journal

A View From the Field

April 4

Again I was a bit later than i wanted to be, but I had my second accident of the day on my way up to the north end, and then I started dribbling off. Once I got to bed, I slept well, with two wakeups - it seems like my bladder will only hold about 3½ hours' worth.

When I got up, I knitted two rows on the shawl, read a few things, filled the pill dispensers and finally took a bath. So now, at least, I can go right to bed...or as nearly right to bed as ever when I go up to the north end. I didn't fill the south end pill dispensers, but they're not quite as critical as the ones at the north end. I can do that tomorrow.

There was some trouble with my internet connection today, which made me power fail the router, the extender and my phone...and then it turned out that it was a PastyNet problem. They were transferring over to a new fiber connection down in Kearsarge, which meant that I had no connectivity for most of the afternoon. So...I played a couple of the CDs I found the other day, both Schubert, and I wrote. I've been thinking about a particular scene for several weeks now and I finally had the time to write it. I'm not sure I got it right, but at least it's in the computer...or it will be when I save the file!

The weather started out bad. It rained between 11:00 PM last night until 6:00 AM this morning and then it apparently snowed about an inch. So it was cloudy and dull this morning, but it cleared up by 4:00 PM this afternoon and it was quite clear at sunset. The temperature finally got up to 33º, but for most of the day it was under freezing and there was a brisk wind out of the north with gusts up to 32 mph.

The guys slept. I didn't see much of Louie and Grayson didn't get any lap time, in part because I was doing other things.

So that was another very quiet day and now it's a cold night in the field but it's not very dark because the moon is shining up there.

April 3

There are a couple of things I've forgotten to mention the past couple of days, although I think I've forgotten one of them again. Wednesday night - or early Thursday morning, I guess - i was sitting in the bathroom when all of a sudden I heard howling and yelping outside. I think it was back behind the garage, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. I was hearing something that sounded like growling, too, but that could have been because Grayson was lying in front of the door to the porch. Or maybe it was the bear? Anyway, it raised up the hair on my head. I hate coyotes. There was just that one episode, though, and it's only the second time I've heard them so close to the house. However, I know they're there and I will try my best to keep the cats inside. I don't think either of them understand about coyotes.

Oh, I remembered what else I wanted to say. I finally got my money out of PayPal, and my account with them seems to be all right now. Not that I intend to do any more business with them than I have to or suggest that anybody else does either. I will continue to keep my account open for donations. Thanks to everyone.

I was late last night, for all the usual reasons. I slept well, with two wakeups, and after I got up for real, I knitted on sock #4, the one with the two-row color changes. It's actually less than two rows and it's not consistent, so i went through a section where the repeats were 1½ rows. Nobody will ever notice.

I had to go out today to get my Schwan's order, which is probably good, since I actually have to start the car. The road is messy, especially on the north-facing hills, but the snow pack is beginning to break up even there, so pretty soon it will be clear and Schwan's can come to me, as well as UPS.

That was about all I did, although I did embroider a bit during the talking. There were several very small motifs that I got done and the next time I embroider, I'll be working on one that is maybe 2" in diameter. I'm getting to the end and I admit I'm finally getting tired of this thing. It's really big, and even though the motifs are mostly all different, stitching with only one color does get boring after a while.

The weather started out clear and clouded up late in the day. We're in for some snow/rain/sleet overnight, so it's not over yet. the high temperature was 51º and there was a rather brisk wind from the south, with gusts up in the low 20s.

The guys slept. Louie got some loving this morning and Grayson slept on my lap for a while before he left for the pink chair. When I came out of the kitchen after putting my food away, Louie was sitting on the table in the sunshine and Grayson was asleep in the pink chair. They may not always be right with me, but they're usually not far away.

Now, what was that other thing I was thinking about...oh, my mind. It's a warmish, dark night in the field and we won't get to see Venus tonight, either.

April 2

A few more April Fool's items appeared today, but every one that I read was more whimsical than nasty. There was one about the whale migration in the Great Lakes that tickled me. I wonder if whales could live in fresh water.

