Disconnected!

See this? This is my phone. Look closer; blow it up if you need to. Hmmmm..I bet now you’re wondering why it is not dancing in its cradle, ringing off the hook with people calling. Because this is not animated? Wrong! It’s not because this isn’t a you-tube video; the phone is silent. Yes, hear that again. Silent.

Now, take a look at this picture of my modem. As you can see, the DSL and internet lights are dark.
Your mind is probably racing now, your heart beating fast, and you are getting worried. Dark modem lights and silent phones are never good. You suspected that northern Vermont is near the end of civilization, but beyond it altogether? No, surely that can’t be, so you try again. Has something terrible happened in the wilds of Vermont--during foliage season no less--that hasn’t made it to CNN yet? Nope. Wrong again. So, what can explain this inconceivable phenomenon? Alien interference? Nope, nothing that exciting, nothing newsworthy.

Rewind to last evening, about 6. I am walking in the door. Having been given a glimpse of the future I am sure you can understand, and perhaps even feel, the dread, disbelief and horror that overcomes me as I walk in and hear dh say, “The phones are not working.”

“What? What do you mean, ‘not working?’ What phones are not working?” I ask, hand to heart, face blanching.
“Our phone. The house phone,” he says.
“We don’t have internet either,” my ds adds somberly, testifying to the gravity of this situation.

Off I head, without delay, to get one of our cell phones, which work poorly at best, and then only in a few isolated corners of the house, to call the phone company to report the outage, wondering what I was going to do with the evening. I had things to do, e-mails to check, weather and blogs to read, BBC news to check, maybe even the day in pictures, a little mahjong to play…the list is endless. So, standing perfectly still, by the window in the corner of the living room specified by dh as the place where his cell phone works, I make the call.

The phone company offices are closed, of course, but I can report my out of service line to a real person! Wow, there are some benefits to a lack of technology in the far reaches of Maine where the phone office is located.
“Have you checked your phones?” the attendant asks after taking my non-working phone number.

Okay, shift here: Remember the Shadow in Mad Magazine, the little fellow who said the things that couldn’t be said while his flesh and blood familiar said what had to be said? Well, enter the Shadow. He is standing beside me.

Shadow: “No, I had a vision while I was driving home that my phone wouldn’t be working. Since I have cell service here and not there I decided to call, because well, I knew the phone won’t be working, my visions are always accurate.”
Me: “Check the phone?” Incredulous tone of voice. “I picked it up. I don’t have a dial tone.”

“Okay,” the attendant says, “I’ll put in a trouble ticket.”
“When do you think this will be fixed?” I ask.
“Usually within 24 hours,” the attendant offers, seemingly uncomprehending of the magnitude of her words. No “I’m sorry,” no sigh of compassion.

Shadow: Anguished scream. “24 hours??? ‘Usually??’ What do you expect me to do for 24 hours without a phone or internet? Do you not understand that this can’t be? I can’t be without a phone or internet, and what if it is more than 24 hours? What then? This is completely unacceptable. Can’t you call the tech people at home for emergencies like this?”
Me: “24 hours??” Voice croaking, “Usually??? I need a phone. I need the internet to do some work. This is an unsafe situation,” I tell her. “What if there is an emergency? I can’t even call 911.”

Surely this out-in-the-woods woman understands and will do something!! After all, she is talking to me from some place in northern Maine. I can see her connected to a maze of wires, switching and pulling them in and out, sitting alone in a tiny log cabin in the middle of moose filled woods, an empty highway stretching into the trees, carless in both directions. But no, she doesn’t understand in spite of her isolation and the moose breath fogging her windows.

“I can note that you want them to come in the morning, but I don’t make the schedule.” Still no “sorry,” no empathy for my plight. “Is there a phone number we can reach you at if we need to?”

Shadow: “Lady, are you nuts? Totally nuts? Why do you think I called the repair line? But, sure, since you asked, I do have a connection to the beyond, as you clearly understand from the visions. Just beam in at 1-800-vision and you can get me any time of the day or night. No technology required.”
Me: “No, my phone isn’t working.”

So here I am, 14 hours later, the phone is not dancing, the modem lights are dark; I am disconnected in the middle of the wilds of northeastern Vermont with wild turkeys circling my house, a flock of robins eating my tiny crab apples in the front yard and a pack of coyotes yipping excitedly down in the woods.

