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Mighty Winds
Not-so-formidable fence bludgeoned by maple limb, but mostly intact.

Early evening, maybe 6:00 pm or so the skies darkened prematurely. I mean, really darkened. And the wind whistled then whipped. I blasted around the house battening windows and doors, cranked the shade umbrella contraption (what’s the proper name for those?) over the dining table on the back deck, and lowered the roman shades in the room where Griffin was napping in the hopes that he wouldn’t notice the rapidly approaching storm. Thunderstorms are enemy number one for our sensitive hound.

Boom! The skies opened up and the rain lashed vertically at the house. I literally couldn’t see out the windows. Like being in a carwash that’s gone totally berserk.

Lightning strobed and thunder exploded almost concurrently. Again. And again. Still nothing visible outside the windows, so I surveyed the house room-to-room for any windows I’d overlooked. None.

https://twitter.com/RosslynRedux/status/1145698032698167297

In the good news department, Rosslyn was incredibly fortunate. All buildings escaped the merciful wrath. Well, almost. Upon entering our master bedroom, I discovered water cascading from the ceiling. So that wasn’t ideal.

Once the storm passed over Essex and out onto Lake Champlain I headed outside to survey the damage. Those photos destruction/debris photos were taken then (except for the one post cleanup photo in the Twitter post.) It was clear that some of the roof slate had been damaged and two areas of the roof allowed rain water to enter the building. I’m sure there’ll be more to say on this in the near future, but for now I’m chalking it up to, “It could’ve been worse!”

Nobody ever died of optimism.

In closing, a few more photos including a fence that literally blew over, snapping the fence posts, and a gate that yielded to the mighty winds.
- Mighty winds and tree damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and tree damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and gate damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and gate damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and fence damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and fence damage, June 2019
- Mighty winds and tree damage, June 2019
Testing twitter account

Angry thunderstorm? Microburst? It reminded Rosslyn (and the three of us) that nature’s powerful, really, REALLY powerful. And her motives are mysterious. Still recovering from damage around the property, but tree debris mostly cleaned up. Now it’s time to rebuild the fence… pic.twitter.com/68mkDHTreT
— Rosslyn Redux (@RosslynRedux) July 1, 2019
July 2, 2019
Crappy Homecoming
Photo of Rosslyn taken from ferry last winter. (Credit: Tanya)

Sorry about that title. Crappy homecoming. Yuck. Not exactly the eggnog-y, balsam fire aromas one dreams of this time of year.

Joyful Homecoming

One blessing of living at Rosslyn is that travel – no matter how captivating – never eclipses the joy of returning home. That’s a bizarre admission from an unabashed wanderer, but it’s true. I’m always excited to return home.

But that may change. Soon.

We just returned from a week and a half in Santa Fe, and while there was much to celebrate upon our return (not the least of which is six inches of dry, powdery snow) something’s unmistakably septic at Rosslyn.

Literally.

Stinky, Crappy Homecoming

Are you catching my drift? I’ll spare you the full details, but the delicate overview is something like this:
- Half bath toilet plugged up.
- Sewage leaked into sports gear closet.
- Mess, stench, etc. almost unbearable.
- Yes, this is a repeat performance.
Contractor who plumbed the house must not have understood physics of pitch and gravity. The problem is likely to occur again for a third (and fourth, fifth, sixth…) time because the looong waste pipe which serves the bar sink, bar ice maker, half bath sink and toilet, pantry sink and washing machine lacks the necessary pitch to ensure that all waste – including “solids” – empty properly to the septic tank outside. Again?!?!

Yes.

Short/Long Term Solutions

We’re trying to put the crappy homecoming behind us. A plumber-Roto-Rooter tag team cleared the blockage, and my bride and I spent most of the day remediating the mess. Not fun. At all.

We did squeeze in a magnificent cross country ski to savor the sunset and moonrise from the quiet, aroma-free, perfect powder meadows and wooded trails west of Rosslyn. One part carpe diem and one part “We better remind ourselves why it’s great to be home!”

For a while it was bliss. Spectacular conditions. Ecstatic dog. Picture perfect sun and moon performance art.

But darkness fell, and we’re back to cleaning. And planning.

No More Crappy Homecomings

Apparently the contractor who installed the half plumbing neglected to suggest an obvious solution for a long waste line with inadequate pitch. It’s called a sewage macerator pump. I’ll spare you the description of what it does, but the benefit it that once we install it, we should never have to experience another crappy homecoming. Well, not literally at least!