I was a bit later than I wanted to be last night, but I got to bed at a sort of reasonable hour, and I slept well, with two wakeups. Of course, getting to bed later meant I got up later, but that was all right.

I knitted on sock #3, the white one, and my nice vertical stripes have now disintegrated into spirals, as I knew they would. They are still going to be nice summer socks. I ended up knitting for a long time and I made good progress.

I was very late eating anyway, because I had to sit back down after I washed my face, but at least so far, I haven't had any more accidents in the past couple of days. That is always a relief.

I was so late that i didn't do much of anything except my surfing, and I knitted through the talking. I didn't feel like embroidering and the more rows I can do in the rotation, the faster the sock will go.

The weather was rather nice. The high temperature was 42º and there was almost no wind. It wasn't as clear as it was yesterday and it began to cloud up seriously around sunset.

The sun set exactly when the camera took a picture, which was neat. it's setting over Porter's Island now, and it's amazing how fast it's moving north. Days are getting longer at 3¼ minutes a day, which comes out to almost 23 minutes a week. I know it's beginning to get a bit light around 5:30 AM. The only thing i really, really don't like about winter is that it's so dark all the time. It would be different if it was dark and clear. so we could see the stars, but it isn't like that around here. Of course, by the way, it's going to be cloudy for the next few days, so I won't be able to see Venus sailing right through the Pleiades. Of course.

The guys were sleepy, but they both got some loving, and Grayson got to sleep on my lap for quite a while before I had to move him. They like all the sunshine.

Oh, yes, I did the census thing tonight. I keep hoping that some year, I might get the long form again, but I didn't this time, and it was easy to fill out and the website worked just fine and had a very clean design. So I'm legal.

Now it's a sort of warmish night in the field, and I must go to bed.

April 1

I was SO glad almost nobody, even very few of my funnies, tried to play April Fool's jokes today. I've always hated that, I think because most of the so-called jokes are actually very cruel attacks on someone vulnerable. It was a great relief. Of course, APOD did have a cute one, but I can't deny that potato and that asteroid look a whole lot alike... if you don't see the one for April 1, you can find it if you click on the "Archive" link at the bottom of the page.

I was later than I wanted to be last night, but I got caught in the Google Discover trap again. I slept well, with only one wakeup, and I got up around 10:30, but I felt lousy when I got up and I still do. It feels strange not to have to rustle around and get bulletins out.

I knitted on sock #2, and i knitted longer than I expected, because it looks sort of like the stripes are random. Of course, I'll have to do a whole lot more than I have, because it could be that it's just one of those long-repeat patterns like my crazy sweat socks. Anyway, after the third blue stripe followed by a narrow green stripe, I gave up. The yarn isn't the easiest to knit with, because of that elastic. It's hard to find the right tension. I do like the colors, though. If it's more blue than green (which it looks like right now), it won't bother me.

The weather was nice. It was cloudy this morning, but it began to clear up around noon and the afternoon was lovely. No more pretty pictures, though. The best sunsets happen when there are some clouds. The high temperature was 40º and there was no wind. It was very humid, though - over 80% - and we had some slight fog. The harbor was like a mirror this evening, which I love to see.

The guys slept. They didn't get much loving, for various reasons. Grayson had a little upset this morning, but he seems all right now.

I keep forgetting to mention that for two or three weeks, when I'm sitting in the bathroom in the morning, I've been hearing the pileated woodpecker drumming. So spring will come! I always love to hear that sound. He's saying, "Here i am! Spring is here!" I think they mate for life, but that doesn't prevent him from courting her (or her courting him) every year.

I also noticed, when I was talking to Debbie last night, that the flower buds are beginning to swell on the birches. Around this time of year, the twigs begin to look all bumpy, and in a very few weeks, there will be catkins hanging all over them.

Of course, all the snow isn't gone. You can get in my breezeway again, but the piles where they plowed my driveway are still deep and there's a rim of ice all around the harbor, but the sun is so warm that eventually it will go away.

Now it's a clear, dark night in the field and I AM going to bed.

Last updated 04/04/20 11:49 PM