“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.” — Alfred Stieglitz

Thank you for all the new views and likes from last week. It helps keep me going. Enjoy my blog post!

Sunday, 02/28/2021: Posted photo—Winter Hike.

Settings: FujiFilm FinePix XP70, ISO 100, f/4.6, 1/60 s, 10 mm

Some people think that I am crazy hiking year-round. I have been hiking year-round for many years now and I enjoy hiking in the off seasons. I like hiking with few people around, less bugs, and fewer rocks to contend with. I consider the off season to be after the foliage and before the ground dries after the spring thaw. Winter hiking has its own challenges. These challenges include snow, ice, cold weather, snowy weather, short daylight periods, and trailheads that you need to snowshoe to get to.

Today, like many other days this year, I hiked with my son and one of his friends. We have been attempting to hike three times a week. Sometimes my son and his friend do not meet that goal. I obtain this goal more times than not. Today we summited once, and I wanted to summit again to keep on pace to summit 100 times by the end of the year. We were on our assent and we came to a trail junction. I wanted to summit again, and they did not. So, we set up a challenge. I will summit again and then attempt to beat them back to the trailhead. The section of trail that I ascended is very steep and icy and they took a safe way down. I summited and made my way down another steep and icy trail. On the descent I ran into a few people that were not prepared for winter hiking on ice and snow. They did not have any microspikes and were only hiking in boot. I had to watch them as they ascended steep inclines. I stayed back to help if any one of them fell. Because of this, my son and his friend made it back to the trailhead a few minutes before me.

Hike distance totals: me—3.5 miles, the kids half my age —3.2 mile. I almost made it back before them after giving them about a half a mile head start. They only had to descend, and I had to ascend and then descend. For your information, after two months, I have 20 out of my 100 summits completed.

Monday, 03/01/2021: Posted photo—Falls at the Old Mill.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 200, f/11, 1/10 s, 32 mm.

Last week at this time, I posted a photo of the falls at Round Meadow Pond. Today I traveled about a quarter mile down the road to The 1761 Old Mill Restaurant. The Old Mill has a duck pond that I like to use as a shooting location to photograph ducks and geese when there is daylight after work. I also will photograph the waterfall and the covered bridges that are on the property. I stop in on Mondays since the restaurant is closed and the ducks and geese are easier to photograph.

As you can see by this photo, the ducks and geese are in the pond year-round. They are fed well when the restaurant is open. There is a duck feeder on the side of the pond in which people can purchase food for the ducks and geese. When I go on Mondays, they gather around me looking for food.

From their webpage: “The Old Mill, from its earliest beginning, has served a useful purpose in the community. Originally a sawmill where logs were processed for the new homes of the neighborhood, the Old Mill and its whirling saw sang a song of progress and industry through five generations of ownership in the same family (the Foster Family), before its wheels were stilled and it fell into disrepair.

Today, the Old Mill is noted for tempting foods served in a setting of rare charm. Voices of diners mingle with the merry music of water rushing gaily over the mill dam as it dances its way to the sea. Thus, the Old Mill is reborn — its attractive vistas doubled in splendor by their reflection in the mill pond. It has become a shrine to the epicure for its delicious food … to the art lover for its rustic beauty.”

It is wonderful to have great locations to photograph so close to home.

Tuesday, 03/02/2021: Posted photo—Sunset at the Cemetery.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/125 s, 45 mm.

The tree in this photo is one of my favorite trees to photograph. I do it often but do not post a photo of it often. It looks like a great tree to have in a cemetery, very spooky at night because of its willowing branches.

I took an alternative way home from work today to check out how this tree looked in the winter. The alternative way was not any longer for me to get home and it gave me this photo opportunity. I was looking for a different location to take a photo of the sunset. When I was approaching this location in the cemetery, I saw the sun setting behind the trees. I positioned myself to a better look of the setting sun and liked the way this scene was composed.

