Vob span: Season

Showing posts with label Season. Show all posts

Tuesday, 18 April 2017

The End of Sane Season

It's the end of the sane season - October and into May when most people think that it is too inclement to be on the water. Memorial Day weekend is the traditional first day of the Insanity Season, a day when everyone goes to the water, whether they should or not. For me, it is a day to lie low.

I take S for her first trip to Messerschmidt Pond. The pond is surrounded by trees and well enough back from the coastline, which is windy today. It is also limited to paddles and small electric motors. I expect a fair number of boats, but we find just a few. We steer clear of the others, passing behind islands and rounding points... everyone has the pond to themselves.

The trees are well leafed out now and the birds are difficult to spot. But, the pond is mostly quiet and the singing of songbirds reaches out to us the entire time. It is one of the most restful days that we have had on the water.

Saturday, 25 March 2017

An Unnamed Season

It seems inadequate to label this time of year, Spring. The astronomical three months from the day of equal dark and light to the lightest day of the year is too broad for what occurs now. Now is a time of rapid change in the marsh. (photo - the mouth of a beaver canal that leads into the marsh forest)

14 days ago, the first two nests were started by the Canada geese and 5 days ago, I spotted the first eggs in the big beaver lodge nest. 18 days ago, the first swallow returned to the bay, followed just a few days later by many more. Irises, cattails and lily pads are all coming up and today I saw the first two skunk cabbages with their big broad green leaves and yellow cores. I haven't seen northern shovelers for some time now, but they are the last to arrive in fall and the first to leave for parts north and I think they are long gone. Even the eagles have shifted their hunting patterns from coots to who knows what, and the scattering of ducks and coots all around the bay shows that they have little to worry about. Far too much happens in this 4 to 6 weeks for it to simply be a part of spring. Cultures that are more in tune with nature have different definitions for seasons. The reindeer peoples count eight seasons based on the behavior of the herds that they rely on. Their seasons are unequal in length with winter being five months long and the calving season a mere ten days.

No, I don't have name for this season, but it is here none the less.