Nature – Page 8 – Ripple Effects

Vermont: More than Scenery

Vermont has so much to offer on top of the scenery. But I’ll start with that.

The hills are alive overlooking a breathtaking view of the distant Green Mountains. That was what attracted the von Trapp Family to settle there. Right, that’s the Family von Trapp of The Sound of Music fame. Goerg and Maria moved to Vermont in 1941 and bought a 300 acre farm near Stowe, as that location reminded them of their native Austria. There on the mountain top they started a guest lodge and had since developed into what is now an upscale resorts on 2,500 acres.

The Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT, owned and operated by the eldest son of Maria and Georg von Trapp:

Just 36 miles west of Stowe was Lake Champlain on the edge of Burlington, a vibrant college town. The Lake is a large body of fresh water, once called the sixth of the Great Lakes. It borders the States of Vermont, New York and stretches up north to Quebec, Canada.

At the pier of Lake Champlain:

I totally get how this boat is named:

I took the Vermont scenic drive Rt. 100 and headed south from Stowe. My destination was Bennington in the southwest corner of the State.

Not far from Stowe I arrived at Waterbury, a town with lots of restaurant choices for such a small place. I visited two major tourist sites there.

Just off RT 100 was the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory, and they sure were prepared for the hundreds of visitors on the day I was there. A well organized and informative factory tour let me see how two college buddies’ $50 investment on an online ice cream making course had come to fruition. What’s impressive is their commitment to use supplies from local farms and cows that are steroids-free. A fair trade business to ensure global responsibility. (no, I don’t get a buck for writing this.)

In contrast, not far from the madding crowd at Ben & Jerry’s was the serene Waterbury Reservoir. When I got there it was already past sunset. So glad I could still take these photos:

Continued on Vermont Rt. 100 south I came by this most interesting site in the fields outside the small town of Waitsfield, population: 1,719 (2010). Here I found The Big Picture Theater, screening The Martian:

Two posters at the door caught my attention:

One was a “Kickstarter Film Festival”. An indie film festival in this area? I was most impressed.

Another poster was about a talk on “The Costumes of Downton Abbey”. Here’s what the poster says if you can’t see it clearly (above right):
“Jule Emerson, former Costume Designer and Theater Professor at Middlebury College will discuss the fashions worn by Lady Mary and her family in the popular PBS series Downton Abbey. Free and Open to the Public”

No place is too remote for films and the Crawleys.

Rt. 100 offered some fall scenery very different from NH. I was attracted by the clumps of trees in distant hills along the road. It was a cloudy day, so instead of seeing bright and cheery foliage, I was captivated by the moody atmosphere. Just as beautiful:

Before arriving at Bennington, I stopped by South Shaftsbury to visit Robert Frost Stone House Museum. Frost bought the stone house and its 80 acres land in 1920, moving from the White Mountains in NH to warmer Vermont mainly for “a better place to farm and especially grow apples.” Aren’t we glad that he threw in some poems as well in his time-off from apple-picking.

In this fertile soil Frost not only gathered apples but poetic harvests as well. In the Stone House, there’s a “Stopping by Woods” Room where the Poet wrote his most famous “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” A facsimile of the handwritten manuscript and many other pertinent materials – parody included – were displayed. Trust my words. I didn’t want to get caught taking pictures in a ‘Photography Forbidden’ premises.

I did take photos outside of Frost’s Stone House:

and his juicy legacy, the apple tree in front of the house:

From Shaftsbury I drove the few blocks to Bennington, There at the back of the First Congregational Church was the cemetery where Robert Frost was buried.

Yes, the sky was that blue that day:

Frost’s grave gathered no pens or pencils as I saw in Authors Ridge of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord ; instead, people have left pennies there. If they were meant to be tributes to the Poet, it’s simply mind boggling to see how people could think a penny would suffice. Allow me to offer a little alteration to a common saying, standing in front of Frost’s grave: If you don’t have anything poetic to leave there, don’t leave anything.

Coming up: my last stop, Lenox, MA.

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Finally, Fall Foliage

This was a fall foliage road trip after all, albeit I must say I’d thoroughly enjoyed the coastal scenery in Maine.