And that will be worth it’s weight it gold. Which is what the installation is likely to cost judging by today’s rapidly accruing bills…
December 16, 2013
December 2014

Lake Champlain, December 2014

In recent years December has given us our first real blast of winter. A premature blast usually because early December snows have usually melted by Christmas…

December 2014 Raptors

Early in December 2014 I walked Rosslyn’s woods and meadows to make sure our cross-country ski trails were clear of trees and brush. The good news was that with a little maintenance everything was ready for our first snowfall.

[pullquote]Perhaps you can help identify the hawk and owl species?[/pullquote]

The even better news was that I encountered two handsome raptors at close range. Near the beginning of my walk a hawk allowed me to approach and photograph him from directly beneath the limb where he sat. Later in the afternoon an owl was no more than fifteen feet from me when I spied him. He too sat patiently and allowed me to snap photos. Unfortunately the camera in my mobile phone offers only a hint of the grandeur of this birds of prey.

Perhaps you can help identify the hawk and owl species?

Enormous hawk hunting in Rosslyn’s back meadows.

Enormous hawk hunting in Rosslyn’s back meadows.

Owl perched quietly in Rosslyn’s Hickory Hillock.

Owl perched quietly in Rosslyn’s Hickory Hillock.

December 2014 Snow

And then the snow arrived. On the 10th of December 2014 we had our first real taste of collecting snow (as opposed to flurries that melt once they land.)

Another curious happening. The Essex-Charlotte ferry seemed to have stalled in front of Rosslyn boathouse. (Can you spot it in the photos?) It drifted for an eerily long time, so close to the boathouse that I grew concerned. At last it managed to rumble off to the Essex ferry dock.

Essex-Charlotte ferry adrift perilously close to Rosslyn boathouse on 10 December 2014.

Essex-Charlotte ferry adrift perilously close to Rosslyn boathouse on 10 December 2014.

Snow, Snow, Snow: 10 December 2014

Once the snowflakes ceased to fall Rosslyn had been blanketed in over a foot of beautiful snow. Beautiful but super moist and heavy. Unfortunately what looks picturesque in the black and white photo below turned out to be bad news for many of our trees.

Winter started out with a deep, heavy, wet snowfall in early December 2014.

The photographs below tell the less picturesque story of what happens when lots of heavy, wet snow collects. Pretty. But potentially devastating.

Winter started out with a deep, heavy, wet snowfall in early December 2014.

Winter started out with a deep, heavy, wet snowfall in early December 2014 that buried the grill.

Many of our trees were damaged during the early December 2014 snowfall.

Many of our trees were damaged during the early December 2014 snowfall.

Many of our trees were damaged during the early December 2014 snowfall.

Many of our trees were damaged during the early December 2014 snowfall.

But no sense closing on a down note. Instead I’ll wrap up with this wonderful snapshot of Griffin saying goodbye to his snowy home before setting off on a Christmas road trip. Griffin loves snow!

Griffin’s up early and ready for a road trip.

December 15, 2014
Bald Eagle Surveying Lake Champlain
Bald eagle surveying Lake Champlain near Essex, New York.

While returning to Essex from Elizabethtown this afternoon I spied this handsome bald eagle perched 20 to 30 feet above Whallons Bay. He was surveying the glass-flat, frigid (37° isn’t quite freezing, but it’s not far off) waters of Lake Champlain, head pivoting jerkily. Although he never took flight, never plunged down to grab a lake trout or a salmon, I’m pretty certain he was hunting for his supper. Or posing for passersby.

The photo above and the video below were shot on my iPhone, so they’re grainy and don’t fairly capture the regal raptor. But they’re better than a flock of letters, “You wouldn’t believe the bald eagle I watched this afternoon…”

Bald Eagle Back Story

If you’re intrigued by bald eagles, you may enjoy a few of my earlier posts that showcase our local population of bald eagles (or semi-subtly incorporate “bald eagle cameos”). I suggest you start with these:
And next time you’re in the neighborhood, tilt you head back. You just might catch sight of an alabaster hooded, yellow beaked, ferocious-taloned bald eagle. Good luck!
February 1, 2017
Garden Hod
Garden Hod (Source: Geo Davis)

Have you ever used a garden hod? I no longer recall when I first came across this ingenious garden tool, but I can attest to its indispensable and enduring place in our garden-to-table lifestyle.

A garden hod is basically a smarter, better harvest basket. Gather your produce, spray it down with the hose, and let it drip dry on the way back inside. Perfection!