Surprisingly, the day stretches before me like an endless river. I feel as if I can do lots of things today: take some pictures, write something for my blog, do some planting, maybe even vacuum!
And I do. I write this, do some paperwork, eat lunch, walk the dogs,…and then whammo. Along comes the phone repair man. The main wire from the house to the box has gone bad. We may have to get a new one put in, which won’t happen for at least a month.

Shadow: Another, even more anguished, scream, this time tinged with disbelief and thoughts of a permanently cricked neck from making cell calls in cell friendly corners of the house. “A month!!! No phone, no internet?? How’s that going to work??”
Did that get you? It sure got me! No sweat, though, I can be hooked up right away, and I am.

Back in business, I say good bye to the Shadow (although I have to confess he is a pretty frequent companion) and return to the house.

The day no longer stretches quite so far ahead; it is no longer quite as full of possibility as it was before the phone man arrived. I can do the things I have to do. The day is decidedly contracted. The turkeys have gone to their mid-day roosts, and the coyote yipping is getting increasingly fainter.

Epilogue
I planted anyway, and didn’t do some of those other things. It’s a good thing I vacuumed early.

My suggestion
Take a vacation. Turn off the ringer and don’t turn the computer on. Do some of those want to’s , and you might be amazed at what you get done--maybe even some vacuuming!

No ugly duckling---A rare Sunday morning treat!
(click on the picture to increase the size)

This is our resident Sandhill crane walking in our yard on Sunday morning with a flock of turkeys. This crane has been spotted in the fields near our house for the past few years. We like to go out in the evening in hopes of catching a glimpse of our friend in a large field across the road from our house. This was the closest we have been to the crane, and the first time it has been ion our yard. He (or she?) is always alone, so we were happy to see that it has found some feathered friends.

This amazing bird is one of the largest of the cranes. It has an unusual and distinctive cry, which can be heard when it is feeling threatened. Watching this bird take off is a truly wonderful sight. It is so large that it seems as if take off may not be achieved, but once airborne it flies quite easily. On takeoff and in flight the beating of the crane's wings is very audible, and once in the air the wingspan is tremendous!

The coolest thing about our crane friend, though, is that Sandhill Cranes do not frequent New England. They tend to stick to the middle of the country, summering in the north and wintering in the southwest, although there are several types of Sandhill Cranes. We wonder where our crane spends the winter.

Fabulous!

Here is a link to information about Sandhill Cranes: http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/guides/migration/sandhill.asp
I guess it has to be pasted in the browser since I don't know how to make it clickable, sorry!

SHS loop-mates meet!!

Last week my ds and I had the great pleasure of meeting our Cynthia and her two dd's for dinner. We talked so long that her dh called to see when she would be home. I hope he didn't worry that she'd met with a nut from the internet.

Anyway, it was a great time! It is such fun to meet cyber friends for real.

Thanks for getting together with us, Cynthia and dd's!!

Note--date is the date we got together. I like to do it that way so that I remember things in the right sequence. That is why when it rains here I will post pictures from February. I don't want to spend that much time on a beautiful day. They are too few and far between. Cynthia on left, Karen on right.

Welcome to the world, Shadows End Clove!
Little Clove was the first Shetland lamb born here, and the first lamb of the year.
She will be 2 weeks old on Wed. and is really doing well. You can see a bit of her mother's fleece in the background on the left.
This picture was taken when Clove was less than a day old.
The best part was that I got to see her being born! it was amazing. That little lamb came out head first, landed on the ground with a thump and a splash and soon thereafter was being cleaned up and was trying to stand. It was not long before she was following her mother around on wobbly little legs. So sweet.

The muddy road ahead
Mud season!! The end of my road, before it reaches the black top, gets very rutted and muddy when the snow melts each spring. It is always an adventure driving the car through the mud, swinging from side to side and hoping another car doesn't come along going the other way.
Sometimes the ruts are quite deep, and then it is great to have a high car so the undercarriage doesn't scrape. Sometimes mud season happens all at once, with days of muddy roads and slippery driving. Other times it happens in stages: mud, freeze, mud, freeze. When the mud freezes cars can get trapped if it doesn't thaw during the day and if the mud is deep enough.

Old snow
Snow is beautiful when it first falls, and here for some time afterward because there isn't much traffic exhaust to blacken the snow. But eventually it does get dirty, and it does melt, and then everything looks really yucky. There is no other way to put it--yucky.
The ground is muddy with clumps of dirty ice melting, the snow is rotting with blackened edges, and all sorts of long forgotten things surface from below the snow. It is not a great time of year, and certainly one never featured in calendars!

