Head in the Clouds Amherst: October 2024

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Welcome to October, New England's Favorite Month!

Quabbin Reservoir - Photo by Mark Lindhult

This stunning image by Mark Lindhult is our featured photo for October in the 2024 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar. Although we receive significantly more “autumnal” photo submissions than any other season, our jury never had a doubt about this iconic scene. As Mark observed, “𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘳 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺!”

Curious to see October's image in our new 2025 calendar? 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗺𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://etsy.me/3BfnDzU

#FallInNewEngland #AutumnVibes #AmherstMA #HeadInTheClouds"

On Puffer's Pond

Saturday, February 4, 2023, 3:35 pm: The past two days have seen record-breaking cold in the area, with the temperature dipping to -14F overnight, Friday into Saturday. To make matters worse, the wind was unyielding, whipping through the trees and driving wind chill readings down to -40F. In a season that had been unusually mild up until that point, it was something of a shock. Local residents were suddenly forced to think about warming up their cars, preventing pipes from freezing, and dressing in multiple layers to walk their dogs. By Saturday, while many were happy to hunker down and wait for temperatures to stop breaking low records, this was the moment that ice fishers and skaters had been waiting for all winter. With temps hovering around 12F (albeit above zero) by Saturday afternoon, Puffer's Pond was the place to be for about 30 people, many of whom were spread out over the ice, either ice fishing or playing hockey. While this is a fairly typical sight at Puffer's in the coldest winter months, our current lack of snow made it unique. No one had to contend with snowpack - the skaters didn't even have to clear a "field" for their game. And with all the hiking paths snow and ice-free, photographers had no trouble capturing water flowing through, under, and around layers of ice on the water. And, still, at 12F, without hand and foot warmers, I did not linger long. The temps will be rising quickly in the coming week, climbing well above freezing, even to 50F in the days to come. So, I'm guessing the skaters and ice fishers also won't be here much longer.

(Read past entries here.)

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Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Welcome to October, New England's Favorite Month!