Our garden hods (we have two, one large, and one medium sized for smaller, quicker veggie harvests) are constructed with hardwood ends and a sturdy handle to carry even the heaviest loads. The “basket” component of the garden hod is steel mesh covered with enamel or some other durable finish. After many years, still no rust on either one.

I’m thinking I wouldn’t be going too far in offering a compact but heartfelt ode to this clever invention. Bear with me?

Nod to the Hod
```
I pause today with
an admiring nod
to the humble but
handy garden hod.
Perfect to gather
fresh picked veg' and fruit,
hose it all down and
then haul off your loot.
```
Garden Hod or Shirt Hammock

Before wrapping up these fewer-than-warranted lines of praise for a convenient implement known as the garden hod, I’d like to knowledge that I’m not clairvoyant. And therefore I’m not always prepared with my garden hod in hand when I stop in the garden or orchard to gather vegetables and/or fruit.

What to do in the event of a capricious, and anticipated harvest? That’s easy. I highly recommend the shirt hammock. Untuck your shirt (it’s probably works best with a T-shirt or sweatshirt) and gather a fist-full of fabric in your hand creating a convenient “hammock” that you can fill with produce. I don’t recommend hosing it down in your shirt hammock; for that you’ll want a garden hod.
August 24, 2022
Just Google It?

This video is one of several exploratory forays into the Google Search vignette I included in my Redacting Rosslyn v1.0 performance last August at The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York.

Blending readings from my Rosslyn Redux manuscript with oral and digital storytelling, the event was a collaborative attempt to animate type, words and documents into interactive narrative.

I’ve discovered that building a book is a bit like rebuilding an old house. No matter how great the bones, how stunning the view, how well preserved the architecture and design, and no matter how clear and enticing the goal, you can’t do it by yourself.

In the case of our home it took the world’s most intelligent, beautiful and stubborn wife plus a vast community of contractors, carpenters, advisers, family and friends to rebuild Rosslyn. In the case of my book it will take your laughter, your sighs, your heckling (and even your prodding and booing and advising) to build Rosslyn Redux. (Redacting Rosslyn Redux » Rosslyn Redux)

I yearned for that creative tension that exists between live storyteller and audience. Oral narrative is by definition more dynamic, more elastic, more interactive than it’s written counterpart. Each live retelling differs as the storyteller responds to the audience, distilling the essentials and abandoning the rest. It’s the original crowd sourcing!

Suffice to say, this is an experiment, inviting readers and audience into the creative process, into the revision and redaction process. It could get very messy… (See you at Depot Theatre Tommorrow » Rosslyn Redux)

Of course, there’s another notable difference between typing stories and telling stories.

It’s funny. When I rehearse — aloud or in my head — my voice is Bourbon and caramel. Resonant. Enveloping… And then I hear a recording of myself or watch a video, and I’m certain the sound isn’t working properly. Bad mic? Is the equalizer busted? Probably the speakers are blown. I don’t have that pre-pubescent, one-dimensional voice that scurries for the rafters every few minutes. Really, I don’t.

Only, I do. It’s me. That voice is my own. (The Voice of Redacting Rosslyn)

I long for a deep, velvety radio disc jockey voice, but gargling Bourbon and caramel sauce so far hasn’t achieved the desired affect. And so it was a nice reprieve during my performance to clam up for a few minutes and let the video run sans voice.

Here’s another short video experimenting with the “Just Google it!” answer that I through at so many home renovation challenges between 2006 and 2009.

The lighthearted idea winding through this Google Search sequence is the impact that the renovation had had on us. As we wound down we discovered it was trickier to unwind ourselves… After four years of adrenaline charged, anxiety fueled DIY home renovation, my bride and I struggled to unlearn the survival skills we’d adapted.

I’ll post the final version of the video soon: Just Google it!

May 9, 2012
Redacting Rosslyn Redux
Rosslyn Boathouse in Essex, New York, May 1, 2011

What happens when a storyteller writes a book? When a talker becomes a typer? When the audience’s laughter, sighs, snoring, heckling and applause vanish? When margins and page count provide only the most porous parameters?

I’ll tell you what. Story glut. Plot inflation. Unchecked character sprawl…
```
What: Redacting Rosslyn Redux
When: 8:00pm, Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Where: The Depot Theatre, Westport, NY
```
For the past year I’ve been writing and revising a memoir about the four years that Susan and I spent renovating the W.D. Ross property in Essex. I’ve discovered that building a book is a bit like rebuilding an old house. No matter how great the bones, how stunning the view, how well preserved the architecture and design, and no matter how clear and enticing the goal, you can’t do it by yourself.

