Author: Nancy J. Moncrieff

We haven’t had snow or bitter cold in a while now, and more and more of the world is behaving as if this is spring.  In addition to white snowdrops blooming close to the ground, and slightly taller, buttercup-yellow aconite, we now have crocuses celebrating in Easter colors and, in the last couple days, hellebores… Continue reading Baskers and Buffleheads

The temperature climbed into the seventies on Tuesday, far and away the warmest February day ever recorded in this part of Michigan.  Of course, Wednesday was bitterly cold, and Thursday only made it to the thirties, but this is still winter.  The birds hereabouts have, however, decided to ignore the cold weather and proceed as… Continue reading Birds, Band, and Blessing

     Driving up Division after church last Sunday, my husband and I saw a happy dog.  It was a golden retriever, out for a walk, that had come upon something to retrieve:  a stick.  And not just any stick.  This stick still had twigs attached, some of them a foot long.  This seems to have… Continue reading Happy Dogs

Last Sunday, I sat in two different places in church.  For the morning service, there was my favorite pew, perfect for two people—three, if they know one another well–on the left side, near the front, surrounded by familiar people sitting in their favorite pews.  It’s comfortable there, and I can see the organist’s hands and… Continue reading Walk in the Light

Opening the door for the morning dog walk today, I called to my husband, “I’m wearing sunglasses.”      “Okay,” he answered.  “Good luck.”      It felt a bit like derring-do, after all the grey days we’ve had recently, but it worked out all right.  True, clouds came to cover most of the sky while Rascal… Continue reading Winter Sun

Dave Rexroth, chief meteorologist for Channel 7 Action News, has made the announcement:  January 2024 was the wettest January since Michigan started keeping track of such things.  The Big Wet arrived in many forms.  Snow.  Rain.  Freezing rain.  Sleet.  What exactly is the difference between freezing rain and sleet?  Freezing rain is when raindrops don’t… Continue reading Wintry Mix

Crunching along through the snow and ice with the dog, a couple days ago, I was startled by the sight of two red-bellied woodpeckers falling into the snow almost at our feet.  They were “at” each other and too busy to notice us right away.  This gave us a chance to watch the show—two long-billed,… Continue reading Birds and Boats

Six below and windy.  Yikes!  We’ve been having quite the winter weather.  The last week has been a good one for staying indoors.  Or so I hear.  Rascal himself never checks the thermometer.  No number that might appear there would present an obstacle to his outdoor perambulations.  His built-in fur coat keeps the cold off… Continue reading Weather-Advisory Weather

This is more like it.   It snowed last night.  The moment you opened your eyes this morning, you could tell there was snow on the ground.  You didn’t need to get up and look out a window to tell, because the world is so bright.  Reflecting off all that snow on the ground.  Ahh.     … Continue reading Good Snow

     Quite unexpectedly, my husband got 2024 off to an auspicious start on New Year’s Day.  Having decided on scrambled eggs for breakfast, he selected a couple of jumbos from the carton, and cracked them into a bowl.  Then he called me over to look.  Both the eggs had double yolks.  I thought maybe he’d… Continue reading New Year