july twenty second twenty twenty four
this blog post covers the capricorn full moon on the solstice until the capricorn blue moon yesterday. thanks for reading!
7.21.24
Today is cool, overcast. My phone says today is actually the full moon. I wonder if its peak fullness was this morning. I won't Google it to check.
Lots of bugs swarming my head on the walk to the chickens. I rolled up the rest of my balsam fir batch I had going and finish around quarter of 1. I head to put it outside in the sun, since the forecast didn't predict rain. I decide not to because it feels and smells like it will rain. Rain starts at 1 pm and it pours! Not windy at all. Neale pulls up the radar and there is a singular shower over our area of town.
I am sitting in an Applebees, eating 16 mozzarella sticks and drinking my second Bahama Mama (blue, for Fourth of July) when I hear the breaking news on the tv that Joe Biden is dropping out of the presidential race. We go to target after to get an air fryer. A beautiful portrait depicting the American Dream.
The moon is huge tonight. Rose around 9:30. Even bigger and yellower than last night. Tonight is definitely the full moon. It's incredibly impressive with its brightness and size. The whole eastern sky is illuminated to a deep, inky sea green. It's fairly clear out, not too many clouds, just a few giant wispy birds soaring towards the sea.
I can see the craters on the moon from my living room couch. It looks like a smiley face, big and yellow and round, with two eyes and a long, uncanny, curved line of a mouth.
At 10:27, I look up and it's gone.
7.20.24
Been cold the last few nights. Needed to pull out a blanket last night instead of just a top sheet. Days seem cold too, but they're seasonally appropriate instead of very hot.
It must be the full moon tonight; this is a blue moon. The moon is huge and bright orange, hanging low in the sky, obscured by clouds. Beautiful and alluring, we sit at the beach and wait for it to find a break in the clouds. It never does, but the clouds in front of it pass with differing opacity, some of them offering a blurred outline. I find out my Auntie Debi crashed her car and is in the ICU.
7.16.24
Picked Zucchini today. Seems like a good year for them, the plants are prolific and seem to be growing very quickly.
It has been cold in the mornings and very hot during the day. A nice combination.
While driving to Jilly's, I swore I saw a funnel cloud nearly becoming a tornado. I watched it grow a foot that stretched almost all the way to the ground and it was obviously rotating. There was a few bolts of lightning elsewhere in the sky and a few drops of rain. I also watched it dissipate.
Crazy storm this evening around 9 pm. Me and neale went and stood on the porch to watch it roll in, and you really could. First we watched it approach on the radar. It's a squall line. looks like Vermont got hammered with incredibly severe thunderstorms again. The pattern seems to be, they come from the west and pour down on Vermont. They make their way eastward and get chopped up by the white mountains. Simultaneously, the southern halves of the storm get stuck below Franconia Notch and chew up Western Mass and Seacoast Newhampshire. The storms ultimate destination seems to be the ocean, where it can spin around and drink water until it runs out of energy.
We watched the dark grey cloud fill the whole sky. It came from southwest and veered towards the ocean. You could distinctly see the front of the storm. It brought constant, high up lighting that illuminated the sky and deep, continuous rumbles of thunder. We watch as the wind picks up, bringing drops of rain. A car speeds past down our road. It is quickly followed by blinding, driving rain. We stand on our front porch. The rain blows sideways. We keep the lights off and the lighting illuminates the whole house. I'm unable to make out individual bolts.
I am honored, like always, to view Jupiter's power. I'm lucky to be able to observe it in a safe manner. I stand to bask in His glory, and the heavy driving rain keeps my head down, eyes on the earth instead of towards the sky like they're drawn. I go to type and my phones keys don't work, he's demanding my full attention.
7.14.24
Ritual Market today. Very hot and bright. My favorite kind of summer day, hot and bright but with a consistent, cool breeze. I saw 2 sturgeons jump in the water.
7.13.24
Around 6:15 it got pitch dark outside, the wind picking up with a boom of thunder. Rained like crazy for about 20 minutes then cleared right up.
7.12.24
Pulled our garlic today! I did it! It really looks like garlic. We braided it up. Growing it was much easier than i expected. The braiding is much harder.