In the case of our home it took the world’s most intelligent, beautiful and stubborn wife plus a vast community of contractors, carpenters, advisors, family and friends to rebuild Rosslyn. In the case of my book it will take your laughter, your sighs, your heckling (and even your prodding and booing and advising) to build Rosslyn Redux.

Please join me at 8:00pm on Wednesday, August 3 at The Depot Theatre in Westport for a solo performance of Redacting Rosslyn Redux, an evening of readings, storytelling and vignettes ranging from a wader-wearing Amazon named Rosslyn to a perennially pickled bathtub yachtsman. I’ll poke fun at the idiosyncrasies (and absurdities) of renovation, marriage and North Country life while plunging you into the creative process. Are you ready to help build a book?

You are invited to a reception in the lobby following the performance. All participants will be entered into a drawing for Essex gift certificates and Rosslyn Redux swag. All proceeds from this performance will be donated to The Depot Theatre. Here’s how to get tickets:
```
Depot Box Office:
Call: 518-962-4449
Monday, Thursday, and Friday from 10am-10pm
Saturday and Sunday from 12pm-10pm
Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am-5pm

Depot Online Ticket Sales:
http://depottheatre.org/tickets
```
Thank you. I hope to see you!
July 27, 2011
The Day the Gingko Leaves Fell

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8IkDKsmee8&w=600&rel=0]

This morning I awoke to see the Gingko (Ginkgo biloba) shedding it’s fan-shaped leaves. First I noticed the golden carpet ringing the tree trunk, and then I headed out and stood underneath the boughs to hear the last tumbling gingko leaves.

Gingko Leaves Retrospective

Here’s what I wrote on November 3, 2010 on my blog when the gingko leaves let go and I first photographed the peculiar phenomenon.

Each autumn the leaves of an enormous old Ginkgo Biloba tree in our yard retain their leaves until the frigid end. They’re among the last leaves to fall, and they remain green until just a day or two before cascading down. And when they decide it’s time to let go, they all do it at once.

An enormous canopy of a tree reaching about 100 feet tall covered in thick foliage one day and naked the next. It’s dramatic. And slightly surreal. (virtualDavis)

Gingko Leaves 2012

The gingko leaves had transformed from green to brilliant golden in the last few days, so I have been anticipating their fall, but the change is so stark and so sudden each year that I can’t help but stop and wonder about this mysterious tree “with no close living relatives… similar to fossils dating back 270 million years.”

Ginkgo leaves, fall color (Wikipedia)

During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (one to 15 days). (Wikipedia)

But why? Why (and how) does this prehistoric species retain its chlorophyll-rich leaves so much later than other deciduous trees? And why do they drop so suddenly, so precisely — the entire vast canopy shed in a matter of hours — after a deep frost?

If it were the first hard frost or the most severe frost to date, it would make sense. But last night was neither. And yet almost all of the leaves have cascaded down to the ground over the last few hours.

Gingko Leaves Mystery

Can you explain the gingko leaves dramatic behavior? Please post your hypothesis (or scientific solution to this mystery) in the comments below. Thanks.

November 6, 2012
Photo of the Week: Hurricane Isaac

Instacanv.as Photo of the Week?

Wondering why Hurricane Isaac is the title for this entry and photo? Or better yet, what Hurricane Isaac and Instacanv.as have in common? I’ll explain (and encourage you to vote for this Photo of the Week) in just a moment.

But first, let me tell the story behind the picture.

The photo to the right was a spontaneous snapshot that I took with my iPhone on September 4, 2012 after Hurricane Isaac lumbered through the Eastern United States.

We were fortunate that the the storm had used up most of its anger by the time it whirled through the Champlain Valley, but Rosslyn’s boathouse nevertheless endured a thorough water and wind lashing.

Once Hurricane Isaac’s fury passed I headed down to the waterfront to survey the damage. For all practical purposes we escaped unscathed. Almost. Except for this red Adirondack chair which was swept off the boathouse pier and dumped into the shallow water in front of our beach. Unfortunately the waves pounded the chair against the rocks, crushing one armrest and dinging the chair up elsewhere. I snapped this picture and posted it to Istagram with this message:

By the dawn’s early light… The Adirondack chair that got away!

Good fortune was smiling upon us. The chair is repairable and no further damage was evident.

