The Brandenburg Six.

12-12-09 SHORT HILLS: We finally got that hard frost with a bit of snow that disappeared in the following rain. We have had a lot of rain. The flood plains of the Passaic River are under water, at least in spots. Today is sunny, warmer and less windy than yesterday.

We saw Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, all six, at NJPAC done by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center last night. I loved it. While they have a certain similar sound, you don’t appreciated the differences unless you see the performances and see the different instrumentation of each one. For instance, Five has a harpsichord solo, One has oboes, horns, and a bassoon, Two has a piccolo trumpet, bassoon and oboes, Four has two flutes, Six has no violins, only the other strings. Let’s see, that leaves Three, Three has all strings, no wind instruments.

Weather Potpourri.

12-5-09 VERMONT: We’ve been here for a few days. We arrived to sunny and cold, switched to warm with heavy rain, then back to sunny and cool, and today, snow. There are puddles everywhere and mud from the rain. All the brooks are white and foamy torrents. The pond was covered with a layer of ice, quite thin, when we arrived that rapidly vanished.

The turkeys were in the pasture yesterday afternoon but trotted off when we turned the lights on. This morning they were around the pond, but left when the camera shutter clicked.

I did some pick-up-sticks, residua of the wind storm at the beginning of the week, and put out the reflectors in the driveway to guide the snow plowers. [as if] I cut down a small pine to bring to NJ for Xmas.


Survived November.

Still Warm Here.

11-30-09 SHORT HILLS: We continue to have moderate rain and moderate temperatures without a real frost. Thanksgiving was quiet and pleasant, and the last of the turkey salad is, thankfully, gone. Vermont later this week.

Warm November.

11-24-09 SHORT HILLS: The time does slip by. Here in NJ the weather has been fairly warm, in the fifties every afternoon and generally sunny. We have had a bit of rain, 1.25 inches, but I’ve been outside most days catching up on pruning and trimming and clearing deadfall from the shrubs that accumulated during the recent nor’easters. The coldest overnight in this November was 31° a few weeks ago. Even though most of the leaves are down, the grass is still green. With less than a week until December and Thanksgiving looming up, we have not had a hard frost here.

New blooms: the new roses still working, wild strawberry still flowering.

Rocky, Fog and Fox.

11-15-09 VERMONT: We have been here for a few days. Saturday we saw Anna sing with the Glee Club in the afternoon and dance in the production of the Rocky Horror Show in the evening. The Glee Club did English Choral Music in Rollins Chapel, and the RHS featured R ‘n R and sexy costumes reminiscent of the Village Halloween Parade, there was even audience participation. Several performers were of NYC pro quality. There are six scheduled performances—all sell-outs.

The rain from tropical storm Ida was heavy yesterday but ended last night, and today, Sunday, started with dense fog and warm air brought in by the storm. There was no wind whatsoever when I walked around the pasture in the morning with the dogs. The fog made the familiar exotic and mysterious and everything was absolutely quiet. The air just sat there, all wet, with no movement and no sound.

On the way into town, we saw a red fox cross the road in front of us and give us a long look. We stopped and got a one snap before the camera battery died.

By the time we got back from the food market run, the fog had largely lifted, and I spent the afternoon finishing the fall clean-up and tuck-in. The beds don’t look dull, drab and empty to me, but are waiting for the vernal explosion. [Notice that I didn’t say ready to spring up.] If you look closely at the beds, you can see new growth already started on most of the perennials.

New blooms: one last dandelion is looking for a pollinator.


Fog.

Fox. Look behind the gray rock in the center.

Fall Continues.

11-11-09 SHORT HILLS: There is still a bit of decent color in NJ. We have a bumper crop of holly berries. You have to respect the roses, who are still at work, when so many of their contemporaries are already on winter vacation.


Rose bush product.

Red burning bush and orange-colored black chokeberry in front of English holly with berries. You couldn't see the berries?

Here they are. That quadruple organ on the bottom of the berry can be seen below on the holly flower.

Female holly flower from the spring. That little green dot becomes the red part of the berry. Over the coming winter, the birds will eat most of these berries and poop the seed, with a smidgen of fertilizer, someplace in the yard or neighborhood. We have a dozen or more holly volunteers from this tree's seeds.

Weekend Get-Away

11-10-09 SHORT HILLS: We got back from San José Monday morning on the red-eye after a weekend visit to the west-coasters. Saturday was all soccer, all day. Sunday we hiked in Rancho San Antonio County Park and Open Space Preserve, part of the Santa Clara County Park system. It’s a 4000 acre nature preserve with hiking, biking and horse trails. We did a medium sized hike up a canyon and across a ridge with great views of the Bay area. The weather there was the usual sunny warm days and cooler evenings.

Here in NJ it’s been warm and dry, and the leaves continue to tumble.

New blooms: the newly planted roses are still in business.


Soccer in the morning.

Soccer in the afternoon.

Fans were lined up for the soccer games.


Canyon Trail with Bay tree.

The tower in the mid-ground is at Stanford U. The City by the Bay is in the distance.