Predicting weather by the signs: A “mast year”

Here in the Southern mountains, the old-timers (and many young people as well) still predict the weather by “the signs,” that is, the signs found in nature.   One of those signs is the “mast,” the acorn crop. A “mast year” occurs when oak trees produce a massive amount of acorns that can sustain wildlife,…

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The final bloom

Again this year, the blue hydrangea ushers in autumn with one final bloom, while summer’s blooms still hang on, somewhat withered and faded but still beautiful… As always: Слава Україні!! Slava Ukraini!! #StandWithUkraine Am Yisrael Chai

Festival of Leaves 2025: Week # 2~Tulip Poplar

Not much color yet here, but the little Tulip Poplar at the edge of the woods has a few yellow leaves. Linked to Dawn’s Festival of Leaves As always: Слава Україні!! Slava Ukraini!! #StandWithUkraine Am Yisrael Chai

Song for The Resistance: “Edelweiss”

Edelweiss, a song about a small, white Alpine flower, is often thought to be an Austrian folk song. However, it is a show tune, originally composed for the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It became more widely known through the 1965 film adaptation of the show. Edelweiss is now trending on…

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A word about Antifa

Earlier this past week, the U.S. president signed an executive order designating “Antifa” as a terrorist organization. For my readers who are not in the U.S. (and even for those who are), Antifa is not an organization at all. There is no organizational structure, and there is no membership. The word “Antifa” means anti-fascist. Anyone…

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Festival of Leaves 2025: Week # 1~ Red Maple

My Red Maple, which also has yellow leaves in autumn, waited until September this year to begin changing color. In recent years past, it has begun to change as early as July or August. Linked to Dawn’s Festival of Leaves 2025: Week #1 As always: Слава Україні!! Slava Ukraini!! #standwithukraine Хай живе вільна Україна Am Yisrael Chai

Autumn spiders

The approach of autumn always means the appearance of a variety of spiders here. Most are the invasive Joro spiders, although there also are quite a few Wolf spiders as well. The spiders tend to be large. Their webs this year are the largest I have ever seen, and most of them are on my…

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Icelandic buildings – Part 2

Built between 1938-1939, the Knarraros Lighthouse on Iceland’s South Coast was the country’s first lighthouse made of reinforced concrete and was designed in an Art Nouveau style… Although it looks like a building, the stone edifice pictured below is actually a statue of Bárður Snæfellsás, the mythical protector of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. The statue depicts…

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