Time Travel and Sight Lines.

5-1-15 VERMONT: Yesterday was sunny and bright here, but today is gray and dark. Two small clumps of icy snow remain in front of the house, the remnants of huge piles by the porch. They will probably last until tomorrow, May 2. That is the latest date that I remember being snow free.

Going from New Jersey to Vermont in this season of the year always gives me the sensation of time travel. We left lots of flowers in NJ, but here there are only snowdrops and crocus, the grass is mostly brown and nothing is in leaf. That’s where we were on April 6 in NJ.

In a few weeks the leaves will be out here, and the lush foliage of Vermont will last from then until November. Now, before the leaves are out and after the snow is gone, the sight lines let you see deep into the woods and pastures. You can see the shape of the land, the rocky outcrops, the walls and fences following the contours of the fields, the hills and valleys and streams and houses off the road. The road, by the way, is finally drying out.

New blooms: crocus, maple.


Two small piles of ice/snow still here on May 1.

Crocus clump.

Solitary crocus.

Overcast and gray day.

The leaves will hide the sky and forest in a few weeks.