The barn red Adirondack chair is one of a pair that was hand made for us as a wedding gift by a close friend who grew up in the Adirondacks but now lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. He presented us with two miniature versions of the chairs while still designing and constructing them and then surprised us the following summer by installing the handsome pair on Rosslyn’s boathouse pier, flanking the double doors on the Vermont side. They’ve become a fixture in the half dozen years since. Combined with the hammock, the handsome pair of Adirondack chairs invite you to linger a while to watch the ferry come and go while catching up with an old friend.

This winter once Hurricane Irene repairs to our waterfront and normal seasonal maintenance abates, we will rebuild and repaint the battered chair. And next spring it will greet ferry passengers once again.

Vote for Hurricane Isaac Photo!

Wouldn’t it be fun to see this quirky photograph of Rosslyn’s boathouse splashed across the front of the Instacanv.as home page as a Photo of the Week?

It could happen. It’s nominated and in the running. All it takes is your vote and a little bit of luck. Okay a whole lot of votes and luck!

Please consider voting and/or sharing this post with your friends. I’d love to see this photo featured. Thanks for your help. Vote HERE.

November 16, 2012
Moist May 2017

Moist May 2017 (Source: S. Bacot-Davis)

The Lake Champlain water level is ever-so-slowly dropping, but it’s premature to rule out the possibility of hitting (or even exceeding) flood stage. At present, there’s about a foot of clearance between the bottom of Rosslyn boathouse’s cantilevered deck and the glass-flat water surface. Windy, wavy days are another story altogether.

[pullquote]With the first impossibly green asparagus and precocious yellow narcissus, can summer be far off?[/pullquote]

For now, at least, Rosslyn’s boathouse is safe.

Safe, but not dry. The boathouse, house, carriage barn, ice house, yards, meadows, gardens, orchard, and woods are soggy. Persistant showers with insufficient soaking up / drying out time has resulted in waterlogging. My bride catalogued current circumstances (see video below) including a row of cedars that were destroyed in late winter when an old, rotten maple tree fell down, crushing the hedge. And the vegetable garden has finally been tilled once, at least a week or two later than ideal.

[youtube https://youtu.be/RxaQQqDGoq0&w=550&rel=0 ]

The final images offer a nice balance to the spring rain, rain, rain. With the first impossibly green asparagus and precocious yellow narcissus, can summer be far off?

May 5, 2017
When Your B-Roll Becomes Your A-Roll

Lake Champlain sunrise. Still mostly dark. Then an explosion of fiery day over the silhouetted Green Mountains in Vermont, over the slightly refracting waters of the lake…

When Your A-Roll Becomes Your B-Roll (Source: Geo Davis)

It’s mornings like this when your B-roll becomes your A-roll! It’s mornings like this that I pinch myself. Gently. But enough to startle myself into reassessing my day’s priorities.

Today I caught myself just in time to juggle priorities. Here’s what convinced me to recalibrate the agenda.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak6ECe95YRk?rel=0&w=500 ]

Ah, yes, Adirondack summer. I hope the rest of the day is as spectacular as the beginning!

June 27, 2018
Asparagus Beans
Asparagus Beans (Source: R.P. Murphy)

We grow heirloom asparagus beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis) also known as Chinese long beans, yardlong beans, snakes beans, and long-podded cowpeas. Ours usually grow 15-18” long, and our greatest success results from erecting an 8-10’ tall “teepee” Goethe beans to climb over the course of the summer.

Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)

Bountiful beans,
red-podded asparagus,
climbing the teepee.
— Geo Davis

Most summers we grow both green-podded and red-podded asparagus beans, but this spring a squirrel got into our seed cache. Strangely enough the green-podded variety were out of stock. So instead we have lots and lots of red asparagus beans!

Asparagus Beans (Source: R.P. Murphy)

When they are still young and slender, they make a perfect snack plucked from the vine and eaten raw. Tender, crunchy, and with a flavor somewhere between a green bean and a nut (pecan crossed with cashew?) As the asparagus beans mature, often growing to a foot and a half or more, they’re better eaten cooked. We usually chop them into 1/2” pieces and sauté them with garlic and olive. A dash of salt and pepper, and they’re a delicious complement anything grilled or roasted.
- Asparagus Beans (Source: R.P. Murphy)
- Asparagus Beans (Source: R.P. Murphy)
- Asparagus Beans (Source: R.P. Murphy)
- Asparagus Bean Teepee (Source: R.P. Murphy)
Red-podded Asparagus Beans, Summer/Autumn 2022
September 10, 2022