Update, 2009-12-26: Holiday Lights 2009
The Wizard of Slocum Place does it again, with help from his next-door neighbor.
For best effect, view this photo on a black background.
I took this snapshot last night with my little Nikon P&S while walking home from dinner at Mimi’s Hummus on Cortelyou Road with Blog Widow. Tonight’s snow will create an ideal wintery photo-op.
http://bit.ly/5pJUwh
Happy Holidays, 2008-12-19
Update 2009-03-02 08:00: Just back from shoveling a few hundred square feet of steps, walkway and sidewalk. Snow is 5″ deep on the sidewalk, 6-6.5″ deep on the ground, drifting higher. Snow is still falling, and predictions are for another 2-4″ during the day on top of what we already have from last night.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the New York City tri-state area from 6pm tonight through 6pm Monday evening. A “major snowstorm” will drop 6 to 14 inches of snow, depending on location, with wind gusts up to 35 MPH.
The point forecast for Flatbush is projecting accumulations of over 13″ and steady winds of over 25 MPH.
Alternate side parking rules are suspended city-wide to facilitate snow removal.
Update 2009-03-02: All NYC public schools are closed, the first time in five years.
Snow Along the East Coast, NASA Earth Observatory, 2009-03-03
Hazards: Winter Weather, NYC OEM
The sun has not yet risen this morning, but the sky is clear as dawn lightens to day. It’s likely that “Flatbush Fluffy”, the resident Marmota monax, will see his shadow today, if only he would get out of bed.
It’s a very different Imbolc than last year. Yesterday and today are the first days since December that I remember we had nighttime temperatures above freezing, which is a deep freeze for us. Last year was the first NYC January without snow in 75 years. This Winter we’ve been hit with multiple snow storms. I think we’re up to five. Also unlike this time last year, there’s been no sign of my Spring early warning system: snowdrops and crocuses. So I guess we really are in for a few more weeks of Winter.
Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2, has its roots in an ancient Celtic celebration called Imbolog [Wikipedia: Imbolc]. The date is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year, the midpoints between the spring and fall equinoxes and the summer and winter solstice. – NOBLE Web: Groundhog Day
The groundhog, Marmota monax, also known as a woodchuck, groundhog, or whistlepig, is the largest species of marmot in the world.
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Wikipedia: Imbolc
The south side of Albemarle Road looking east from Rugby Road around 10am this morning.
After shoveling and de-icing the steps and sidewalk this morning, I walked over to the landmarked Prospect Park South Historic District for the photo op. I’m glad I did. I was rewarded with these beautiful, snowy images.
I concentrated on Albemarle Road as part of my research into the history of its design and documentation of the current landscape for my Urban Garden Design class at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Somebody has to do it.
Looking toward the northwest corner of Albemarle and Rugby Roads
Albemarle Road, South side, looking west from Buckingham Road. Behind the chain link fence on the left lies the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden.
The border of Prospect Park South is delineated by these brick posts surmounted with concrete planters. The street labels have been replaced at least once, having been weathered to near-illegibility from a century of exposure. The monogram is “PPS”: Prospect Park South.
Some of Brooklyn’s famous parrots were flocked high up in the top of this snowy American Elm tree on Albemarle Road. There are three parrots in this cropped image. If I were to produce an invasive species calendar, this would be a good image for it.
Oak Leaves
Holly, Flatbush Malls, Albemarle Road
Branches, Flatbush Malls, Albemarle Road
Lantern, 131 Buckingham Road, “The Japanese House”
1203 Albemarle Road
1305 Albemarle Road
1406 Albemarle Road / 135 Rugby Road, Prospect Park South, Flatbush, Brooklyn
1505 Albemarle Road
1510 Albemarle Road
143 Buckingham Road
131 Buckingham Road
BBG’s Rock Garden this morning
This morning I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden to attend the first 2009 meeting of the Brooklyn Community Gardeners Coalition. When I woke up this morning, it was 8F. It “warmed” up to 10F by the time I left the house. Wind chill was 0F. Hence the brevity of my visit.
I almost had the Garden to myself. Almost.
I wanted to try out the panorama assist feature of my new Nikon CoolPix S60. That worked well, I think. The ArcSoft Panorama Maker 4 software bundled with the camera won’t start at all. I had to locate and run the separate registration software just to get the serial number so I could register for support. So far, no response from them. So no snowy panoramas of the Japanese Garden today. All these photos were shot with my trusty Nikon D70s.
