Ice Out, Back to the Lake, Happy Spring

 So, the last time I posted was "ice in" in February of this year. "Ice out" was declared just before Easter of 2023, so we came up on Easter Sunday to take our boat to our dock, put down the dock, and camp out for a night. Now it's been more than a month since then and we have been back and fotth, have the water going, and have been swimming! in lake Winnipesaukee many times. It's so nice to be able to get out on our paddle boards and swim with them, even though the water is barely over 50 degrees if that. The warm sunny days this weekend have been wonderful and we have seen many of our neighbors are starting to return. 

So, we have had a busy winter of cross-country skiing, bicycling, doing poetry readings and seeing friends. 

Speaking of poetry readings, I have one coming up this Saturday at 2 PM EDT either in-person in Carlisle, MA or virtually. I will be part of a 3-poet panel for the first Carlisle/Gleason Library Poetry Feastival, and here is a link to register. https://gleasonlibrary.org/poetry-contest-and-festival

I have also had some poems appear in some online journals recently. 

Here's a link to three at Verse-Virtual online: https://www.verse-virtual.org/2023/May/schwartz-carla-2023-may.html

Here's a link to three (three links) at the Poetry Porch: 

Fugue: https://www.poetryporch.com/schwartzthree23.pdf

Stings: https://www.poetryporch.com/schwartztwo23.pdf

Mouse Nesting: https://www.poetryporch.com/schwartzone23.pdf

So here are some photos from late Winter and early Spring:

Easter Sunday: Returning to Bear Island

Still in May there is snow on top of Mt. Washington. You can see just a small bit here from Easter Sunday. 

May Bear Island

After all the rain our front yard is a playground for the ducks. Beautiful reflections. Also, I love how the birch trigs have the white bark along with brown shoots.

A trip to Martha's Vinyard

Annual Trip to Craftsbury Outdoor Center

This year it was just Claude and I staying in a nice cabin at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. The food was great. The skiing was acceptible, which means good for the seaon. And it was great to see an old friend while we were out there.  On the way back we stopped in Brattleboro to charge the car.

A Trip to NY State

We had three visits to make: One to move some boulders in a lake in Grafton NY, the second and third to visit siblings in Poughipsee and Kingston respectively. Here are some photos, starting with Williamstown MA on the way to Grafton NY on route 2.  For the rock-moving, Claude built a trussed-T structure to give vertical lift to the winch (which would otherwise have been working horizontally). 

Small Hikes

Here are a couple of photos from some local hikes.

The last of my ski trail at home in Carlilse (March 8) 

Music Events

We attended some live music events, and open mics including Geoff Bartley in Westfod, Good Thang in Lowell,  and Sax Gordon and Big Dez at the Boston Harbor Distillery.