Moncrieff in Michigan

     One of my husband’s sisters gave us an amaryllis for Christmas.  We took our time getting it started and have been rewarded this month with blooms of scarlet red.  Many blooms.  Six flowers on the first stalk, which is one more than on the most exuberant of amaryllises past.  Then along came a second… Continue reading Pilsner Pours

Tuesday morning’s walk started out in the usual way, the dog and I setting out in the sunshine to see, or in his case, sniff, what was what on a sunny late-winter day.  Before we’d gone four houses from our door, we were well and truly astonished.  We surprised a turkey on the other side… Continue reading Turkey Surprise

We all have favorite signs that spring may, in fact, be on the way.  The appearance of robins in these northern climes used to be a reliable indicator.  But with climate change, quite a few robins now elect not to fly south for the winter, hanging around up here year round.  Robins are still a… Continue reading Birds and Bikes

Tuesday night, we celebrated our anniversary at Cleary’s Pub in Chelsea, and Pat Cleary sat down with us for a while.  He told us the recent remodeling that closed the restaurant for three days took place in the kitchen.  He had the floor replaced.  Also, “the line.”  The line is where the staff work as… Continue reading Shaking Pompoms

Our yard, this week, has been testament to the passage of all sorts of critters.  Some of them hop, some stroll, some drag their bellies or tails.  Some don’t leave tracks where you can see them, preferring to tunnel along under the surface of the snow.  Some wander here and there.  Others tramp along on… Continue reading Forbears and Fat Flakes

Squeak, squeak, squeak.  That’s the recent soundtrack of our lives.  The snow squeaks underfoot at every step outdoors, and indoors we have the dog and his squeaky toys.  Time was, we could count on such toys to wear out with sufficient loving.  But, some years back, a couple family members who shall remain anonymous presented… Continue reading Squeaking By

For whatever reason, the Northbury homeowners association has left the aerator on in the little pond on Argonne this winter.  During the summer, the HOA leaves it in fountain mode, for the enjoyment of passersby and birds.  The pond is fenced, so birds are about the only critters that can get at it.  But this… Continue reading Working in Community

     It’s February and, right on time, we’ve had the February thaw.  Which means hockey nets and improvised goals have been pulled off the hockey rinks on Thurston Pond, lest they be lost if the ice melts.  So far, the pond is still iced over, and the cold that’s followed the thaw may well make… Continue reading Winter and Research

     This morning, while walking the dog, I saw again a sight first seen last week:  a parent out skating on Thurston Pond while pushing a stroller.  There was no tearing around as we passed this time, unlike the mom from last week, pushing her stroller as fast as she could.  Today’s circuits of the… Continue reading On the Ice

Reading upstairs one sunny afternoon this week, I became aware of a recurrent motion outside the window.  Birds were jumping down off the roof—I could hear them up there, and sometimes see their tails while they waited their turn—and swooping down past the window.  Then zooming off to perch a moment in the neighbors’ tree. … Continue reading Winter Days