no stars, so perhaps it will rain tonight. 

The ides of April: the coronavirus shows little sign of cowering or retreating. Canada's numbers are bad. Ontario schools are closed for four weeks. We do not know if four months between vaccinations will create an effective immunity. We know so little, except that we are in a pandemic still. Masks, social restrictions and stay-at-home measures are still our main defences. It is a learn. It is a major historical event. Let it be. Live it and observe and remember. A Sea Change is coming. *6

Be well, be safe. Thank you for visiting.

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