Snowy Morning

We woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow and more steadily falling. Above is the view out our back window, and then here (left) is the view from the living room, looking down toward the pond. Pay no attention to the thermometer, which almost always says it's 20 degrees. Its days are numbered.

The drive to work wasn't too bad, just a little slippy...and there were plenty of nice views, like this one (right) taken at the southern end of Boat Creek Marsh, on the Eastham-Orleans line.

Sunset on Ice

I caught a lovely sunset at Rock Harbor on the way home this evening. We had 35 degrees today, another creepy glimpse of spring. Of course, the winds that were blowing muted that a bit.



Still, until spring arrives, at least we've got some beautiful sunsets to show off the icy bay.

Tastes of Spring

This week, things warmed up a bit. We had some rain. The winds died off. On Thursday, a trio of male ducks visited the yard, and the then-open water of the pond. The early morning concerts of birdsong grow more full and diverse with each new day. This little chickadee took some time to bask in the sun at the re-frozen edge of the pond.


Above, the glitter field of a frozen First Encounter marsh.

Another sunset over the bay off Skaket Beach, in Orleans.

Heron Sighting

As I drove through Boat Creek Marsh on the way to work this afternoon, I spotted the graceful flight of a blue heron just beside the road. Other folks stopped for pictures, too, and so he/she was a bit spooked and it was hard to get close.
Still, it was a beautiful bird, and a nice moment in an otherwise average (if compari
tively balmy at 44 degrees!)day.

On the way home this evening: dusk, at Skaket Beach, looking out over the still frozen bay.

Pond Ice

With temperatures staying so cold and windy today, it was nice to have this President's Day off to stay indoors and putter a bit. But still, as the sun began to sink into the western sky, the glitter and gleam of our well-frozen pond drew me outside for a few shots.

This funky pattern in the ice caught my eye. I think it owes its design to the grass submerged just below.

It's kind of cool to have the pond so well frozen. Although I haven't ventured far out, it's refreshing to get some new angles on the pond that its liquid form doesn't allow as easily.

Although it felt solid underfoot, and made little noise as I walked across, there are still some impressive looking cracks visible below the solid surface, and it seemed unwise to venture too far, not when there was a warm house...and dog waiting for my return.

Here's our girl's latest portrait.

An Arctic Bay

Surprise! No, I didn't make a day trip to Hudson's Bay. This was the view of our own Cape Cod Bay, from Cook's Brook Beach around 3:00 p.m. this afternoon.



There wasn't much wind this afternoon, though it's kicking up again tonight. Temps hovered in the low twenties, though...and the moisture in the air as the tide crept under the ice made it cold enough that my visit was a short one.

Here's a look at our own meadow, a bit closer to home, with our frozen pond at a distance. And a ghost of last summer's hydrangeas: as cold as the season seems now, it's a reminder that this is a gardening blog...and spring will be here before we know it!

Winter Fire

Today was a nice sunny day, and since the winds faded off finally, our temperature (hovering around freezing) seemed almost tropical. The bright golden sun helped with that...and gave us a great sunset, too.

Cape Cod Bay from First Encounter Beach, Eastham MA.





This final shot was taken a little further north along the bay, where the parking area at Thumpertown Beach offered a higher vantage point for the last glimpse of the golden god Apollo and his chariot.

Zamboni Effect

Once the storm passed by last night, the gusty winds continued and our temperatures dropped sharply back down into the teens. As you can see, all the fresh rain water added to the pond was frozen solid, or nearly so, by noontime.

Krogman's pond isn't particularly deep at any point, but I still kept to the most shallow end in front of the house. Still, it seemed remarkably solid, and yesterday's storm has had a nice "Zamboni" effect. I'm sure skaters and hockey players during this cold upcoming weekend will be quite happy!

Valentine's Storm

It was a dreary Valentine's Day around here, at least as far as the weather was concerned. While much of the northeast saw great amounts of snow falling, we got about a quarter of an inch, before temps rose up into the 40s and gave us a day of torrential rain and high wind.

Recently popular for skating, today the pond is only collecting more water.

Bright February Day

All I am saying...
...is give it a chance.


Another frozen day on the Cape, and another look at Rock Harbor, locked up with ice. You can see, actually, that the ice seems to stretch far across the bay toward the mainland (see that white horizon?). And the seagulls, like the rest of us, are huddled together for warmth.

Emergency Response

Our most sincere thanks go out to the men and women of the Eastham Fire Department, who showed up at our house so very quickly upon the report of our chimney fire this morning. I'm glad to tell you we are all fine, as is our home. Sadly, it may be a little while before we warm ourselves in front of the fireplace again.

Winter Games

As I mentioned, we haven't seen a duck on or near the pond in weeks. However, today, we discovered that it is also the perfect natural habitat for hockey players!

Groundhog's Day

Cape Cod Bay, from Rock Harbor Beach, Orleans MA.

So, here it is, the second of February. The predictions from Punxsutawney Phil and others this year have reported no shadows seen, and so call for only two more weeks of winter. Have these groundhogs seen, I wonder, An Inconvenient Truth? Despite my own fears about global warming, only two more weeks of winter--after it arrived here so late this year--seems a little "pie in the sky" to me. We'll see...


I couldn't remember the last time the groudhog didn't see his shadow (I always assumed with all the paparazzi flashbulbs that he'd always see it!), so I looked back at the stats, and it turns out that Phil has predicted an early spring only 14 times over the last 119 years!

Interestingly enough, in 1942, this famous (and apparently immortal) groundhog saw only a partial shadow, so as not to tip off Hitler and his pals one way or another about the weather.

Foggy Pond

There was a nice fog from our frozen pond this morning, as temps got above freezing and we had a little rain.