Hydrangea in snow


I saw this dried blossom lying in a footprint in the snow. It amazes me that something so delicate could survive wind, ice, snow, rain and now melting snow.
I do not know if it was blown into the print by the wind or if it was under the snow for sometime, blown and buried during a storm.

Spring Forward!!!
Or should I say, "sprang forward??" Springed? Sprung?? Who cares? After all, it is after 6 pm and the sun still has not slipped behind that hill.
The sun is moving north too, not long ago the sun was setting further to the left in this picture.
Moving the clock forward is one of my favorite days of the year.

Sedum with cat tracks.
Remember the sedum with snow on top? It is almost buried in snow now. Even with all of the snow we got it was never completely buried. The recent warm days have receded the snow, but it is still quite deep, particularly in this area of the yard where the wind blows it into drifts made deeper by the snowbanks from the road.

March 7, temperature in the late afternoon.

What a difference a day makes.












March 8, Morning temperature





And the next day:
March 9, morning temperature!! A heat wave!! Bring out the bathing suits, shorts and sandals.

Coffee stop.
This is a place where I sometimes stop for coffee on my drive to work. It sort of looks like a last outpost or something. Often there are a few snowmobiles getting gas.
It is a general store and a small restaurant. I like it, because the road beyond, while beautiful, is long and there is no where to stop for many miles.
An outpost indeed!

Our house in the snow.
There really is a lot of snow! These are the snowbanks along the road, but it is almost as deep behind the banks.
If you click on the picture to make it full frame you can see that the snow goes up to the porch (we did shovel a small path, though) and up to the front door.
There are tamped-down paths where I walk across the yard, but the snow is over my knees.

Off to Austria and Germany!
Away goes my son, meeting his school's bus, which we jokingly call Das Bus, to the airport and off to Europe for two weeks. He has his ski boots, helmet, ski pants, and oh, yeah, a few clothes in those two bags.

Full moon in February.
Even though I am posting this after the date it was taken I was surprised at the time that a whole month had passed since beginning this project. I love watching the full moon rise over the field and the barn. For several days the nights have been bright with cold silver-grey moonlight, but here the light, with the pinks in the eastern sky, almost look warm.

From scenic to mundane
Not all of VT is landscape and picturesque! This is the coop I go to a couple of time a week for various grocery purchases.
They have beautiful produce and many other healthy-types of foods. It is actually quite large, and a nice feeling store to shop in. It is not my only grocery store, but I can get some of the different items I need or want here. Soy milk, coffee, salad greens and dressings, shampoo and face soap to name a few.

Sunset

This picture looks to the east, which is what I thought was neat about this sunset. The reflection of the sun across the sky was really spectacular on this--much warmer than a few days earlier--January evening.

Misty sunset
this photo doesn't really capture the strange pastel nature of this sunset. There was a lot of mist in the sky this evening, turning all color soft. The hills in the background looked one dimensional, like pictures I've seen made from pasted pieces of paper.
The degree of variation in the same landscape never ceases to amaze me. I often marvel in the fact that the scene will never look exactly the same way again.

Frosty Rose
When it gets really cold, below zero cold, the horses's muzzles get all frosty from their breath. Rose's forelock and mane also have a touch of frost.

Note on posts--for a while, since I am trying to catch up, the pictures will not necessarily be ones taken on the date of the post. I decided that was best, since I got behind on taking pictures. I kept getting a chance to take pictures at the same time of day and did not have a lot of variety, so I decided to post pictures from days when I took more than one.

Frosty milkweed
It was very cold this morning, and everything seemed to have frost on it. This is some frozen milkweed near the horse pasture, its seeds still in the pod. I often wonder with all of the wind we have here, how those seeds manage to stay fast.

Relief
This is my son, just after finishing everything for his college applications. It was an ordeal, but it is done!!! If you could see the face behind the camera it too, would have relief written all over it.

Spruce in snow storm

We have five spruce trees that were planted to block the wind, I think. They line the driveway and are quite tall. I once met the person who planted them, but I can't remember when they were planted. I don't think they block the wind much either, but maybe they do.
Here they are in a light snowstorm.

Feed bucket in snow

This is the bucket I use to feed the horses every day, twice a day. Today has a little snow in it. Sometimes there is more snow, or water from the rain, depending on the weather. Of course, if I leave it in the barn instead of near the porch it stays dry, but often it is easier (an warmer or dryer!) to leave it near the porch and go right into the house.

New skis!!!

