Another Canoe Trip

Another wild ride down Little Darby. Not for the faint of heart. The creek is totally impassible requiring a portage in two sections. Saw a barred owl and found a couple of treasures including a muskrat skull and a jar from the American Crayon Company in Sandusky, OH which has long been shut down. Bluebells, bloodroot, spring beauty, cut leaf toothwort, coltsfoot, hepatica, snow trillium, dutchmen's britches, and trout lily all in bloom. 

Wild Turkeys

A crazy rainy Monday just got a little crazier. Spring has sprung. A turkey wants in the gymnasium. Really?!

On Saturday at the park they were really strutting their stuff. 

Hazelnut Flower

This is a hazelnut flower under magnification.This beautiful little maroon flower is the female part of the hazel nut which later in the fall will produce hazel nuts which are prized by both man and beast. The plant is growing in our back yard and last year humans the humans got zero hazel nuts and the beasts got all. Trust me that this will not happen again. (-: as Andrew is already making plans to put a squirrel proof fortress around the tree.

Little Miss Sophie Jones

Nolan had a visitor on Saturday.  Sophie Jones came over to play with him. Sophie, who is 6.5 years his senior, comes from Shirewood Bichons-the same place we got Nolan.  Sophie belongs to our friend James that we have known for years through working with the parks and his daughter Katy. Nolan was just beside himself with glee that Sophie was visiting. They ran all over the house and yard and furniture and Nolan shared his food and water with Sophie and they were just as cute as can be.  Sophie had lovely manners and Nolan just adored her. Later I felt bad that Nolan left a house full of dogs to come to our house where it is just us in Dullsville most of the time.

Late Winter Canoe Trip

First time in 16 years of canoeing together we had a mishap and ended up in the drink. Water was moving fast and we got sucked into a strainer. I made it under-Andrew had to bail and ended up hanging from the tree limb. We lost the paddles over the side. That left me careening down stream with no way to steer. I weighed my options which were to a) chose to bale or b) smash the canoe in half with me and Nolan in it. I baled and was just barely able to hold onto the canoe with him in it. Got some pretty big bruises on my arm to prove it.  We were all wearing our lifejackets thank God. Nolan wasn't even phased and in fact on his own decided to jump in the water and join us. Andrew ran downstream and was able to retrieve both paddles in a pool. Good thing we had dry clothes in the dry bag. Ruined our D 90 camera lens that was hanging around my neck. The photos survived. On the upside it was a beautiful late winter day.

Pre-Season Prep

It's suppose to be in the mid 50's tomorrow. We are hoping to go on a short spring canoe trip. Last week I ordered Nolan sunglasses and a life-jacket so he would outfitted in case the opportunity presented itself. The gear came in the mail today and he was more than happy to model it for me.

Ring Around the Moon

The forecast for today in Central Ohio:

"Rain, snow, and sleet, becoming all snow after 3pm. Some thunder is also possible. Temperature falling to around 20 by 5pm. Windy, with a north wind 15 to 20 mph increasing to 25 to 30 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible". NOAA Weather

Last night at 9 pm I took puppy out to potty and looked up and saw that the moon was gorgeous and the sky was filled with cloud cover that was swiftly passing across the sky. There were four rings around the moon, which I knew were a sign of an impending weather change. I went inside and got my camera and it took me a few minutes but I finally got a decent exposure.  Wow the things that most people miss while watching television....

It started pouring down rain sometime between 2 and 4 am.  Right now it is sprinkling- probably gearing up to drop a raft of crap on us later this afternoon.

This is what the Farmer's Almanac website has to say about the moon.

"While stargazing, have you ever noticed a large circular band of light surrounding the moon? If so, you have seen a lunar halo.

A lunar halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22 degree angle, creating a halo 22 degrees in radius (or 44 degrees in diameter). A double halo, sometimes with spokes, may be seen on rare occasions when light reflects off water or ice.

The prism effect of light passing through these six-sided ice crystals separates the light into its various colors, resulting in a halo tinged with very pale rainbow colors with red on the inside and blue on the outside. The phenomenon of a lunar halo is similar to a rainbow produced by sunlight and rain falling between your eye and the sun.

Weather lore says a lunar halo is the precursor of impending unsettled weather, especially during the winter months. This is often proved true, as cirrus and cirrostratus clouds generally precede rain and storm systems.

Lunar halos are, in fact, actually fairly common. So watch the night sky – and keep the umbrella handy".