Category: circle a day

pi(e) day

March 14, 2012

pi day

Pi(e) day = March 14 = 3/14 = 3.14 = ratio between the diameter and the circumference of any circle.

Pie tally:

  • raspberry (with 18 candles for Aerin)
  • chocolate cream (with 24 candles for Abby)
  • 2 apple
  • blueberry (shown above)
  • three berry
  • key lime
  • another chocolate pudding

people tally (some people belong to more than one group):

  • 4 of us
  • 3 Vertssess
  • 3 Almanzars
  • 2 Abbys
  • 1 neighbor
  • 1 hiking club
  • 2 co-workers
  • 1 co-worker girlfriend
  • 3 Mt Holyoke students with various graduation dates

plus some I can't remember.

Pi day makes every one happy. It is like Thanksgiving, only with just dessert.

Black and white circles will resume tomorrow.

country roads

March 13, 2012

march 13

Having run out of snow, I am saved by fog.

I drove to the barn along more roundabout roads this morning, looking for views and ideas for the next half of March. I found some bark, and some big trees which may or may not translate, and this lovely foggy view back along a tiny dirt road.

I take horses up and down this road, so driving on it feels strange. I should be taller, and clip-clopping, and feel the wind on my face, and see ears framing my view.

pasture pond

March 12, 2012

march 12

We seem to have skipped right past spring and into mid-summer. I heard the first spring peeper frog tonight, just one of him, but where there is one there will be more soon. The weather today was sunny and absurdly warm. I rode two horses; the gray old man not-too-hard so he wouldn't get sweaty and distressed, and the grumpy red mare with some tact. I took each one out to walk outdoors to cool off. One silver maple tree was humming – Margaret and I couldn't figure out what it was until we looked up and saw the bees. Not swarming, just lots and lots of bees making use of the early blooming.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I want to give these circles away. If you see a day you like particualrly, comment or email me, and I'll send it out to you.

distracted and bemused

March 11, 2012

three circles and a pair of socks

I must admit to feeling like Edward Lear’s old man with a beard, because it is just as I feared – while I have no birds in my beard I am watching the snow melt under the (lovely lovely warm) weather and the strong contrasts are vanishing and flowing downstream.

The lower right is Friday, when Alice and I went to see the high school musical Grease, and came home too late to post anything. It shows the small patches of snow left in the shade of the pine woods.

The lower left is a pair of socks, finished Saturday and included because the palette is similar.

Saturday had no post because Alice and I got up waaay too early and drove to Cambridge with friends so she could go to a bunch of interesting and distinctly offbeat classes with other extraordinay middle and high schoolers. She took classes in Greek and Roman mythology, Maxwell’s equations for middle schoolers, introduction to soldering and explosions in chemistry. By the time we were done and home, it was well after everyone’s bedtime. I did finish the socks, and a circle. The circle is the one top right – it looks different because MIT has no sewing machines, so I used some black and gray markers to sketch in what I was thinking about.

The last one is from today, another reflecting tree, with the snows of yesterday upon it. The snows of yesterday are melting like crazy, and I’m going to have to work from memory or modify my point of view.

tobacco barn

March 7, 2012

IMG_0345

Still working from the pictures of the March 1 and 2 snowstorm(s).

The Connecticut River Valley used to be tobacco growing land. This barn is used for horses now, instead of drying tobacco, but the original use can still be seen in the vertical hinged boards that would let in a breeze in summer. 

river’s edge

March 6, 2012

march 6

It could be the edge of any still water, but I saw the bank of the Connecticut River as I crossed it headed to the barn this morning, and it looked a lot like this. 

I don't know what I am going to do with March's new black and white landscape theme after the snow melts! 

wooded hillsides

March 5, 2012

march 5

Going south and east into Connecticut yesterday, and coming west and north today, I found myself looking up into continuous hillsides of leafless trees. The snow line was right at the Massachusetts border, and the Holyoke range had ranks of deciduous forest rising along the southern flanks. I love being able to see into the woods in the winter, to see the shape of the land underneath. The trees feel like the pelt of a creature, and the whole landscape seems both living and sleeping. 

 

And here you can see us in our fancy duds, ready to drive away to a night of food, drink and iniquity. It was a good time. 

formal wear

March Forth!

March 4, 2012

march 4

A tree, a crow in a field, a hillside behind.

Al's company's Christmas party is tonight. I have a formal gown, adorable black flats covered with tiny black roses, and some wrist and earring bling, ready to go. I've also packed my black turtle-neck and jeans if I require comfort later on. 

 

March inspiration and March 3

March 3, 2012

March black and white landscapes

What I didn't expect when I laid out my plans for the year in January was a snowstorm on March first, followed by gorgeous atmospheric weather and all the colors I've been thinking about. I'm not one to pass up inspiration when it whacks me on the head and gives everyone a snow day, so for a while you'll be seing small black and white landscapes in circles, inspired by the ones seen above. 

And the first of those is here. 

march 3

The advantage to driving a particular path routinely is watching things change across the seasons. I have a particular fondness for this field – the curve of it into the horizon defined by the woods at the edge, the lines of the rows of corn, as they grown green and are harvested. The cut corn stalks make particularly elegant hash marks against new snow.