Political Phenology

Today is November.  Trees should have lost their leaves (except for those with marcescence), but the cottonwoods are barely showing color.  My Ginkgoes are turning at least a week late; they should be bare right now.  Even the desert willow (Chilopsis) in front still has most of its canopy.  It and the crepe myrtles and the Chinese pistache are none-the-less losing some leaves.  

Ginkgo and Cornus

Another thing that was lost is MAGA control of Congress.  Tuesday's election was a clear repudiation of the current administration.  Between immigration, war with Iran, soaring gas prices, and inflation, the cost of living has become too much for many Republican voters.  The result was Democratic party victories across the country, some in the most unlikely places.  NM has a female indigenous governor.  Texas has a latina governor and a Democratic senator.  The list goes on.  

Later this morning I'll be taking part in a Nature's Notebook webinar for their Local Phenology Leadership Certification Program.  As a long-time observation series, the BioPark's phenology data has gotten noticed and we're invited to share our experiences with certification trainees.  After a brief introduction, we'll divvy up into Zoom break-out rooms to have individual conversations with the trainees.  

In other news yesterday afternoon, I listened to a webinar from the NYBG where they're using Artificial Intelligence in interesting ways.  I was keen to learn about how the are automating the IUCN  process to generate Red List reports from herbarium materials.  Eager to see how that works out when their IRIS software is released.  

Trip Report, Part 5

After our final lobster roll in Portland, we headed to Boston via the Downeaster.  Nice not to have to deal with city traffic. 

 From the station it was a simple Uber to the hotel with time to get settled before meeting nephew Peter for dinner.  It was great catching up with him.  Food was good, too.  

Our first full day in Boston took us to Harvard and one of my Bucket List items:  the Ward Collection of the Blaschka glass flowers.  On first glance it's hard to believe they aren't real.  

Afterwards we headed back to the North Harbor and tracked down some Revolutionary War sights and some authentic cannoly.  

The Old North Church

We walked back to the hotel and later hoofed it over to a nearby Italian restaurant to have a second dinner with Peter.  

The next morning we Uber'ed to the airport, caught our flight home.  Conveniently, our arrival gate in DEN was adjacent to our departure gate for the final leg to ABQ.  Easy peasy. 

Trip Report, Part 4

After the visit with Paul and Marcia, it was time to head back to the coast.  The Nor'easter had finally crawled up to Vermont, so the drive back to Maine was cloudy, then windy, then rainy, then pouring.  The turnpike from Portsmouth to Portland was awash in a heavy downpour.  

We bailed out of the rental car and dashed into the Regency, leaving matters to the valet to deal with in the downpour.  Fortunately, the room was, well... roomy, well-appointed, and came with a view (if it wasn't foggy and raining).  We unpacked and then headed up one story to the penthouse bar for drinks and bar food.  Turns out, that was good enough for dinner.  

The next day was a recovery day and we largely stayed indoors, enjoying the spacious hotel room with its glimpses of the harbor through the rain.  A large breakfast tided us over until dinner, which once again was upstairs in the rooftop lounge.  

Schlepp took a midday stroll around the neighborhood.

When the weather broke the next day, we packed superfluous clothing and items into our Foldies and shipped them home via UPS.  Then we turned in the rental car.  On foot, we explored the nearby Portland Museum of Art and called it a day.

Our last day in Portland started leisurely with an Uber ride to the Amtrak station.  We caught the midday Downeaster to Boston and then Uber-ed to our next hotel.  

The adventure continues...

Trip Report, Part 3

After our days in Portland, we drove over to visit my brother in Norwich.  We went via US-302 W and NH-112 W, which took us up into the White Mountains.  The mixed deciduous forest was just getting started with color change as we drove up from Conway.  

We made it to our hotel in White River Jct in time to join Paul for a tour of his farm and a delicious dinner.  

 The next day week toured the area around Norwich, breakfasting at a local favorite, admiring a covered bridge, touring a famous sculpture garden, stopping at a glass blowing studio, and making a spiritual pilgrimage to the King Arthur Flour headquarters. 

The next day we finished our visit with a gourmet breakfast at the farmhouse.  

Trip Report, Part 2

Our second day in Portland was forecast to be a good one before the Nor'easter rolled in, so we took advantage of the sunny skies and headed north to Booth Bay.  Guided by a trusty navigation app that actually worked, we made our way to the Coastal Maine Botanic Garden.  

Straight away we found the bus loading lot but finally made it to a convenient parking spot near the visitor center.  We had earlier gotten tickets online and quickly made our way out into the gardens. 

Wide pedestrian bridges over the bogs connect the VC with the gardens

Fountains, flower beds, and sculptures were tucked into the Maine woods to great effect.  There was some color change*, but nothing stunning.  Still, one could tell that the season was winding down.  By mid-October they'll close except for Christmas light displays. 

The dahlia display was stunning

Dahlia profusion

Panorama

We toured the central gardens and eventually caught one of their little carts and got a narrated tour of some of the backcountry beyond our reach.  We saw 3 of the giant wooden trolls and now are officially hooked on them.  Sadly, the nearest ones to ABQ are in Colorado, at least 6 hours away.

A Damso troll

A second Damso troll

A third Damso troll (out of 5 total)

Afterwards we drove into Booth Bay itself looking for a late lunch.  Our guidebook suggested The Boathouse and we chose it because it had oysters on the menu.  

My lobster sandwich (shared with little Schlepp)

Caro's blueberry pie (ditto)

We had checked my botanical box and Caro got her oysters and blueberry pit.  Mission accomplished.  A splendid fall day! 

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* Stay tuned for Day 3 and the fall colors in the mountains.  

Trip Report, Part 1

I'm back from New England and now able to post on the events of the past two weeks.  But first a little background...

Hurricane POLO was churning towards Baja as we left for Maine with forecasts showing tons of rain headed for New Mexico.  Meanwhile, on the east coast, a low-pressure system was shaping up as a rare Septmember Nor'easter.  Either way, precipitation looked to have a significant effect both on the garden at home and our activities our east.  

As it happened, we made it out of town before the atmospheric river driven by POLO arrived.  In fact, we made it to Portland, ME before the Nor'easter arrived, too.  That gave us a golden opportunity to shake off the jet lag with a stroll along Portland's waterfront. 

Portland Pier with unknown fishtails

Maine State Pier with ferries

Number 5 Eastern Promenade 

We returned to the Portland Pier for an early dinner/late lunch and had our first lobster roll.  As luck would have it, it was also the best lobster roll.  Believe me when I say that we searched and sampled many to be able to make that statement.  

Lobster roll at Luke's

Day 2 was a botanical day and deserves it's own section, so I'll save that for my next installment. 

Wet, Continued Wet with a Chance of Wet

Much to our surprise, the New Mexico monsoon* fired up on Sept. 15th.  In a few days inches of rain fell and the Rio is flowing again.  

Technically speaking, several trillion gallons of rain fell over the entire state during this last round of storms.  More moisture powered by a hurricane off the west coast of Mexico are expected in the days ahead.  

Happy Equinox, everyone!

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* Yes, we really have a meteorologically defined monsoon in New Mexico.  About half the year's precipitation falls between June and September, driven by moisture streaming northward from the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of California.