Not whining. Not bragging. It is what it is.
Posts Tagged With: Vermont
Unwanted Canadian Export
As the sun comes up this morning, the sky is as clear as clear can be. Not a cloud to be seen, unless you count the vapor of my breath — but it freezes quickly and falls to the ground as icy dust. Even the red stuff in my thermometer is seeking refuge, as the molecules of whatever-it-is drop toward the bulb at the bottom of the glass, huddling together in a shivering blob. Only the best thermometers will be giving any indications of temperature tonight. Some lucky people in these parts might even get to see that magic point where Farenheit and Celsius actually agree (in case you don’t own a really good thermometer, that would be 40 below zero).
I doubt cold air is covered in any trade agreement with our neighbors to the north (if it is, I demand to know what we are sending in exchange). I can’t think of any benefit to this mass of arctic air, this mind-jangling intrusion into a normally peaceful time of year. Unless, of course, its purpose is an increased appreciation of mud season and the blackflies of spring, but that’s kind of like hitting my thumb with a hammer because it will feel so much better when it stops hurting.
I would like to reject this unwanted Canadian export outright — treat it like junk-mail and stuff the whole shebang into the postage-paid envelope and send it back. Let them deal with it. I don’t want it, don’t need it.
I read somewhere that there are something like 30,000,000 people within a day’s drive from here (half of New Jersey is already here, skiing and driving into ditches). That is a lot of people and if everyone would please take a few minutes this afternoon, let’s say just before kick-off, go outside, face north and blow just as hard as they can, it would be big help, I’m sure.
If that doesn’t work, I hate to say it but this may require Congressional action. E-mail your representatives immediately and demand they do something! Like swinging the doors of the Capitol Building wide open Monday morning so we can put all that hot air to good use.
Return of the Shack Nasties
Coming down with a case of the Shack Nasties is a gradual thing. Fortitude and stoicism delay the inevitable, slowing its progress for a time, but sooner or later the Shack Nasties set in. I’ve had them before, I have them now, and I will have them again but these, too, shall pass.
Categories: nature, Rural Life, Vermont, Winter
Tags: ghoti62, nature, outdoor blogger network, quill gordon, Rural Life, shack nasties, snow, Vermont, winter
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Shappell Jet Sled — Review
Shappell Jet Sled 1 –ATC (All Terrain Camo)
25″ beam x 54″ long x 10″ deep
Approx. 15 pounds
$54.99 from Shappell Corporation
My job involves a fair amount of lugging stuff (chainsaws, traps, trail maintenance tools & materials, etc.) and a lot of that stuff gets lugged in and out of the trees at the far end of the lake. I don’t cross the ice to get there, though; I take to the woods, working in the trees and the streams along the way, along a loop that covers close to two miles. Limited to what I can carry on my back or in my hands, I sometimes make several trips for one project or just tough it out, setting things down and switching hands every hundred yards.
I’ve looked at plastic toboggans and plans for homemade rigs to help transport gear but they have seemed flimsy, narrow and prone to tipping or weighed more than the stuff I need to haul. Enter Shappell Jet Sleds and the chance to try one out for myself, through a random drawing at the Outdoor Blogger Network.
Officially, this is a Shappell Jet Sled 1 – ATC (All Terrain Camo) and it is absolutely not flimsy. The polyethylene tub is rigid and light-weight. It also has a wide stance and looks to be stable, but if anyone is capable of dumping a load of gear in the snow it is me, especially with a product that has “All Terrain” right in its name. Let’s see how it does on the loop around my home waters. Continue reading
The Cremation of MMX
Because the calendar — not our position in the cosmos, tilt of the Earth or phase of the moon — said so, a new year began on Saturday. I have often wondered if the Winter Solstice and the lengthening of days made more sense as the start of the year, but we humans are much too smart to fall for such a primitive, simple way to anticipate and mark the passage of time. With moon phases and other quaint folklore reduced to trivia in small print, our modern calendar has quite sensibly divided the year into months of un-equal, seemingly random length and managed to conjure an entire bonus day every four years which we, in our wisdom, tack on to the end of February, one of the worst months of all. Sensible or not, we use the same calendar as everyone else and Friday night was a night of revelry at Fish in a Barrel Pond. Continue reading
Categories: nature, Rural Life, Vermont, Winter
Tags: ghoti62, nature, New Year's bonfire, new year's day, new year's eve, quill gordon, Rural Life, snow, time, Vermont, winter
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Butt Wind
Sometimes it’s not what you say …
… it’s how you say it.
The sign at Singleton’s Store in Proctorsville means the same thing no matter how you say it.
Temporary Embellishments
There is a stillness to a calm winter day that no other season can match. The profound, stunning silence can make you believe you’ve gone deaf — at least until a tree pops from the cold, shattering the quiet — and the frigid, crystalline air can seriously create the impression your nose has caught fire. Days like this are part of the price to be paid to live in a place like this, but they are also part of the reward.
I joke in the fall about seeing the pretty leaves twice; once in their autumnal glory on the hillsides and again, a few days after they drop, as they clog the grates across the spillway. I also joke about waiting for the last oak to drop its leaves so I can be done with clearing those grates, but I never know just when that will be so I try to keep my sense of humor when those leaves are still coming out from under the ice.
Categories: nature, Vermont, Winter
Tags: frost, ghoti62, ice, nature, photos of frost, quill gordon, Vermont, winter
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First Winter Photos (Before Winter Even Begins)
I raised an eyebrow at the temperature when I stepped outside yesterday and that eyebrow stayed up for most of the morning and I walked around, looking kind of surprised, like one of those Botox ladies. I’m not sure how surprised I actually was, knowing for a long time that this day was coming, the day I trade flannel-lined dungarees for long-johns and wool trousers and my footwear consists solely of Sorels for outdoors and house slippers for in.
