49 Comments
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Terry J. Allen's avatar

A lovely way to start the morning. thank you for the fine writing and the warm connection to the land at its most difficult to love stage.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

So kind of you. Thanks, Terry.

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Kate Vanden Bergh's avatar

As a resident of Montpelier, I felt an extra kinship with this essay - you capture beautifully the eerie atmosphere of the woods right now. The strange effect of vanishing snow - the feeling of something missing. Thank you.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

We do love our city! Best city on earth!

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Rebecca Whitney's avatar

Beautiful, thank you. A reminder for me to get back out into the woods. Even on these cold soggy days, there is always wonder

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Keep us posted on what you find out there! :-)

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Rebecca Whitney's avatar

I didn't make it to the woods yet, but I did get to the beach for the most incredible murmuration! Endless flocks of starlings arriving late and dropping seamlessly into the show

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Timber Fox's avatar

What a beautiful splash of color.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Like bright yellow paint! Really amazing.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

We have a guest cottage in Tattnall County, Georgia where you'd be welcome to perch.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Wow! I shall be in touch, Janisse. I’ll be heading north that way from FL in late March, also toward Conyers.

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Janisse Ray's avatar

wildfire1491 at yahoo

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Lor's avatar

You direct us to your beautifully written ode to spring , though it does not get passed me that your observations are from April 5, 2023. Almost one month later than the same spring like path you walk today. In the vast depth of landscape, it is the space between the trees where I focus. Where is the deep snow pack of early March in Vermont? It is winter after all. Not even the mountain tops can brag it’s totals. My skis and I can usually be found dancing between trees , arcing down a wilderness pass. Is this the new despair of winter, born from human hand?

I too await the Spotted Salamander burrowed below the frost line. The incredible orchestral madness of the vernal pools , newly born amphibians seemly drunk on pond water, while others play their instruments in perfect harmony. But not now, not yet. Just one grand Nor’easter would do just fine. Excuse me while I go check the weather map…

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Thanks, Lor. I'll bet we get some snow again -- perhaps lots of it -- in the north before this winter is gone for good. Yeah, a grand Nor'easter indeed would do.

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J. Paul Moore's avatar

Thank you for this! I, like you, find beauty in the tiniest things, thus my fascination for moss. If we celebrate the small stuff, everything else we see in nature is icing on the cake.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

I'm taking a bryology seminar in Maine (Eagle Hill) this summer!

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J. Paul Moore's avatar

That's awesome to hear! I'm collaborating with Dr. Joesph Roher on a new book he's co-authoring on the Mosses of the Southeast.

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MK Creel's avatar

A beautiful essay. Love your discovery of Candleflame Lichen and the gratitude it sparks.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Thanks, MK -- means a lot to me coming from you.

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Steve Trombulak's avatar

Poetic as hell! I kid you not, with only slight reformatting of lines, this essay would pass quite favorably as a piece by Robinson Jeffers. Thanks so much for this!

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Oh, my -- too kind of you Steve. So maybe I'll tinker some and read it during PoemCity in Montpelier this year.

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Carley's avatar

Thank you for capturing the delightful subtleties of March, one of my favorite months!

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Glad to hear March is a fave. Hmm. I'll have to think on which are among my favorites.

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Carol Rose Kahn's avatar

Love this writing. The dog, the lichen, despite the lack of showy plants. The world is waking up early it seems.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Early indeed. Warmest winter I can recall in any of my 66 years.

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Diane Porter's avatar

Nice, your appreciation for the "naked, muddy, quiet, and charismatic woods of March." And I always cherish a call-out to lichen, a most under-appreciated life form.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

I'm saving lichens for when I can't get around as easily anymore. 😀

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Antonia Malchik's avatar

Candleflame! My heart, what a beautiful name for a beautiful lichen.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Yeah, I really like the word candleflame. Could be the title of something -- maybe even one of those steamy romance novels? 😀

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Antonia Malchik's avatar

Tell me when you’re ready to launch your new career!

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Lisa Hall's avatar

I've been volunteering in a wildlife refuge in Mississippi since late December. When I arrived, the woods here were in their most empty, with almost no understory, and the ground carpeted with glossy oak leaves. Nonetheless, I have felt the presence of these woods as a kind of friendly support. There are may birds overwintering here, some of whom will be heading your way soon, some will stay. Even when there is no bird song, the woods feel quietly alive, as do your Vermont woods. They are going about their winter business just as surely as Spring will bring back the green, the orchid, salamander and thrush.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Thanks, Lisa. Please do give those overwintering birds a nice sendoff as they launch toward points north!

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Heidi Zawelevsky's avatar

Beautiful writing, as much craft as nature. Thank you for taking us on this walk with you in March.

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

You are most welcome, Heidi. Thanks so much for reading.

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Heidi Zawelevsky's avatar

Safe travels.

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Your woods are very like my woods! Orchid, salamander, and Hermit Thrush yet-to-come; maple sap dripping, mud squishing, but Downy rather than Hairy my daily companion :)

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Bryan Pfeiffer's avatar

Yes, but your photography is striking!

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SydneyMichalski🌿NatureMoments's avatar

Thank you!

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