7.11.24
Went raspberry picking at Spiller today. It is so unbelievably humid that on the way home, neale was saying he thought he was getting sick because he was in a cold sweat. I knew he wasn't getting sick because i knew what feeling he was talking about, as i was experiencing it too. Last night was cool and very windy, lovely sleeping weather. Severe thunderstorms happened across the rest of Maine, however. We're protected here in Biddeford though, under our special weatherproof dome.
The raspberry picking was great though. Seemed to be about peak, the first day on the comedown. I think i prefer fall raspberries. They are bigger and tastier. Can't complain, though, as i love all raspberries. There was a teeny tiny robins nest in the bush, with two little blue eggs. Oh, to be born in a raspberry bush.
7.10.24
We came home late last night. Not much else to say about our trip. The weather was so bad in Millinocket i had to pull over a few different times, it was raining so hard that I couldn't even drive because of the hydroplaning. I would stop and wait for the rain to stop, then start driving until I caught up with it again. Literally as soon as I started going south on the highway I was out of the rain and didn't encounter it again.
7.8.24
Last night, we were able to do some wonderful stargazing. I saw a few shooting stars, and the Milky Way is visible here. I'm always surprised when I see satellites here. I know they go everywhere but it is uncanny to see them in the remote wilderness. I remember last year and the year before they were doing like, weird night logging beyond the mountains. The northern sky glowed with LED lights and you could hear chainsaws all night. This year, it is silent, save for the white throated sparrow and barred owl.
It is cold this morning and I wake up with an insane Charley horse that doesn't seem to go away. Today we go for a ride around the outside of the park and take in some views. We do a couple walks down some paths at some pull offs, and about 3/4 of a mile around South Branch Pond. Turns out Neale's 2005 Toyota Corolla with duct tape on the sides, held together with zip ties, is a lot better at hiking than either of us are. I wonder what all the real outdoorsmen in their souped up pickup trucks think about when they pull over to let us pass on the tote roads.
We swim at ledge falls again, this time exploring the large basin at the top. It is scary because I can't see the bottom. It's also slippery as hell, Neale took a pretty serious fall here on our first evening. The horse flies are crazy, a girl our age stopped us on the way in to tell us that they were and she wasn't kidding. Definitely worse than the last few times we've been there, and the water is higher and much cooler.
When we get to our campsite we have a neighbor! A girl our age who is very friendly when we see her in passing. She appears to be camping by herself, which is always admirable to me. What a lot of work.
While we eat dinner- cheeseburgers, of questionable edibility after sitting in a now lukewarm cooler for three days so far. They taste fine, delicious I would say. A bunny joins us, and eats grass behind our chairs. We watch him. It is very cute watching him slurp up the grass. He stays with us a while before bounding away, underneath the lean to. I see his giant back feet are dappled white and I wonder if he is a snowshoe hare. I see the woodcocks again as the sun goes down, they land in the field.
As the fire dies, the mist rolls in across the field, thick and white, as it did last night. I wonder where it comes from. I can't tell if we will get any stargazing tonight but I hope we do. The moon stuck around a little longer and later tonight, but is gone now, so we will have another lovely dark sky if the clouds stay at bay. I see the first fireflies of the evening flutter by my tent around 9:45.
7.7.24
Today was a difficult day for me. Not any particular reason why, just mentally taxing. I feel weak and tiny and useless in the great outdoors. Similar to a mouse or maybe a tiny woodland frog. We were sitting in the lean to when we notice a snake sitting on Neales backpack between us. He sits with us while we hang out.
My thumb is alright.
We went swimming at ledge falls again and it made me feel all better. The water was full and cool and refreshing.
I have a difficult time starting tonight's fire. It feels humid and the camp wood doesn't want to catch. Eventually I get it going. We eat teriyaki steak and zucchini, which is delicious. As we sit at this evenings fire, the sky is crystal clear. I can tell it will be a wonderful evening for star watching. The western sky, where the sun has just crossed the horizon, is light pink, and fades purple, to blue across the sky.
I'm able to watch two woodcocks fly above our heads and circle the field in their mating dance! This has been on my birdwatching bucket list for a while, I've never even seen a woodcock before although I hear them all the time. They look so funny flying, with their giant round bodies and their long long beaks. Their wings beat frantically to keep them a flight, like a giant hummingbird. They also make a very funny chittering noise. I feel lucky to have seen this.
I see the faintest, tiniest sliver of a crescent moon peeking from behind the trees. When I look again, it's gone.
