Nature's Wastefulness

January 24
(All photos by Sharon Vardatira)

January 25

January 27

so Nature’s wastefulness seems quietly obscene.
It’s been doing that all week:
making beauty,
and throwing it away,
and making more.

    ~ Tony Hoagland, “Color of the Sky”

To capture our wild variations on winter over the past week, I photographed my same North Amherst backyard scene on three different days, from January 24 to today. Borrowing from Mark Twain (and countless others over the years), “If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait a few minutes." More beauty appears to be on the way tomorrow into Monday!

Intro to Cloudspotting!

Curious about clouds and the wider cloud spotting community? Learn all the basics in this light-hearted zoom presentation I did for Amherst Neighbors back in 2022. Topics include cloudspotting rules and "manifesto," seeing things in the clouds, cloud classifications (in brief), tips for photographing clouds, cloud spotting resources, and more! Enjoy!

Windy Nights

"There's nothing like stories on a windy night when folks have found a warm place in a cold world."

   ~ Stephen King, The Wind Through the Keyhole 

Yup, that feels about right - the wind tonight definitely has a Stephen King vibe about it. Batten down the hatches, friends! 

"Windy Nights" collections of drawings by 4th graders
at Knockanean National School in Clare, Ireland

Dark and Stormy

- By Marianne Ferrer

It was a dark and stormy night....

Painting by visual artist, Marianne Ferrer captures better than any photo the night we are experiencing right now - wind whipping through the tree branches, rain pelting on the roof, snow all about. Good luck sleeping!