New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest offered some magnificent sights. Last heard, there’s snow in NH and Vermont. So I’m all thankful for even getting a glimpse of maybe just 40% of fall foliage before the white stuff cometh.

The trees were lovely at the White Mountain National Forest Visitors Center:

There, I learned that a portion of the Appalachian Trail passed nearby. I told myself, I must experience that.

I stepped onto the path of the relatively difficult trail (for me anyway), just to have a taste and to see how challenging it was. To make a short story even shorter, I only stayed for a little while. Here’s a view looking upward while there:

I’d asked for recommendation for an easy walk to a scenic point and was given instructions to the 64 ft. drop of the Glen Ellis Falls at Pinkham Notch; now that’s much better. I’ll leave the Appalachian Trail to the adventurous, like Redford and Nolte:

To continue on westward to Vermont, I’d read that I must take the Kancamagus Highway for the magnificent views. And so I did. Driving the 34 miles on the scenic route from Conway to Lincoln, NH, is one of the highlights of my trip. Here are some views of the foliage along The Kanc, as the locals call it.

Car-stopping view:

Onward to Vermont, some picturesque country roads as well:

More about Vermont to be continued…

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Orange is the Primary Colour

Driving from coastal Maine westward to New Hampshire, the foliage colours began to change a bit more. Even though I was totally enjoying myself along the coast, I did look forward to seeing some fall foliage as I moved inland.

I drove from Rockport to Maine’s capital Augusta, then continued on some small country roads towards Bethel and Gilead before crossing the State line to Gorham, New Hampshire. It was a pleasure driving through these more remote parts of the country, for the routes offer some gratifying scenery:

But it was the colour orange on the ground that caught my eyes. From afar, they were tiny orange dots in the field:

A bit closer I knew, of course, that was a pumpkin patch. And it was orange that would be the predominant colour everywhere, in towns and in the country.

On flatbeds and wagons:

Or laid out neatly in arrays on grass:

In various shapes and forms:

At door fronts, entrances, in hanging baskets and shop windows:

Or in the form of pumpkin people:

Or as pumpkin elves like these two sitting outside Elf Academy:

No wonder there’s a shortage of pumpkins in the U.S. as the demand is so high. With recent crops diminished by record rain, there arose a pumpkin shortage. Help is on the way though. Here’s a recent headline on CBC News Business section:

“Canadian pumpkin patches poised to fix U.S. lack-o’-lanterns problem.”

What are neighbors for?

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This is my Saturday Snapshot October 17 entry. Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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A New England Fall Foliage Road Trip

Just came back from a ‘Thelma and Louise’ kinda road trip with my cousin to Northeastern United States. Kinda but not exactly, for obvious reason: I’ve come back, bearing photos and a foliage report that says it’s not too late to head out even now.

According to locals, due to the warm, extended summer days, foliage change has delayed by about a week. I started my drive in late September to the first week of October, and I’d say the foliage color change was from 10% to 40%, depending on the locale.

Here’s the itinerary of my travels:

Wayland, MA –> Portland, ME –> Rockport / Camden, ME –> N. Conway, NH –>
Stowe, VT –> Williamstown, MA –> Wayland, MA

I’ll be posting interesting sights I encountered during this trip. Here’s my first entry.

Walden Pond

I started from Wayland, MA, a suburb about 30 mins. drive west of Boston. Walden Pond is just 6.2 miles north of Wayland. In pursuit of solitude, to taste the bare essence and to ‘suck out the marrow of life’, Henry David Thoreau cleared some trees in the woodlands owned by his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, built a 10′ x 15′ cabin and on July 4, 1845, began to live there by the Pond, an experience that lasted two years, two months and two days.

A stone-throw from the parking lot of the Walden Pond State Reservation is a replica of Thoreau’s cabin. A friendly ranger greeted me:

Inside the cabin were the bare necessities, a bed, a table, a desk, three chairs: “one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”

As for the Pond, it was pure serenity. As for fall foliage, I could only see it in my mind’s eye:

So you could imagine my surprise to see beaches and swimmers. But of course, this is now a National Park, and it’s summer still:

The day was September 28, the few autumn leaves reminded me that transition of the seasons was indeed happening, however slowly:

As I walked around the lake, a sign pointed me to the actual site of Thoreau’s cabin in the woods:

And beside it, these famous words of his:

But nowhere could I find a sign posting this other quote which I also admire, on the economy of work:

“For more than five years I maintained myself thus solely by the labor of my hands, and I found that, by working about six weeks in a year, I could meet all the expenses of living.”

