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Kevin Flood Accessiblbe Trail, Amherst MA
Featured Photo for February - 2015 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar
Photo by Sharon Vardatira
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Back in February 2015, when the snowstorms kept rolling
through New England in quick succession, a co-worker came to me one afternoon,
his Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar in hand. “You’re the reason
we’re having all this snow,” he proclaimed. “Look at this photo. Just look at
it!” He tapped on February for emphasis, and softened the accusation with a
smile. The photo happened to be one of my own. I had taken it a few years
before, after an overnight storm turned the Kevin Flood Accessible Trail
(adjacent to Puffer’s Pond) into a winter tableau, every tree branch bending
under the weight of several feet of new snow.
Although I know it’s absolutely ridiculous to imagine that a
calendar photo could have any effect whatsoever on the weather, I nodded in
agreement. And although there’s nothing particularly unusual about having a
photo depicting snow featured in a month that is typically snowy, I apologized
to my co-worker and accepted full responsibility for unleashing such awesome
power. Winter 2015 went on to break snowfall records across New England –
Amherst recorded 63.4 inches of snow through March 2015, and Boston was buried
under nine feet of the stuff. Naturally, most of that snow fell in February.
The human tendency towards “apophenia” – the drive to seek
patterns in random information – is what may have led my co-worker to make a
connection between the February 2015 calendar photo and the weather outside. Of
course, it doesn’t take a great leap to connect photos of different seasons
with weather typical for that season. Anyone looking at our calendar will
immediately grasp that each photo depicts winter, spring, summer, or fall – and
has been placed in a month that aligns with that season.
And still, even when we know the science, or logic, or sheer
randomness of certain occurrences, many of us still seek out the deeper meaning
and hidden connections. How many of us get a new calendar and immediately flip
to our birthday or an anniversary to see what insight can be gleaned from a
photo or quote? Or maybe you’re one of those people who refuses to look ahead
so as not to jinx your special day. As objects that both look into the future
and speak to our past, calendars have fascinated people for thousands of years.
From inspiring supposed ancient Mayan doomsday prophesies to YouTube videos on
“how to predict the future using any calendar at all,” calendars of all shapes
and sizes can take on a life of their own. Even, apparently, our own Head in the
Clouds Amherst calendar.
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Statue of Robert Frost with Mask
Amherst College, May 2020
Photo by Sharon Vardatira |
Which brings me to March 2020. Locally (as if anyone needs
reminding), that’s the month when “global pandemic” entered our everyday
lexicon. Starting on March 10th, when our governor declared a state of
emergency, almost overnight workplaces across Massachusetts shut down or became
virtual, schools closed, and every one of us was forced to grapple with a
wholly new, frightening, and unknown reality – a reality that is still with us
at the time of this writing.
The March photo in our 2020 calendar, by Annie
Tvetenstrand, will go down in Head in the Clouds Amherst yore as eerily
prophetic. The scene, familiar to anyone who visits Puffer’s Pond in the
winter, showed a frozen pond under an overcast sky, with a large branch half submerged
beneath the ice and frozen on the surface. Annie’s comment below the photo
beautifully captured that singular demarcation between winter and spring:
While walking around Puffer’s, I noticed a twisted branch
suspended on top of the pond’s thin surface of ice. It was waiting for spring,
awkwardly trapped by the rigidity of winter, just like me.
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The Edge of Spring ~ Puffer's Pond, North Amherst
Featured photo for March, by Annie Tvetenstrand
2020 Head in the Clouds Amherst Calendar
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March 2020 seemed to last forever. And every single time I
looked at the calendar, that branch trapped in the ice hauntingly mirrored the
physical reality we were all collectively experiencing, with the overcast sky
making sure no sun would penetrate the surface.
I remarked on the parallels to
no one until I learned, a few months later, that Annie herself not only shared
my perception, but she actually harbored some small worry that her photo was
somehow responsible for everything that had befallen our world in March. Okay,
I am probably overstating her feelings (Annie is, after all, a sane, smart
individual, firmly rooted in science). But sometimes the connections between
random occurrences, objects, or pictures are just too strong to deny, even when
we know better.
A calendar is that place where images and events we project
into the future intersect with time. So it’s really no wonder that calendars
have long been associated with prophesy and a touch of magic. And while I don’t
for a second believe our photographers have the power to bring down the snow or
set off a pandemic, could we unknowingly tap into some vast prophetic force?
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Featured Photo for June
2021 Heads in the Clouds Amherst Calendar
Photo by Mindy Domb |
It’s all pure coincidence. Most likely. But just in case, we
are taking no chances with our 2021 calendar. This year we are featuring an
unprecedented number of photos that include people in nature, happy pets
(including one extremely happy dog), and several meditative birds. Annie’s work
reappears in a more friendly month, no overcast sky in sight. And we have also
traveled beyond the borders of Amherst for the first time – one of the
dependable joys of 2020 was being able to explore our local area, from the
farmlands, rivers, and hills, to the trails all around us.
Thank you for traveling with our Head in the Clouds Amherst
community. We look forward to opening the calendar for 2021, and finding new
ways for all of us to share our love of the sky and clouds, nature and weather,
and all those places, locally and more distant, that take our breath away.
You can view and purchase our Head in the Clouds calendar at Hastings (across from the Amherst Common) and online though Etsy for delivery by mail: https://etsy.me/2GSujYK .
