While historically January brings the coldest temperatures to Maine, we do sometimes get a warm front. Last week, the thermometer went over freezing and hit 50F/10C. A fog is produced when the warm air passes over snow. Our forest seems smaller and the world further away.
Category Archives: Life at Home
Common Blue Violet—Edible Weeds
Common Blue Violet (viola sororia), the most common violet in the North America. The flowers and young leaves are edible. The roots are poisonous. The violet comes out in early spring.
The flowers are edible and I have seen them candied and used on cakes. The flowers are a source for vitamin C and can be dried for tea.
What I found surprising is the young leaves (the snails love the leaves too). They have a mild nutty flavor and are a source of vitamin A and C—mature leaves are bitter. We eat the leaves raw in the spring and fall in salads or smoothies. We also add them to omelets, quiche, soup, and pasta.
Winter in Moonlight, Part 3
Stepping out of the forest into a snow-covered field, space expands. The wind on your face creates the illusion of motion. Neither the sky nor horizon advances with your pace.
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Winter in Moonlight, Part 2
Traveling through the forest on a moonlit night, trees and shadows melt together. Perception of form becomes dreamlike, dissolving the boundary of real and imagined.
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Winter in Moonlight, Part 1
The full moon makes the winter night magical.
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Ice Storm, Part 5
The ice reaches deep into the forest, bending the trees and limbs into new structures. In the ice, the buds for next year’s flowers are visible. Click on the image for a larger view.
Ice Storm, Part 4
The goldenrod and blackberry canes in our field. Very different from the greens and golds of summer or the warmth of fall. Click on the image for a larger view.
Ice Storm, Part 3
The beauty of an ice storm is the ability to turn the forest to crystal. Click on the image for a larger view.
Ice Storm, Part 2
The ice storm last weekend knocked out power to over one hundred thousand people in Maine. We lost power from December 23rd until now. The trees that were gracefully arching over in our first post, were bent to the ground by the second day—the saplings in this photograph are the same trees, but I am unable to stand in the same place to photograph them. Click on the image to see a larger view.
Ice Storm, Part 1
We woke this Sunday to an ice storm. Ice storms can be very beautiful, turning the forest to crystal. They can also be destructive, snapping trees under the weight of the frozen water.
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