Categories: nature, Rural Life, Vermont, Winter
Tags: ghoti62, ice, nature, quill gordon, snow, Vermont, winter
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“The Kind of Surprise I Like” or, “A Package for Quill”
My recent post “On Thin Ice” was my submission to a writing contest sponsored by the good folks at Outdoor Blogger Network and Sportsman Channel. The theme of the contest was “Winter Travel” and the winner was Mark Dillow with his fine entry “Frozen in Time”. Congratulations, Mark!
My friend Owl Jones received special attention for his entry “Winter Scouting on Murphy’s Mountain”. I still laugh just thinking about it. To quote the judges regarding Owl’s literary contribution, “… this story is crazy!” Nicely done, Owl. You may have a cookie now.
My entry was noticed for its creativity and the contrast between the fantasy image of living on an island compared to the stark reality thereof. In recognition, I was promised a “special surprise” and it arrived, via UPS, yesterday afternoon.
One thing I learned while surviving the events that inspired “On Thin Ice” — other than the fact that, when people walk by me holding one of those tropical drinks with the little umbrellas, it’s a struggle to not slap it out of their hand — was to not take living on or at least near a real road for granted, even if that road is presently a long series of frozen, twisted ruts.
It’s taking a toll, all this violent lurching and banging around. Tie rods, ball joints and headlights get broken and knocked askew and I’m considering a helmet and mouthpiece for myself if we don’t get some good snow to pack down and even things out. All four of my cheap hub caps are badly cracked (only three actually remain on the vehicle) and even the UPS guy is bombing around with a broken leaf spring. I could hear him a mile away as he clattered his way up the hill. The ruckus he raised when he pulled into the dooryard scattered cats and shook the knick-knack shelf but that’s okay because as I stood on the porch waving good-bye I remembered a time when I had to wait seven weeks and cross a mile and a half of ice just to get to the Post Office.
If there’s one thing I like more than getting packages it is opening them and this one was full of surprises. To start with, there was a very nice note from Michelle Scheuermann, Director of Communications for Sportsman Channel. She wrote the note by hand and even used her very best, fancy stationery!
Next was a most thoughtful gift. Many of my Vermont friends would call it a strip of “fender patch” or “muffler fix”. I once saw an entire car seemingly held together with this stuff (please see “Fishing Hurts”) and I think it might be the ticket for joining two pieces of broken hub cap but, with history as my guide, I’d hate for my last glimpse of it to be in the rear-view mirror as it sailed off the downhill side of Rte. 155. No, I think the best place for it is here, on the wall, where I can gaze upon it in at leisure and in comfort.
But wait, there’s more! A T-shirt promoting Sportsman Channel and Sportsmen Against Hunger. “HUNT FISH FEED” it reads, encouraging utilization of our natural food resources. I think it’s a great idea and I’m all for it. The shirt is size L, which was me an X or two ago, so it looks like Mrs. Gordon is getting a new nightie for Christmas! Of course, I could give it to my friend, Eugene, who often finds a change of clothes to be in order (please see “Careful With That Axe, Eugene”).
Beneath the nice note, the fender patch and Mrs. Gordon’s new nightie was a hat, and not just any hat, either. This hat has the Sportsman Channel logo embroidered on the front, is adjustable and extra spiffy. When I wear it to town the guys will ask “Is that a new hat, Quill?” and I will answer “Yes. Yes it is” and they will say ” ‘Bout darn time!” Not only that, the hat is black and will absorb solar radiation, keeping my brain warm when I go around the corner of the barn to sit in the sun, out of the wind.
The last item in the box made me wonder how they knew I like a hot beverage when I go around the corner of the barn to sit in the sun, out of the wind. My new Sportsman Channel insulated mug will be with me and if I decide to take that beverage somewhere with me in the truck, I don’t know how they guessed the size, but my new mug fits perfectly into the holder I already have! Now I can just set my mug down instead of holding it in my lap or saying to my passenger, “Here, hold my drink and watch this!”
Many thanks to Michelle Scheuermann at Sportsman Channel for the chance to write for goodies and to Joe and Rebecca for everything they are doing with Outdoor Blogger Network.
And now, here is a fishing story you might enjoy: “The Buddy System”
Categories: +Uncategorized
Tags: ghoti62, outdoor blogger network, quill gordon, sportsman channel, Vermont
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Hard Water
Waiting for ice to form on Fish in a Barrel Pond is not quite as dramatic as it was when I lived on Lake Champlain (see On Thin Ice) but it is significant.
The wind died down Saturday night and the cold settled in, along with the silence of winter. No more gentle ripples lapping at the shore, no whitecaps shredding their way across the surface and no more visible rises of feeding trout. Sure, I can hear a chainsaw in the distance now and then, and the sounds of air brakes as trucks hit the hill coming into the village but, without the constant background noise of water sloshing around, the dominant sound is no sound at all.
A dusting of snow makes visible the movements of animals as they go about their business. Coyotes cruise the roads and woods, looking for food and at least one otter has been on the move, following streams the way we follow streets.
Spray and splashing at the spillway creates a coating of ice on the rocks — lovely, cold and dangerous — building up layer after layer, catching the dim late-autumn light and holding it close.
There will be no more fishing until April. You might be able to use your new Green Mountain Thumper to thrash open a hole to cast to but there ain’t much point. The hole will seal over quickly, the ice thicker than before. Besides, ice fishing is not allowed on Fish in a Barrel Pond, for a lot of reasons, so that’s all she wrote for 2010.
Let the winter fun begin.
Categories: nature, Vermont, Winter
Tags: ghoti62, ice, quill gordon, Vermont, winter
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The View from Fish in a Barrel Pond 