This is my new ski equipment. New to me skis, brand new boots, poles and I even treated myself to a new pair of goggles.
Using the new equipment was the least exciting part of my day.
I raced! My ds talked me into entering a gs race that was being held as a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. I did not make or break and world records but I had a blast!!! It was my first ski race and so much fun.

Wind in spite of the 5 spruces
Living on a hill we get a lot of wind! Many people who have lived in this area longer than I talk about their memories of wind at my house. Several of them delivered coal or oil here at one time. To hear them talk about it you'd think the house is perpetually hit with gale force winds and blizzard conditions.
It is not always windy, but usually if there is wind it is here in force. The wind has hit the house hard enough that we can feel it move and hear the china rattle. Really!!!

End of a race day
He is tired at the end of a race day. The days start early, and as evidenced by this picture end after dinner. Although each race involves only two runs the racers take advantage of being at a new mountain and ski all day.
There is also a lot of standing around waiting to go, which can be pretty cold, especially in a GS suit!

The picture was blurry because my hand was not quite steady with the long exposure needed to take it in low light. Rather than discarding it, though, I added an effect which blurred it more, which I think somehow adds to the sleeping subject.

Snow on spruce
It is finally snowing!! Actually it is quite windy, but I managed to get a picture of the snow nestled into the needles of this tree. This is one of five trees that line my drive, planted, I think, to block the wind.
This is pretty nice snow, fairly light and fluffy, but heavy enough to accumulate in the trees. It is the kind of snow that looks just like the fake snow on trees in model train sets.

Cold, cold morning
It is really cold this morning. This is a picture looking at the sunrising over the hill across from my house. I tried to get a sense of the cold, the shadows and the still feel of a cold day in Northern New England.
There is no warmth in that sun. It is below 0 and early in the morning. The snow squeaks under my feet. The sun is still low on the horizon. As the days pass it will rise further and further to the north, arcing across the horizon.

January 16--Sunset Below Zero

It is definitely January! When it is this cold and there isn't any wind the stillness is complete. It is very quiet, the only sounds are the snap of trees in the woods and the crunch of the horses walking through the snow. The snow has an icy crust which sounds quite startling when it breaks, particularly after dark when the horses are invisible in the field. I love being outside in this weather. The air is so clear and still that it seems the world is held in a momentary pause, the gap between one breath and the next.

14 January--Snow on sedum

It is finally snowing!!! We are going to have a real winter after all. Not that I doubted it, though.

I love to see the seasonal changes in plants. There is so much more to a garden than the summer blaze of color. When I plant new gardens this spring and summer I am going to plan for things that provide visual interest throughout the year.

This sedum is a new plant in my garden. It was a gift I received and planted late in the summer. What a lovely surprise its winter look is, a perfect snow catcher.

January 13--Steve's Tree
Every year Steve, the owner of a local restaurant and inn, puts up a beautiful tree. This tree has 720 ornaments and it is amazing! Every one of the ornaments has a story.
Steve puts decorations all over the inn, so customers can walk around and find unexpected Christmas treasures in every corner. It is really wonderful.
Each year we make sure we go to the inn for the tasty Saturday buuffet dinner so we can admire the decorations, and most of all the tree!
These pictures don't do justice to the decorations, but they are a start. I decided that this special subject needed more than just one picture for the day. So, I included a close up--look at all of the wonderful ornaments!
The best thing about Steve's decorations is that he loves doing it. I can imagine that it is great fun to watch customers discover treasures on the tree or in corners of the inn. His decorations are truly a gift.
Thank you Steve!

January 13 continued...Blogger didn't like three pictures so here is the last one--
Steve's Christmas village.
It took about two days with help, to put up the tree, and will take about the same amount of time to take it down. Sometimes Steve transforms the tree into a Valentine's tree, because he says that the room looks so dark without the tree. I always feel sorry about taking our tree down too.

January 12--Fluffy
I am playing catch up with my project pictures! This is one of our cats, Fluffy, who lives outside in the barn. She loves to follow me around the yard when I am feeding the horses and sheep, or gardening in the summer.

January 10--The stuff of my day
I almost didn't make it with a photo for today, but finally, at the end of the day I decided to take one of some of the things that made up my day.

January 9--Snow coming over the mountain

This view is from just below the ski lodge where I am spending a great deal of time these days. The views are spectacular, and change constantly.

Although it looks like there is snow there really isn't! If you look closely you can see the grass poking up, barely covered. Snow is falling from those clouds, though, and later in the afternoon provided us with a bit of a dusting.

