Happy [?] New Year.

1-1-26 SHORT HILLS: I realize that it’s been almost two weeks with no post. No post about Xmas, the Party, the weather, the guests, the dogs, the horses and all the festivities. It wasn’t because we were having such a good time, but we were both sick, sick, sick. 

I started with fever and an unrelenting cough, weakness and prostration. After a fight, I let them take me to the DHMC-ER where my X-ray showed pneumonia and my flu test was positive—a double header. The doc turned out to be the nephew of a classmate from BU Sch of Med back in the sixties! Dan and Judy poured me back into the car for the trip to CVS for antibiotics and then home. I was afebrile after a couple days on the antibiotics and well enough to make it to the party for a few hours between naps. 

Judy got sick a few days after I did. She had a terrible cold with nasal symptoms and then a sore throat. She drove us home while sick, packed and unpacked the car, saw to the dogs, watered the plants, all while dodging snow storms and frigid cold. Both of us have slept and slept and slept, and neither of us has any appetite. We watched CNN for New Years, but they never showed the ball drop, or we dropped off and missed it.

The Party was a huge success, and we are still eating left-overs. All the snow we had in VT almost totally melted, before new storms arrived with fresh snow, almost enough to fully replace that which was lost. We had snow in NJ and got plowed before we got home and last night we got a few  inches more. Today is cold and very windy. The sunshine isn’t warming anything up. I’m still coughing. I know someone I can wish this on.

The horses with Mom and Dad in the snow.

Party goers.

Before the party--carol sing in Strafford, I missed it for the first time in years.

From the DR to see the snow.

Secret Santa.

The party has set sail.

More party guests.

 

Fractured Flag.

Warm Rain turned to Cold Ice.

12-20-25 VERMONT: In typical New England fashion, it warmed up, into the fifties, rained at least an inch, which washed away a lot of the snow, and then froze with a lot of wind. We still have snow cover, but instead of a foot we have an inch. We had another power outage last night for about 12 hours. Speaking of power the solar panels were not working when they were covered with snow, but now are making electricity again.  

The feeders are getting attention now, I topped off the old seeds with new seeds, and they’re all being eaten. At first it was just chickadees and tufted titmouses, but now we also have bluejays, downy woodpeckers and a gold finch, who still has a lot of color. I thought it was a pine warbler, at first,  because there is so much yellow, but it’s probably too late in the season for warblers. 

We started the day with sunshine, but now it’s overcast again and we might get some new snow tonight.  

Bluejay in the azaleas.

The upper pond is now full for the first time since May. The brook was actually flowing during the warm rain.

All the rain froze and the pond is now icy again.

The tables and chairs on the terrace had deep piles of snow, but are now clear.

Goldfinch are usually gray at this time of the year.

Tufted titmouse.

Downy woodpecker and goldfinch.

Vermont in December.

12-17-25 VERMONT: We came up a few days ago. It is C-O-L-D here. The temps have been below freezing for more than a week. There is maybe a foot of snow, packed down in places. The ponds are frozen. The roofs are covered with snow, and the solar panels have been snow covered and are not working. We’ve been plowed and shoveled. The dogs love the snow. It is unusually wintery for December. The horses are very furry with their winter coats and dressed in blankets. I filled the bird feeders, the bears are asleep, with the left over seeds, but have no visitors. I guess the seeds are too stale. 

The tree is up and lit and decorated. Judy has started prep for the Xmas day party. Oh yes, today has brought us another Vermont tradition—a power outage. The generator is running so some of the house is working. I checked with GMP, and it looks like our road is the only one in all Vermont with no power.

We picked up the swan and the butterfly from the last auction. The butterfly is hanging in the old mudroom, and the swan has joined the flock. The roads are fine, plowed and sanded. 

We will meet Laura-Beth for dinner tomorrow in Hanover. 

Snow on the ground gray skies above when we arrived.

There's been a lot of snow.

The horses, Raven and Peachez, dressed for the season with their Mom and Dad.

New old butterfly weathervane in the mud room.

The house and road with snow on the roof. Today is supposed to warm up a little and all the snow might fall off with house shaking thuds.

