Seasons and Moons

Photo copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved.

Yeah, you read that caption right. This one is mine. Of course, the only reason I was able to do it is because Wings taught me a new setting on his old camera. But I got it.

One day off full. You can't really tell by the photo, but in the night sky, it's clear that it's not quite there yet. Definitely a winter moon, though; the air outside is so cold and clear that it feels like the edge of a gigantic piece of broken glass.

The snow is more than half gone already; when the mercury hits the mid-forties for most of the day, it melts fast. Wings spent much of the last two days plowing, and so for now we have mud, but it'll dry much more rapidly this way. The snow itself he piles strategically so that the melt goes where it's needed most. He's been doing this a long time, and he's gotten good at maximizing weather and climate conditions — all the more important these days, obviously.

As happened last year, the natural world is completely confused. It's not too big a deal that the horses are shedding constantly, that the dogs have almost completely shed their own winter coats already, that the chickens are both molting and laying simultaneously. We can keep the animals safe. But the trees are another matter. Like last year, they're already budding out, and pretty thoroughly, too. Only the earliest stages, but it's enough; in the light, the branches are no longer silver, but gold. Daytime temperatures feel like May, and the snow on the peaks is already dissipating.

I had always thought that the truly obvious real-time effects of climate change would manifest after we were gone. That timetable has obviously accelerated, hard. I know we're now projected to be ground zero for extreme heat and drought in only a few more years, but in a desert at 7,500 feet, you see a lot of incremental changes along the way. If you're looking, that is.

We're luckier than most; we have an artesian well, and so the lowered run-off in the spring doesn't affect us as much as it does many others. Still, the lines are now affected by the high spring winds, so it's pretty clear that we need to be concerned about our water supply. 

So, even though it's only the beginning of February, there's a lot to do to get ready for the growing season. The gardens need to go in early this year, and I'm planning on being a lot more comprehensive; missing out on it last year for the first time in memory was a huge hit. 

For now, though, we'll take what we can get, and be grateful for it.

All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.