7.6.24
It is much cooler today, cold strong winds. It pours for most of the day. We sleep in our tent. When we awake our fire pit is drowned out, and I find myself wishing I had put aside the 40$ for a camp stove. Sugar snap peas, cheez its, and ham sandwiches aren't too bad though.
When there is slight parts in the cloud, the sun is incredibly hot and powerful. This is the Sun's Summer, I think. I know the next few days are going to be very very hot, especially by my coastal standards where 80 is a scorcher.
I notice that there are almost no blue jays this year which is very surprising. They were incredibly present the last two years. There has been the addition of ten million fireflies. I feel like fireflies disappeared for a couple years there. I definitely don't think I just didn't notice. I also have noticed a lack of blueberries which makes me sad, not even like they're just not ripe yet they are simply gone.
They are building a new lean to at Nesowdnahunk. I have mixed feelings about it, mainly due to my resistance to change. I am always fascinated by the rate at which things, even an environment that is preserved for the intention of always existing, will change.
Also, I slammed my thumb in the car door while trying to take a picture of a cool flower. It hurt so bad it made me almost pass out. I dont handle pain well.
7.5.24
Today we went to Baxter! Forecast was rain. As we were approaching the park we could see one single stream of rain out in the distance. It looked like a waterfall opened in the sky. We drove through this at one point and it was the only rain we saw. In the park, it is bright and sunny, with beautiful clouds dappling the sky. It is so fucking humid though. My car says 76* but I am sweating like a hog. We go swim at Ledge Falls, where the water is refreshingly cool. A warm and welcome contrast to my Ocean at home. Where the ocean is cold, powerful, intimidating and unpredictable, I find these mountain streams to be warm, inviting, and predictably consistent.
When we get back to the campsite the sun is setting, throwing beautiful pink rays across the mountains and field. There are bunnies hopping all over the place. Thick, white mist drifts between the mountain tops, creating images of soaring birds, and powerful faces, humanoid figures dancing up the slope.
I am always impressed by how much mountain silhouettes look like human figures. It is no wonder to me that there is so much folklore about Mountains being People, and People becoming Mountains. Katahdin looks like a strong handsome man. Here, the aptly named Moose Bosom, looks like a beautiful shapely woman, laying on her back. The mist drifts up her body, cloaking her in a fine silk robe.
The clouds set in as night falls. It is the new moon tonight, or tomorrow, or something. The bugs are fucking awful, as always. We got a bug net for the lean to but it is slightly too narrow and only deters about half the bugs I would say. We wake up early, during Dawn's Bug Hour, and set up our tent outside, which is a much better alternative.
7.4.24
This morning, when I put the chickens out, they all ran towards the tall grass in the field where they love to spend their mornings. As I was turning the compost I hear an alarm call, a loud single squawk every couple seconds. I ignore it a couple times but then I went to check on her when it didn't stop.
Ducky, our black Cochin, is standing alone. She always has a nervous look on her face, one that reminds me uncannily of our black fluffy cat we lost last year, Oscar.
Ducky is looking around nervously as she alarms, but seems to relax when she sees I'm still around.
“Where is everyone?” I ask her. Often the chickens come when they hear my voice. I look around and there is no one anywhere. I head towards the field and hope Ducky follows me. She doesn't. I stand and coax her, and she slowly follows me, hugging the tree line. Rooster is standing openly in the yard at this point, but there's no one else around. Ducky is still calling in her frantic alarm. Rooster doesn't seem to care though, or recognize why she might be alarmed.
“Look, Ducky, you know him!” I say to her. She apparently does not know him and stays in the woods, squawking.
Between the yard and the road is a marshy area, full of tall grasses and probably lots of delicious bugs. It provides excellent cover for our chickens and they spend most of their time in the thick vegetation. I stand with Ducky and wait for her to be reunited, as I know that being separated is a chickens worst fear. Shortly, as quickly as their chicken legs could navigate through the roughage after hearing my voice, they emerge one by one from the field. They are eagerly rejoined by their lost companion, who none of them seemed to have recognized as lost.
Around 4:20 I see a baby porcupine in the yard, so little that he doesn't even have pointy quills yet. About the size of a football. I watch him eat white clovers in our yard.