Don’t you just love his calculations?

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Saturday Snapshot September 19: Pelican Chaser

I’m a pelican chaser. Like those driving towards the eye of the storm, I drive and chase Pelicans from the ground, as far as the road can take me, which is not very far before they’re out of sight.

Unlike that of the storm chasers, my task is serene. From afar, I see the objects of my obsession. Distinctly, I can tell they are Pelicans and not Canada Geese, or Herons. I learned that the Great Blue Herons are solitary, but the Pelicans are gregarious. And as they fly in the sky, Pelicans come in droves and don’t fly the V formation as strictly as the Canada Geese. Since they are larger than the Geese, it’s usually quite easy to identify them:

It’s always wonderful to see a big bird fly majestically in the sky, never mind the baggy beak that looks a bit cartoonish:

So, instead of craning my neck to catch them in the sky, it’s always added pleasure to see a clan of them on the rocks in the river. They look so graceful, like umm… bathing beauties in a movie scene:

I’d spent hours watching their movement, or the lack of it. They are serene, nonchalant, quiet and calm. I’d see them preening on end. Seems like that’s more important than feeding. Their sheer size is awesome. Look at that seagull in the lower left corner in this picture:

I love their leisurely demeanour, not a care in the world… see how they yawn, looks like a most pleasurable pastime:

or playing with their flappy beak. Yes, they can turn it inside out:

or keeping up with the latest gossips:

Or day-dreaming like Snoopy, as the WWI flying ace fighting the Red Baron:

Don’t think they’re all cool and aloof, drowsed in oblivion. They are highly alert of the potential party crasher, like that time, two dogs approaching the edge of the water. They know when to fold, when to walk away. As for the Pelican Chaser, that’s the best time to capture some action:

Haven’t we all heard it before: “Serenity is golden… But sometimes a few ripples are needed as proof of life.”

Just say’n …

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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TEXT AND PHOTOS AND THAT FAMOUS QUOTE

ALL BY

ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Saturday Snapshot August 22: Summer Still

It snowed yesterday. I waited, but it didn’t change, unlike what they say about our weather that if you don’t like it, just wait 5 mins.

But it was only August 21st, summer still. However, I get the message that nature sends so clearly… nothing gold can stay.

Before it fully disappears, here are some photos showing our summer lingering still.

At the pond, the Great Blue Heron and Yellowlegs bask in the summer sun.

Glad to see the songbirds are still here. They know best when to fly south. Apparently not yet. Saw this Least Flycatcher a couple of days ago. Mutually curious:

And this young Yellow Warbler… Hang around a bit longer, li’l guy, a much warmer week ahead is in the forecast.

But of course, I can’t help but see the ripening berries and the seeded dandelions:

Just a while longer… it’s summer still.

(P.S. It’s gorgeous today. Going out to see my avian friends. More next week.)

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what other have posted.

Saturday Snapshot August 1: A Summer Wood

Colours growing wild.

I can easily imagine a lavender field in Provence.

Ripening Saskatoon berries, food for everyone.

The tiny Yellow Warbler never ceases to fascinate me.

… here practising her trapeze skill.

Or the American Goldfinch… common for the Americans, but always a golden moment for me when I capture one in picture.

A delight even just to see the common Robin basking in the the setting sun, redder than ever.

The ordinary in a different frame.

Common sight, common light, common grace.

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Saturday Snapshot June 27: The Busy Beaver

It is on the face of our 5-cent coin, an emblem of Canada. And thanks to conservation and the lack of demand in the pelt hat, the Beaver – at one time endangered – is now safe in numbers.

However, we seldom see one, definitely not an everyday sighting. As for me, I’ve never seen one on land like the image on the coin, busy with its chore. But they are around; surely we can see the aftermath they leave behind. Here are evidences of their presence:

That’s why we have these:

I’ve had the chance of seeing a beaver recently at a pond, taking a break from its busy schedule:

Sure looks like a bear is swimming towards you:

A closer look and you can see its long and robust body:

Beaver

yet agile, diving in and speeds away underwater:

But what I find interesting are the ripples it makes. Look back at the above photos and below:

Or is it just me, watching out for ripples everywhere?