January 8---Dogs
Here are my two dogs waiting for their evening biscuits. They were not too keen on sitting still or staying down for the portrait session.
Wiggles, left, kept getting up and barking at me as if I'd forgotten that it was biscuit time, while Hot Scotch, right, looked on.

In spite of the picture taking they did get more than their usual share of biscuits and I got a few photos.

January 7--My family--the last day of vacation
Here is my family, I am behind the camera. My daughter went back to college today and one son returns to school tomorrow, the other on Wednesday. The son on the left had to get his hair cut for school. His school has a dress code, but he is hoping to make it through the rest of the year without another cut. We'll see!! The college I teach at returns next Monday, so I have a week reprieve!

January 6--Surprise in the wind

So, how do I take a picture of my headache that feels like a band tightening around my forehead? How do I take a picture of the soft, brown scent of wet dirt in January, when the air should have the grey, metallic scent of snow? How do I take a picture of the discouraged lumps of melting snow in the grass? How do I take a picture of the disappointment my daughter feels that she couldn't ski today on her last day home for Christmas vacation?

I didn't. I took a picture of one of my horses, windblown, just up the pasture from a run in the field. She was snorting and happy in the warm breeze, and watching her I forgot my headache.

January 5--Think mud, think slush!

This is not January in Vermont! Does this look like January in Vermont? No, it does not, but sadly it is this January in Vermont.

This is a picture of our Christmas lights and a wreath reflected in a mud puddle in my driveway.

It rained today again, melting the little snow we do have. So grey, so warm, so not winter!

January 4--Moonset
I was up early today so I got to see the full moon setting in the colors of the dawning day.

It was quite a long day! I spent it at my son's ski race as a "gatekeeper," watching to see that racers went through the gates. Only one didn't get through all of the 4 gates I watched; one fell and didn't finish the race, the other fell by but hiked up and went through the gate.

It was my son's second race and he came in right in the middle of the pack, 36th of 75 racers. I was really proud of him, and it was great to see him ski past me. Usually I have to watch indistinguishable dot skiers from the bottom of the hill.

It was actually a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny. I didn't even have to wear gloves most of the day. I was surprised at how steep the hill was, even though I've skied it many times. Standing still and watching racers go by allows for an entirely different perspective.

After the race I decided to take a couple of runs. I wound up on an ungroomed trail which was unskiable for me! I fell twice, and finally took off my skis and hiked down to another trail. It was neat walking though, because I got to see all of the things that are missed in a ski run. One place on the trail had thick green and pink moss growing on rocks shielded by icicles and snow. It was quite beautiful, but I didn't have my camera. I did get a good run on the lower, but steeper trail!

January Full Moon-about 5 pm
Well, this picture doesn't do a winter full moon night justice, but since I haven't learned how to use my camera on manual yet it will have to do!
This view is from my porch, looking toward the barn. In the Jan. 1 picture of the horses I was looking the opposite direction, with my back to the barn.
Full moon winter nights are beautiful. When there is snow on the ground the fields are almost daylight bright. Tonight there is a crust of ice on the snow so the moonlight streams across it.
I love seeing the moon rise over the barn and the field behind it. At this time of year I often have to feed my horses and sheep in the dark, and it is nice to have moonlight to see by. I do take a flashlight to the barn though, because there is a skunk who lives nearby and I really don't want to be surprised or surprise her/him!

Late afternoon snowmaking at Burke Mountain.
The sun is lovely, but adds no warmth at this time of year. The mountain faces north, so only at the very end of the day does the sun shine here, just before twilight starts to set in. The views are lovely, and late afternoon is bittersweet as the lifts close and another ski day comes to an end.

This was not a ski day for me, but my son is racing for the first time this year and practices almost every day so I am at the mountain. I love to ski, but we have not had much snow. Only a few trails are open so I will wait until later in the season, although I couldn't resist and went once last week. It was a great day. Those snowmaking guns are dong all that they can!

I love the feeling of the end of a good day of skiing: cold cheeks, ski boots thumping on wooden floors and a general feeling of good cheer.

January 1, 2007 Happy New Year!
Dinner time! I am the person the horses are so captivated by. I walk across this road every day coming and going to the barn for their grain. As you can see it is a highlight of their day.

I love this project! One suggestion for finding photo topics was to go to a list of questions and answer one of those a day with a photo. One question, "Who are you?" stuck with me and I decided to make it my theme for all 365 pictures. I think I may discover a lot about myself in taking part in this project. Jan. 1, 2007. It is a wet and gloomy day here in N New England.