Walk Down the Brook with Me Part 2: The Waterfalls

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Walk Down the Brook With Me Part 1

This was as high as I got when I followed the brook upstream.
The brook flows over a granite ledge. This is called a flume.

Over the next few days you will join me on my walk from the top of the brook down to the house. But the top isn't really the top. It is as far up as I got the day I walked up. Walking across the top of one boulder and leaning on another boulder, my leg fell in a hole that was an entrance to somebody's house under the rock. It hurt a lot, so I didn't go up any further.

After photographing the flume above, I turned 180° and photographed our home down below.

The brook leaves the flume and flows around this huge boulder.

The brook leaves the boulder and enters this tumble of small boulders.

After flowing through the small boulders, the brook goes around and under this huge glacial erratic.
I fell in the hole on top of the back of the rock that this rock sits on.

The glacial erratic is in the back. The brook now goes down a series of steps.

Tomorrow I will post photos of the water as it flows and falls around the erratics that you see here. I love this brook and spend as much time as possible with it all spring, summer and fall. Spring is the best time to observe the geology of the land because the land is laid bare until the foliage comes out. When the land is green, a lot is invisible.

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Roofs and Mountains

The Lowell Range of the Green Mountains can be seen in the far distance over our home.
Wind developers are trying to gather support for wind turbines on that ridge line.

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Walking Home Through the Woods

A view of our home from the edge of the woods on Barton Mountain while walking down after a winter hike.

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More Roofs

The roofs of our home ten days after the big snow of March 7.
In order to take the photograph, John had to plow the back road behind the house so I could get back there above the house.

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Blowing Snow

Wind blows the snow off of our barn in wonderful patterns during the March 7 snowstorm.
The storm left us with three feet (0.9m) of snow.

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Home Again

Our home can be partially seen on the right. This photo was taken from a hill behind the house. In the far distance you can see the Lowell Range of the Green Mountains. The beaver ponds are across the road. Also in the distance you can see the historic Duquette Barn down the road. It's wonderful to be home again and seeing the sights that are so dear and familiar.


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Peeking Chickens

When we drive into the yard, the chickens peek out of the barn to see who has come to visit!

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Skywatch Friday: Snowstorm

We've had this weather for two days now. This photograph was taken Wednesday morning. The sky actually was this color all day. Until it got darker about 2pm. We had a foot of very heavy snow (31 cm) yesterday and flooding rains today. This weather system will end with a few more inches of snow tomorrow. There has been no school for two days now.

Below are the white birch trees near the drive in the early afternoon. It was snowing so heavily that the photograph looks grainy and black and white. About 3pm, the tree on the left was bent so low that it blocked the drive. But John convinced the trees to drop the snow, and neither tree broke.

Thank you for visiting.

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Home At Dusk

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Unnamed Brook & Coyotes

The is the inlet to the three ponds here. It comes out of the woods, goes under the road John cut and enters Pond 1. Unfortunately there were way too many coyote tracks in this part of the property. Enough for me to consider hiring a bounty hunter. (No, I won't. Probably.) I didn't bother to photograph the coyote trails. They followed the brook out of the woods and then wandered around the ponds and the saw mill. They were hunting mice and squirrels. And any wayward cat. One morning last week I heard the coyotes on the property and they were much too close to the house. As soon as I turned on the outside light, they quietly disappeared into the dark.



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Water Hole

At what I call Pond 3, the wetlands pond that is a nursery for frogs and turtles, we found that the outlet of the pond was not frozen. You can see how popular this liquid water is for the wildlife in the area. The trails are plentiful here. I only wish I could withstand the cold (which has been formidable lately) and sit and wait for them to come for their photographs to be taken while drinking. But it is satisfying enough to view the evidence of their comings and goings.



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My Buddy

This is my cat, Buddy. He lives for hiking with John and me. He always climbs every boulder and nearly every tree. He's such a handsome guy!

Buddy Hikes Set

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Black Bear Still Photos

Ursus americanus

In the back of the house. Approximately 250 lbs, hungry, timid, looking for food. A magnificent and beautiful creature. May 5, 2009 at dusk. Photos are not as good as they should be with the care I thought I took when I shot. I was very excited and happy and, obviously, shaking.

video by Matt: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-avzVDY_XSs
blog 1: meeyauw-pad.blogspot.com/2009/05/black-bear.html
blog 2: meeyauw.blogspot.com/2009/05/black-bear-at-back-door.html





After dark, the dogs were barking frequently so we knew that the bear had returned. John sent links to research on bears from Penn State and I learned that bears take more fawns than coyotes. If you are interested in the natural life of bears, read that article and this one.

Black Bear Set

Technorati Tags: Ursus americanus, black bear
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Black Bear

Matt was wandering about the house tonight talking on the phone when he saw this bear in the back dooryard, very close to the house. I was shooting with the Canon XSi, he was doing video with the Canon Power Shot. She was there longer than the video shows. I am processing the still shots now and will post them as soon as possible. As Matt says, she was cute, but not something you want to go out and play with. You can hear a wood thrush singing in the woods at the end of the video. The bird feeders were taken down and destroyed by the raccoons a month ago, so the bear was not coming for the feeders. John says the average size for black bear is 125 lbs and that this bear is around 250 lbs. She seems to be timid as if looking for food for her cubs.

Technorati Tags: Ursus americanus, black bear, Barton, Vermont
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Two Below on New Year's Eve Day

Early afternoon (-19°C). When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window. This photo is tone-mapped.

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December 28, 2008 Sunset

When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.
Sunsets Set on Flickr

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One Single Impression: Stardust

When clicked, this photo will open, full size, in a new window.

To read more poetry, click the graphic or One Single Impression

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First Snowfall

We had a light snowfall all morning. The firs on the mountain were beautifully dressed.

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Editing a Sunset

Unedited, uncropped photograph of a sunset at my house this past week.

Same photograph edited using exposure blending with Photomatix.
I think the overall photograph is excellent. But is it better than the original?

Same photograph edited with exposure blending with Photomatix.
I think the sky is outstanding but the foreground is of poor quality.

When clicked, these photos will open, full size, in a new window.
Click here to view all of the photos of my Sunset and Exposure Blending Flickr Set.

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