Poem in Your Pocket Day

Some may not realize it, but April is National Poetry Month, and April 30 is Poem in Your Pocket Day. I heard about it this morning on the radio.

So rather than carrying a poem around in my pocket, I figured I'd share one here. But first, a little background.

When we were in the Adirondacks two weekends ago, there still was not a lot of evidence of Spring; the leaves weren't really out yet and the flowers weren't blooming as they already were down here in New Jersey. But the birds were singing, and I enjoyed hearing them, knowing that they were heralding the coming of Spring even before it was obvious to our eyes.

While we were over at our cabin in the afternoon, we started to hear this strange shrieking noise; it sounded like a bird. Then there were more of them, louder and louder. It was kind of eerie, but I just figured there was a flock of birds that I wasn't seeing, up in the trees somewhere.

As part of our afternoon's adventures, we finally drove the Jeep all the way to the end of the road that goes past our cabin. It's an unimproved gravel road that has not been maintained for many years. It is shown on maps as a Jeep trail. So we decided to prove that our Jeep was up for the challenge. We made it up and down every hill, rock and boulder that we came across with no problem. It was fun riding past areas we had never seen before since our car wouldn't have been able to make it through. But all along the deserted road, lined on either side with ponds, brush and trees, we heard the shrieking noise. It was really getting scary - like being inside an Alfred Hitchcock movie! And still I could see nothing that was making this noise.

We finally went back to the place we were staying and as I was sitting there I suddenly said "Spring Peepers!" DH looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "Spring Peepers," I repeated. "That's what that noise was." He had never heard of Spring Peepers, but I had a vague memory of such a thing. I Googled it (thank goodness for Blackerries, as the cabin we were staying in has no wi fi) and sure enough, that's what they were. They are little frogs (only about an inch long!) that come out in the spring and make this amazing sound.

Here's a video I found that will let you hear what they sound like, plus the terrain is very similar to what we were driving past. (However, the road is in better shape than ours!)

Spring Peepers from Ali B on Vimeo.

So after all of this research I suddenly remembered this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay and now I finally understand what she meant by it.

Assault

I had forgotten how the frogs must sound
After a year of silence, else I think
I should not so have ventured forth alone
At dusk upon this unfrequented road.

I am waylaid by Beauty. Who will walk
Between me and the crying of the frogs?
Oh, savage Beauty, suffer me to pass,
That am a timid woman, on her way
From one house to another!
-Edna St. Vincent Millay

Update on the Lake George Property

We just returned from our trip to the Adirondacks and I thought it was time for an update on the purchase of the property we’re buying near Lake George.

The perc test is done, and the soil tested well. (For those who don’t know what a perc test is, it’s a test to see how well water “percolates” through the soil). This is something that is necessary if you want to put in a septic system. The cabin we’re buying doesn’t have one; it has a simple holding tank. We wanted to know whether we could upgrade to a septic system one day, and were glad to hear that we could.

We have also hired the surveyor to survey the property; he is supposed to be doing this in the next week or so. And we got the word today that our attorney has received the results of the title search, and all is well in that regard.

While we were in the area over Labor Day weekend, we took the opportunity to visit the property a few times.

The first time was to test whether our car can get up the steep gravel roadway. When we first went to the property with the realtor, she drove us up in her 4-wheel-drive SUV, as she wasn’t sure our car could make it. We were very pleased to find that our Saab 9-5 wagon went up the road with no problem whatsoever. In the winter, it might be another story, but we’ll worry about that later!

The first visit was on a cloudy day, with slightly threatening skies. When we pulled into the yard, we were surprised to see that the pond’s look had changed since our last visit – no longer looking like primordial pea soup, the pond was now clear and dark, still mysterious, but with no algae bloom at all. Apparently it is only a seasonal problem.

As we got out of the car, we noticed several disturbed areas of the water, and realized there were several small heads poking above the surface. As we watched, they swam around, and one of the creatures started squeaking at us. Apparently we had disturbed a family of otters that like to visit our pond! They were not happy about our appearance. Two of them disappeared from view, but the head of the clan continued to express his (her?) displeasure at us and at Diva, who was quite interested in his presence! From what we can figure out now that we’ve Googled them, they are apparently Northern River Otters. If anyone else has any idea whether we are correct or not, please let us know. It's kind of hard to see in this picture as the closeup is blurry but they have little narrow heads that stick out of the water like miniature Loch Ness Monster heads.

We took a walk around the pond and scores of tiny frogs hopped before us, jumping into the water, while an Eastern Wood Peewee called in the woods. (He later appeared in person to sit on a dead branch overlooking the pond, periodically leaping from his perch to catch insects in the air.)

On the outer wall of the house facing the deck, we had noticed at our first visit that there were areas where the paint and part of the wood had been worn off. We had speculated that perhaps deer come up and rub their antlers there. When we returned this time, there were further areas worn off. Diva was extremely interested in these areas, and sniffed and rubbed her own shoulders on them, and finally decided it was worth rolling around on her back about.

The next two times we visited the property were for no good reason except to walk around and look at it again. Both of these visits were on beautiful sunny days, so DH took a few more pictures of the pond and the cabin.

Updated: One more of Miss Diva, impatiently waiting to go on a walk!
I’ll continue to keep you posted!

For those of you who are fans of Baxter, he will be posting in the next entry, including his special view of the latest political scene.