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Grex > Nature > #32: Has anything interesting happened yet this winter? | |
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| Author |
Message |
mjs
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Has anything interesting happened yet this winter?
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Dec 23 07:45 UTC 1993 |
A group of thoughtful souls aesthete
For whom Nature was irreplete
Without a comment duly served,
Was suddenly found lacking speech.
(A change of season unobserved
Left distant readers quite unnerved.)
Nothing in the winter's blur
Was odd enough to cause a stir.
And no one grieved of Fall's defeat,
The winter's reign was so complete.
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| 11 responses total. |
remmers
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response 1 of 11:
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Dec 23 12:23 UTC 1993 |
I comtemplated making sound
Like the erstwhile Ezra Pound
Complaining with a fulsome din
That "Winter is Icumin In",
But took instead to silent mourn
Nature yet again unborn,
Take comfort 'midst the icy blasts
In knowing that they too shall pass.
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mjs
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response 2 of 11:
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Dec 24 06:12 UTC 1993 |
Then let's take Eliot's musing:
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
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rcurl
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response 3 of 11:
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Dec 24 17:08 UTC 1993 |
The sun is shining.
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srw
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response 4 of 11:
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Dec 25 04:25 UTC 1993 |
But not enough to warm things up.
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mjs
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response 5 of 11:
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Feb 3 07:33 UTC 1994 |
<yawn>
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rcurl
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response 6 of 11:
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Feb 3 07:35 UTC 1994 |
Correct - it is still hibernation time - but I hear some stirring
(that sounded like <yawn>). I have noticed in the last couple of days
that the sun is setting later, but we're not out of the freezeup yet.
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danr
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response 7 of 11:
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Feb 3 12:18 UTC 1994 |
I saw something funny yesterday. We have some squirrels that like to
hang out on our deck. Yesterday, one of these little critters was
gnawing on a chunk of ice. This is probably not a very rare occurrence,
but it's the first time I've seen this behavior and it cracked me up.
It was also a great day for birdwatching. On my two trips out to the
mailbox, I spotted a hawk (I think it was a sharp-shinned, but it
was too high for me to be sure) and a red-headed woodpecker.
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katie
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response 8 of 11:
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Feb 3 17:02 UTC 1994 |
The squirrel was probably thirsty, Dan!
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danr
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response 9 of 11:
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Feb 4 02:43 UTC 1994 |
I know why he was eating the ice; I'd just never seen it before.
I spotted another hawk today. It flew right in front of me as I was
driving down 14.
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katie
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response 10 of 11:
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Feb 4 19:20 UTC 1994 |
(I just attempted to relate a muskrat story here, but it';s too darned hard
to respond on Grex anymore)
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mjs
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response 11 of 11:
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Feb 6 08:30 UTC 1994 |
Ahh, it's good to see that things are starting to stir again.
I imagine the squirrels that used to pilfer the birdseed on my balcony
last winter (and eat ice, too-- I spent too much time watching them, I
know) -- have found another place to forage since I moved.
Last winter I stopped driving to work and started taking the bus, and
so i found myself walking a block or two to the bus stop each morning
in the predawn moments, which was about my only contact with outdoors
until after dark. When Spring struck I was amazed at how clearly the
transition became, compared to when I was driving: suddenly birds were
back, chirping and almost disturbing my formerly silent walk to the
bus. The dark walk became gradually lit. When I was sealed up in my
car, there was almost nothing (in terms of first-hand experience) that
made me really *believe* winter had ended, except that I didn't have to
turn my headlights on. These transitions occur well before the weather
gets warm enough to make everyone else recognize the passing of winter.
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