The sky cleared in the evening for a sunset.

The tree with St. Chelsea on top.

Me and Blue sharing the sofa.

Ragtime.

12-9-25 SHORT HILLS: It’s been cold, unusually cold, with actual temps at night in the teens. Vermont is even colder. We are headed there the end of the week after they get mid-week snow. We will be there through Xmas with many guests, and our usual Xmas day party, Judy’s triumph.

We saw the new production of ‘Ragtime’ Saturday at the Vivian Beaumont at Lincoln Center. I read the book by E. L. Doctorow years ago, and we have seen either the movie or previous stage productions. This one is a knockout. Set in 1906, it is relevant today re immigration and racial prejudice. The three principles, Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, and Brandon Uranowitz playing Coalhouse Walker jr., Mother, and Tateh got standing O’s. Making cameos are Admiral Peary, Houdini, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Booker T. Washington and others. My hearing aids set at ’T-coil’ worked perfectly to amplify the sound. 

I guess, like kids who want the same bedtime story repeated every night, adults also like their favorites repeated.

We had dinner with Lynn and Bill Sunday at T of A. 

We had a dusting of snow that disappeared by noon.

We haven't been to Lincoln Center for a while.

The Met looks almost the same.

Ragtime poster, yopu can just make pout the reflection of the photographer.

The reflecting pool doing its job.

Theatre goer in the cold.

Warming up inside. There is not a bad seat in this ampitheatre.

Freezing.

12-3-25 SHORT HILLS: We have now had a hard frost, with a harder one to come tomorrow or tomorrow night. I was filling the bird feeder Monday and saw the birdbath frozen. It subsequently thawed and then re-froze. We went from mild fall weather to winter almost overnight. Several low temps over the next ten days will be in the teens.

The birds are gobbling up sunflower seeds and the suet blocks, as well as the remaining berries on the shrubs. I am trying to keep up with the demand. 

As often happens, a warmish day after cold ones induce the forsythia to open flowers. I don’t think there are any pollinators left out there. Fortunately only a handful of the buds open. 

Thanksgiving was fun with all the east coast family at Anna and Gardner’s plus Gardner’s sister Elizabeth and some of their friends. You can tell it’s going to be a good party when the first glass of wine is served in mid-morning.

New blooms: forsythia.  

Cold water.

Thanksgiving table.

I had help with my zipper when we left.

Forsythia- "It's December."

Blue and Judy were at Covenant House this morning.

Peachez in the snow. Vermont is at least 10° colder than NJ and is getting a bunch of new snow.

Almost Turkey Time.

11-24-25 SHORT HILLS: The Japanese maples are still clinging to some leaves. Oaks and beeches are holding on to brown leaves, as they do for most of the winter. Why they do this is unknown, but theories include protection of next years buds. Marcesence is the name of this phenomenon. 

I first noticed it, marcesence, while waiting in line for gas in the pre-dawn during that crisis years ago—all the oak street trees had lots of brown leaves in winter. Usually it is assumed that any trait offers some advantage to the species, but this one is a puzzle.

November continues to be mild. I don’t think there has been a hard frost here, and we’re getting rain now. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Japanese maple with autumn color late in the season. The leaves are green in summer.

Another one with red fall foliage.

One more with red foliage.

A Japanese maple without the red. They all have green leaves in summer.

One of several pedestrians on our street.

Back in NJ.

11-15-25 SHORT HILLS: The trees have been gradually shedding leaves and now most of the leaves are down. I don’t think there has been a frost yet, certainly there has not been a hard frost. We have had rain, but the rain gauge is put away so I don’t know how much. It’s been windy, but today is calm. The aurora put on a show that was visible at our latitude and further south, but it was overcast here both nights. The color here has been good, but is mostly over at this point.

Before we left Vermont, there was a day of rain that washed away all the snow, leaving not a single flake behind. Subsequently a little new snow has fallen there. 

We had dinner with Lynn and Bill. Thanksgiving is on the horizon.

 

Snow all gone.

Color here, chokecherry in orange and burning bush in red.

New neighbor.