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

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Saturday Snapshot June 13: Birdspeak

Note: Click on the photo to enlarge for a better view.

Evening. Outside the home of the Starlings.

Junior doesn’t look very happy. I’m hungryyyy!

Now where is she? What’s taking her so long?

Here you are… fresh worms:

Now eat up, chomp, chomp, chomp:

What? You want more?! This is my third trip already.

After some time, Mom Starling finally comes back with more.

Ok, here you are, fresh worms! Now where did the monkey go?

You want me to bring it to your room?!

Get off the computer!

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Saturday Snapshot May 30: Of Birds and Men

Living adjacent to a Provincial Park, I’m always amazed at how tolerant and adaptable the birds are towards our human intrusions. Birds and men co-exist considerably well in my neck of the woods:

There’s even a vague resemblance between birds and man-made structures like in this photo, The Great Blue Heron and the Light Post:

And then there are the Canada Geese, who aren’t shy and actually quite imposing, never observe right of way’s, and never keep their voices down in public places. Since some of you in response to my previous Saturday Snapshot post were surprised that Canada Geese nest in tree trunks, here are a couple more photos for you. People just walk or bike by below these trees, as the Geese give birth to their young just above their heads; no, not in the water. How can you build a nest in the water anyway?

From afar, the Goose at her nest:

At the doorstep:

Of course, you’ll see them in the water once the Goslings are big enough. Here is a family outing:

Here’s a picture of co-existence in harmony… the sailboat was in close proximity to the Geese family, yet both parties took a nonchalant attitude, doing their own thing:

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Saturday Snapshot May 23: Birds Among Buds

While some of you are enjoying roses and rhododendrons, or harvesting your first tomatoes and zucchini, we’re finally seeing buds on our tree branches that were still bare just a few weeks ago.

Here are some photos of what you can see within our budding grove. Probably the most common and easiest to photograph are the Robins. They like to pose and they are not too camera shy:

For a few days I was trying hard to shoot the elusive Ruby-crowned Kinglet, for their calls are clear and distinct. Lured by their songs, I walked into a thicket of bushes and trees and lost my direction for a while in the forest. Love’s labour’s not lost. Here are some of the fruits of my venture off the beaten track. You can see two tiny dots of red on the crown of this one:

But trust me, I saw one flash out in red at the crown flapping his wings frantically from a short distance, but only for just a second. I didn’t even have time to lift my camera and it flew away.

Here’s another Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I must say the budding leaves are more appealing here.

Where do you see the Canada Goose nesting? Inside tree trunk cavities. Here’s one:

On a nearby trunk, the Northern Flicker tapping away, with calls you can hear from a distance:

Have you heard of the Happy Wren? Here he is, probably the happiest bird around at 8 a.m. He was on that branch for half an hour chirping away, loud and clear:

Remember the Great Horned Owlet? He’s grown quite a bit. Here’s a recent photo:

Don’t recognize him? Here’s looking at you kid:

Within the budding grove, birds come and go. Another spring, another generation. This owlet will soon fly away when spring comes to an end. But those eyes I won’t soon forget.

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ARTI OF RIPPLE EFFECTS

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Saturday Snapshot May 16: Silhouettes

Often when I’m outdoor, the light, shadow, direction of the sun and the time of day are less than ideal for photography. That’s the time when I see beauty from another perspective. The lack of light on the subject, or when it’s backlit, makes it all the more intriguing.

I’ve learned to appreciate silhouettes. They are more soulful and quiet. When devoid of colour, I can see more clearly the subject’s shape and form, and its solitary existence. Here are some photos I’ve taken lately… a kind of Wabi-sabi.

The slow and meditative movement of the Great Blue Heron:

Look at the shadow in the water, like a Chinese brush stroke:

A solitary Belted Kingfisher:

Cattails by the pond in the evening light:

Guess who’s still busy at dusk:

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Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads. CLICK HERE to see what others have posted.

Photos Taken by Arti of Ripple Effects

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