2020 is almost over. Two days left in this strange and challenging year. The madman says so long 2020. He is not sorry to see the end of it. Nor am I if truth be told. But there are better days ahead. The Solstice Pig has told us so. Eight days ago, the…
The sun is creeping towards its lowest point in the sky. The madman is just waiting for its shadow to hit his Solstice pig. That signals the shortest day of the year. The sun will rise at 7:12 a.m. and set at 4:22 p.m. If you want to follow it, here’s a chart. As…
Today is December 1. Thanksgiving and Black Friday are behind us, as strange as they were this year. So now we get to look forward to the 2020 Christmas season. “You know, with everything else going on I haven’t even thought about Christmas,” the madman said. Come to think of it, I really haven’t…
As you all know, 2020 has been a rather strange year. Our garden was our salvation. Remember, a couple of weeks ago we were sitting around the Samhain fire reflecting on the garden. In the last blog we mentioned some of the things that made it good. But, the madman can always find some…
Reflections with a Samhain bonfire. The madman was so excited – a nice rainstorm and a bit of snow hit us late last week. Sure, he was glad to see the drought begin to ease. But, more important, rain meant he could have his Samhain bonfire without burning down the woods. And, a wonderful…
You can tell by the sun angle. It’s a month past the fall equinox. As much as the madman doesn’t want to believe it, fall is here. The sun is closer to the southern horizon so it doesn’t beat down like it has all summer. We haven’t reached the Persephone period yet, so we have…
The Morning Glories have reached the top of the treehouse and they are glorious. “September’s flower,” the madman calls them. I call them the late August flowers, but that doesn’t sound as nice. Actually, they have been blooming all summer, but in our garden now is when they really hit their peak. Incidentally,…
It’s tomato season in Connecticut. It has been for a few weeks. When everyone started planting their victory gardens, the first thing most thought of was the tomato. In fact, around here, tomato transplants were as scarce as toilet paper. People had to settle for anything. Not the madman – he starts all his…
Wow! It’s time for the Perseids, the madman’s favorite meteor shower. It’s not the most prolific of the year, but it comes at a time when the weather is warm. The madman imagines some ancient gardener saying, “the heavens are showering, time to plant the fall crops.” If you were fortunate enough to…