Warm, muggy, and overcast today. The wild blueberries are ripening very slowly. In my garden, the citronella plant is doing great! I think the rose on our porch is “in peak”. I am reminded of the concept that, in the bell curve of all patterns, to be the peak it is already in decline. Belladonna growing very slowly, same with the birdhouse gourd. I don't really think im going to get anything from the birdhouse gourd this year unfortunately, the plant is still very small and not growing very fast. The belladonna, however, seems like it is happy, just a slow grower. The patchouli is doing just fine, I think it wishes it wasn't as sunny where it is. I will likely put it in a hanging pot and bring it inside. My garden sage can't decide how it feels. I can not keep a basil plant alive, though. Every single time I've tried to grow it, it shrivels up and dies. Sometimes I can prolong its death and shriveling by a month or so. I'm not a very good gardener in this sense, I much prefer something I plant and then nature takes care of itself. I think about how if something dies where it is growing, maybe it is simply not the right place.
7.1.24
First raspberries today. Delicious, as always. Raspberries are my favorite fruit. Hot, crystal clear day, with a cold sea breeze. A lovely summers day. I've noticed a lot of 2nd year mullein plants, they are stately with their obvious tall yellow stalks. Last year I didn't notice any, must have been the first year for them all, but it's weird I wouldn't have noticed even the small ones, since I was actively looking for them. This year I have not noticed and St John's Wort, whereas last year they were very abundant despite the wet and sunless summer. I wonder if they are also biennial. I could google this, but I'm not going to.
6.28.24
It was fucking cold this morning when we went outside. Cold, cold wind. Very strong.
Was going to the gym at 11:40 and could see the moon hanging low in the sky! It was huge.
6.27.24
After harvesting the old blooms on the rose plant, it exploded today! So many beautiful flowers. I will collect again in a day or so, once they have been pollinated.
I went to check on the comfrey plant I planted a few weeks ago and it is completely gone? Leaving an empty hole behind.
We added red pepper flakes and garlic and onions to our chickens feed to try and deter the raccoon.
6.26.24
Noticed self heal blooming for the first time this year. Got my first harvest of prairie rose. Kept the chickens in the run today, and likely will for the next few days.
6.25.24
It is hot today. We tried to go to the beach and swim for a minute but the ocean was not welcoming today. The waves were huge, and easily would crash over my head if I'd let them. The crash stirs up a lot of sand. There is a raccoon in our chickens run again this afternoon. I'm unsure how we should deter it.
6.24.24
It is nice and warm again today, the rains of the last few days were lovely and welcome. The first rose on our porch is blooming, I've never seen it do this before. There are dozens of buds growing. I thought it was a multiflora rose but it certainly is not, with dainty pink petals, in a single layer around a yellow center. They remind me of sea roses but are certainly not the same thing, I tend to refer to this variety as prairie rose. I'm glad that me and the rose bush are coming to an agreement where it can grow under and up through my porch, I will trellis is up the banister, and it will keep out of my garden bed.
There was predicted severe storms yesterday, with a tornado watch issued for my area. It looks like Vermont and maybe New Hampshire were issued warnings, which is confirmed sightings of tornados, funnel clouds, or rotating storms. We very very rarely get tornado warnings. I remember when I was young, there was tornados in my hometown of Buckfield that tore up trees. I remember seeing the damage impact for years, as long as I rode the bus to school. Luckily, during that burst, there was no damage. I remember riding in Miss Tina's- my baby sitter and best friends mom- car that day, hearing storm reports and watching the crazy clouds above Route 4 in Turner, trying to beat the storm home. I can still picture the clouds in my mind. It didn't really do much weather here. There was a few spells of heavy downpours as we packed up the car after Point Reggae, but nothing to write home (blog?) about.
We tried to go to the beach today and there was a dead duck on East Point beach. We decided to try to hang out anyway but as we watched the water, we couldn't help but notice his mate. She was being pushed by the waves against the rock, not fighting it at all. Eventually we watch her try to catch foot on a shallowly covered rock. Once she's able to, we watch her jump to the next layer of rock, and it was a great struggle for her, taking her a few times and some labored looking wing flaps. We called four or five different numbers before we were directed to Maine's Public safety hotline, who directed us to a game warden. Game warden asks us to go take a video of the duck so we do. When we get back to take the video, probably 20-30 minutes later, there is a woman and her babies playing directly in front of the sick duck, beside her deceased partner. They don't notice. I take videos of the duck and contact the game warden. The woman and her babies seem unphased by the dead and dying animals around them and continue to play in the dead duck water.