Nevertheless, this was a photo opportunity. The subtle colors of winter were accentuated by the snow. We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow and Monday, and warmer temperatures. The Garden is open on Monday holidays, such as Martin Luther King Day, and weekday admission is free through the end of February. It will be a good time to visit.
The Rock Garden has got some of the best “bones” of all the BBG gardens. I think it’s second only to the Japanese Garden in design.
Hydrangea quercifolia, Oakleaf Hydrangea
The Witchhazels are almost, but not quite, ready to bloom. With warmer weather expected during the week, they should be beautiful next weekend.
This was the highlight of my visit.
Flickr photo set
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Illumination of Earth by Sun at the southern solstice.
It’s the longest night and shortest day of the year for my half of the world. This season’s Solstice (Winter in the Northern hemisphere, Summer in the Southern), occurred at 12:04pm UTC on December 21, 2008. That was 7:04 AM Eastern Time, my time zone, about six hours ago.
The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, its apparent movement north or south comes to a standstill.
– Solstice, Wikipedia
It feels like winter. It’s cold outside, icy and frozen over the layer of snow we got on Friday. We will get a deep freeze tonight.
Later this week, I will see what’s left of my family of origin for the first time since we flew back from North Carolina a little more than two weeks ago. It feels like it’s been much longer than that. It will be a bittersweet reunion. We are incomplete for the first time, and for all the seasons to come.
The days start getting longer again, earlier sunrise, later dusk. It feels like more than a metaphor this year.
Lots of “it feels”, which really means, “I’m feeling.” Sometimes that’s the work to be done. To stand still. And simply feel.
If, like me, you can’t read music cold, this page has a little MIDI file which bangs out the tune so you can follow the score.
2007 December (Winter) Solstice
Solstice (Wikipedia)
The MTA thwarted our plans to attend a concert of a women’s choir this evening. So Blog Widow and I turned back and walked around our neighborhood, taking in the snow-beings and holiday lights.
Enjoy this slideshow of my Flickr set of photos from the evening. For best viewing, click the play button, then click the icon with four arrows in the lower-right to view it full-screen on a black background.
A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Brooklyn and the south shore of Long Island for tomorrow, with the possibility of 6 or more inches of snow:
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON [New York] HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.
SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION FRIDAY MORNING…AND COULD BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES IN THE AFTERNOON. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH SLEET AND RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON…ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LONG ISLAND. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 OR MORE INCHES.
Here in Brooklyn, at the end of last week and into the weekend, we got drenched with a couple days of rain. Fellow gardeners in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, I sympathize.
In this image, snow is red and orange, while liquid water is black. By the time this image was taken [On December 13], the top layer of ice was undoubtedly starting to melt, and the resulting watery ice ranges from dark red to black. The icy region extends over parts of Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire … The normally green-blue tone of plant-covered land is nearly black throughout most of New Hampshire, the state most severely affected by the storm.
– New England Ice Storm, NASA Earth Observatory
If you’ve blogged about the ice storm in your area, give us a link!
New England Ice Storm, NASA Earth Observatory
The following Garden Bloggers reported on the ice storm where they are.
Common Weeder, Heath, Massachusetts
Garden Path, Scarborough, Maine
The Vermont Gardener, Marshfield, Vermont
A specimen of Abies fraseri, Fraser Fir, decorated as our Christmas/ Winter Holiday Tree for 2007-2008.
A reminder that the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has an online guide to identifying the species of your holiday tree.
Most people can tell a Wii from a PS3 in the shop windows at this time of year, but how many can tell whether that’s a Scotch pine or a balsam fir in their living room? Our simplified key will help you identify your holiday tree.
– Holiday Tree Identification, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
For example, here are the keys to my annual choice, Abies fraseri, the Fraser Fir:
I also learned in my Woody Landscape Plant Identification class that you can quickly tell an Abies (Fir) from a Picea (Spruce) by trying to roll a needle between your fingers. Fir needles are flat and will not roll. Spruce needles are more cylindrical and will easily roll.
Since the guides include all species grown and sold commercially across the United States and Canada, they include some species you’re unlikely to find at your local tree merchant in New York City, such as Cupressus arizonica, the Arizona Cypress. In addition to the online keys, they have a page for each species, and many links to other information about selecting, identifying, and enjoying your tree.
Holiday Tree Identification, Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Long Live the Christmas Tree, 2008.12.04, from neighbor and fellow gardener at New York City Garden