Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fancy News - Impromptu Icicle Sculptures Appear


How is it that icicles can grow upward, I have seen pictures of them growing out of birdbaths but I thought that they were joking when they described coaxing the formations that seem to defy gravity. Who ever said there is no sense of mystery or the surreal in Springfield, Vermont, Official Home of the Simpsons?
¿Será posible que se formen tales picos de hielo en dirección contraria?

Friday, February 20, 2009

Fancy News - A fall of Cedar Waxwings lands in the Library crabapples! - Spring is right around the corner


On patrol late this morning along the busy thoroughfares of downtown Springfield, Vermont, Official Home of the Simpsons, an unfamiliar sound was heard - the call of some kind of song bird! A close eyeballing of the fine crabapple trees that grace the postage stamp sized front garden space of our fine antique library building revealed the presence of quite a few Cedar Waxwings, as identified thanks to the trusty Sony DSLR A-100 and the website - http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i6190id.html. Can Spring be far away now?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Oh boy! Snow!


Well hell yes, Snow y'know, mighty fine if you like it - it's great, and here it comes again! This is a view of the sleepy town of Springfield, Vermont, Official Home of the Simpsons, tucked in for the eve and ready for a downy coat of fresh stuff. There it is, a handfull of lights glowing in the little valley, peeking through the nudey trees.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Roof Loads and Gravity, a Match Made in Hell - Snow Wins Again

- Roof gives up ghost, caves in to pressure
- Snow, Gravity, seen as playing key roles in the disaster
- Local Fire Department and Police department respond quickly, further chaos is averted
- At least one detour sign was in place in at least one helpful location in North Springfield at 3:39 PM Eastern Subaru Time

Here, today, in Springfield, Vermont, Official Home of the Simpsons, at about 3:20 pm this afternoon, this picture was taken - shortly before the roads were blocked with detour signs.
From the looks of the possible sun-burning, conditions may have been less than optimal - and structural failure produced exotic shapes, certain losses, and no doubt much distress to those most directly affected by the unfortunate collapse. One can only hope that the only casualty was some driver's schedule, as this occurrence took place at a neighbor's home, and right along the main approach to the local Recycling Center.
This camera took this photo and got back into the car by 3:21 pm, and it's vehicle then was turned around and proceeded to drive off, to approach the Recycling Center from the other direction. The Recycle Center was finally reached by 3:31, this accomplished by turning back towards the Springfield Mall and taking the main drag out north out of town, through North Springfield, and driving South past the National Guard and Town Garage.
After concluding the briefest of drop-off/green-ticket exchanges at the Recycle Center, a model of clean and efficient recycling that cannot be referred to simply as "the dump", after this, an attempt was made to approach the scene of the roof cave-in from the North, but in fact two local cruisers had the way controlled by the white barn with the new roof just before the neat dog-trot over the crest of a small rise in the road, so that the camera preferred to be then driven back through North Springfield.
On this return drive, it was possible to observe the local family of ducks resting on the frozen edge of the Black River, a group of ducks that for some reason has wintered over here. They were resting on the edge of the ice along an open passage of very crisp and busy melt-water, practically basking in the solar energy that must have been reaching them. They were Mallards of course, about five to seven females but with no obvious or visible males today. They might have been alone, for even though we only slowed, since the roadway is close to the river at this point, we thought we could spot all of them in their immediate area. The camera either did not notice, or it chose not to see too brazenly, perhaps electing instead to enjoy the moment intime.
That timeless moment left finally behind, perhaps to the relief of the growing Conga Line forming behind of fuming cars driven by citizens far less interested in Nature or even in patterns and colors than the camera, then passage was made to a point at which a nimble town vehicle was seen to finish the display of a proper detour sign, and was further seen then to drive off in a cloud of salt dusts, presumably to set up another sign at the other critical approach to the work area, where Springfield's Finest continued to manage and stabilize the unfortunate collapse.