Spring has Sprung!!!

It is official! Sound the trumpets! Spring has arrived at White Hawk!
Ask me how I know this to be true! Well, it's because I have come out of hibernation. The shorts are on and the sun is shining!

One sure sign that spring has arrived at White Hawk is the arrival of the Killdeer! These spunky birds love our drainage ditches and raise their families there. It is really such fun because part of their nature is to "lead" any predators away from their nests by running in front of them, then veering off to the side and faking a broken wing! So, every person, bike, or car coming up White Hawk Lane is greeted by this ritual. It's quite special :)

Another tell-tale sign that spring has arrived is all the humans gathered in the playground! It was such a beautiful day for swinging, sliding, climbing, and smiling!

Julie, Dmitri, Sue, Steve, Arvelle, & Sylvanna - Just ASwingin'

Julie & Sue pushing Dmitri


Steve helping Sylvanna climb














Sylvanna sliding and Arvelle watching

Our resident scarecrow, who is hilarious. Yesterday he was dancing and today he

looks like he's watering the weeds!

Chickens!

This just in from Rich:

"Andreas, my teaching partner at Yestermorrow, is getting pretty good press for his chicken coops, the result of much research into what makes chickens 'happy': modern: Modern living for the birds. They are in production in CA where raising chickens has become all the rage in Berkeley and other urban settings."  

Who is Rich?  He'd like to live here one day, and I'm working on a profile of him to share soon.

And because I like photos, here's Buster, another resident of White Hawk.

Misty Morning

I have this passion to share White Hawk with you--what it looks like, what it feels like.  Yesterday morning while the boys were still asleep, Sue and I did a little exploring.  She got her first White Hawk scratches tumbling out of the sled onto some prickers, but she's healing nicely.  I captured our reflection in the front door before we headed out.

I dub this the deer apple tree.

In the fall, I saw red apples beckoning in the distance and approached.  No dice. All the apples were out of reach, and the deer obviously visited on a daily basis to keep everything with their reach apple-free.  It's a really neat, sheltered spot under there when there is greenery.  Okay, you can have the apples, deer.  At this moment, going to a grocery store seems like such an odd and elaborate thing to do.

We have planted four apple trees here so far--two by the playground (thanks, Steve) and two in our own yard (thanks, Joe).

You rock, rock.

Re-enactment of I Heart Huckabees, anyone?  This guy makes you sit up and take notice.  If you don't stop for at least seven seconds and appreciate her utter rockiness, you're a dolt.  No, you're probably not.  But I like this boulder!  Joe found it walking the land not long ago, and Sue and I rediscovered it.

This is teasel, I think.  I like to put my winter photos of plants and flowers up against the summer ones.  The winter ones are equally beautiful to me--more starkness and space.

Queen Anne's Lace

Milkweed

The summer ones are so lush!  But winter walking is so easy here.  No more impenetrable thickets.  Yes, big metaphor there.

Coming home, everything is so misty.  Our three homes so far--5, 6 & 7.

5 = Laura, Steve, Sylvanna & Arvelle

6 = Greg and sometimes Marty & Sophia

7 = Joe, Julie, Dmitri  & Susanna

The playground is across the street.

I expect to see a rider on a noble steed or some such emerging out of the mists.

Here's the other side of the circle.  See the road curving around?

Then we find a neat stripey rock.  I love the green grasses and clover clinging to the earth in the middle of winter.

Hey, I think I just created my first photo essay.  Isn't that what this is?  Painless.  Lest you should get the wrong idea about me and my waxing rhapsodic over nature, I spend most of my time in my hidey hole house and like it there.

Blast from the Past

Let's taste a little summer today.  Every year, we participate in Danby Fun Day, marching in a parade and staffing a booth.  Last year we had a frisbee toss in our booth.  Nice, fun, local, walkable event.

The funny thing about the parade part is that for most of it, there's hardly anyone there--more paraders than viewers.  Then you get in view of the fire station, and there are teeming crowds!  Who knew this many people lived in Danby?  A very fun experience.

Couldn't figure out how to get the slideshow in the body of this post, so look over to the right.

Root CSA

Katie Creeger at Ecovillage at Ithaca rocks.  She organized a root CSA in which White Hawkers were invited to participate.  The result?  Greg's root cellar is stocked with loads of local organic veggies for us all, and my mind is on soup.  Thanks also to Marty who suggested we participate.  While at EVI, I got to see their earth-bermed community root cellar.  Neat!

Just today Greg finished software that will operate the root cellar fan to maintain optimum temperature and humidity.  We already had some squash and other assorted veggies.  Today we added onions, potatoes, celeriac, beets, parsnips, turnips, carrots and cabbage.  The root cellar is also an excellent place to store my beloved bulbs.

We're keeping our apples outside in winter storage--small garbage cans buried in the ground.  That's Steve putting the finishing touches on the fancy apple cans.

A Bit of Spring in Winter

Human that I am, this year I determined to extend seasons at will.  This is the first time I have forced bulbs, and I love the results.  Next, tulips and grape hyacinths!  I enjoy planting flowers, preferably ones that require very little input, and I look forward to exchanging clumps of perennials with my neighbors.

Winter Fun

Beautiful winter weather lately! It's warm (in the 20s and 30s = warm after single digits and below zero windchills) and great for sledding and snow fort building. Getting all the White Hawk children dressed and outside at the same time, now that's another challenge. Hasn't been accomplished yet!

Sue (above) loves riding in the sled, even over the bumpiest and weediest terrain. Thank you to the deer for making trails for us.

Welcome to White Hawk Talk

Welcome to White Hawk Talk. This blog will give you slices of life at White Hawk from members of our community, both residing at White Hawk now and planning to do so someday. Enjoy!