Since the light was low, I decided to take bracketed shots of this tree to make it into a High Dynamic  Range (HDR) photo. I bracketed this photo at -2, 0, and +2. When I was processing the photo in the Photomatix software, I went through the different tones and decided on the painterly tone. I liked the feeling of this photo once processed. Someone commented that this looks like a scene from a horror movie. I agree with that statement.

Wednesday, 03/03/2021: Posted photo—National Anthem.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/1250 s, 55 mm.

On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill designating “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem of the United States. The anthem had been recognized for official use by the United States Navy in 1889, and by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Francis Scott Key had written the lyrics in a poem in 1814 during the British siege of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor. On April 15, 1929, Rep. John Linthicum (D-Md.) (1867-1932) introduced legislation that would make the song the national anthem.

The first time it is recorded that the song was played at a baseball game was on May 15, 1862, at the Union Grounds in Brooklyn, NY. The baseball game was led off by a band concert that included the tune.

On September 5, 1918 at Comiskey Park, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs were playing the opening game of the World Series, which started earlier than usual due to World War I. During the 7th-inning stretch, a military band played “The Star Spangled Banner” and Fred Thomas, a player for the Boston Red Sox, on leave from the Navy, snapped to attention. From then on, the song has been played at every World Series game, every season opener, and whenever a band is present to play it. The custom of playing it before every game began during World War II, when the installation of public address systems made it practical.

Until 1931, there was no officially proclaimed anthem of the United States, however, the song “Hail Columbia!” was used quite often in the capacity of a national anthem. “Hail Columbia!” is used today in the United States as an entrance song for the Vice President (much like “Hail to the Chief” is for the President.)

That is your history lesson for the week.

Thursday, 03/04/2021: Posted photo—See You Tonight.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/125 s, 55 mm.

People have asked me why I hike at night. People have asked me why I hike in the winter. I hike at night just to listen to nature and I hike in the winter because of the solitude. While I hike, I like to think about the day, week, month, or year and I usually have a song stuck in my head for the entire hike. Yes, a song in my head for the entire hike, whether it is a two-mile hike or a 15-mile hike.

I hike after getting bad news, such as a family member passing. I do a longer memorial hike every year on the anniversary of a passing. I hike after good news and I hike after no news at all. I have set a goal for myself to summit mountains 100 times this year. I may have noted that a few times in the past. Wachusett Mountain will be my main mountain to hike since it is so close to my house. It may not be very tall at 2,006 feet at its current age (it was over 20,000 feet when it was young) but some of the trails can be very challenging and are good training trails for hiking in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Three times a week I take the short drive to one of the various trailheads and hike. Tonight, was one of those night that I hike.

It is still very icy on the trails. There are more rocks being exposed yet the trails are still challenging. This was the second time I summitted in three days and I did notice a change in the trail conditions. There was also less ice on the summit because of the high winds. The trails themselves are still very dangerous and you still need microspike to hike them.

Get out there and enjoy nature and the mountains.

Friday, 03/05/2021: Post photo—Collection Time.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/50 s, 32 mm

The Massachusetts maple production season usually starts in mid/late February in the eastern part of the state and at the lower elevations in the western parts of the state. At higher elevations in western Massachusetts boiling may not start until the first week in March, or later in cold years. The season lasts 4–6 weeks, all depending on the weather. Most all producers are done boiling by mid-April when the nighttime temperatures remain above freezing and the tree buds begin to swell.

The tree’s sap flow mechanisms depend on temperatures which alternate back and forth past the freezing point (32 degrees F). The best sap flows come when nighttime temperatures are in the low 20s and daytime temperatures are in the 40s. The longer it stays below freezing at night, the longer the sap will run during the warm day to follow. If the weather gets too cold and stays cold, sap flow will stop. If the weather gets too warm and stays warm, sap flow will stop. The cold weather at night allows the tree to cool down and absorb moisture from the ground via the roots. During the day, the tree warms up, the tree’s internal pressure builds up, and the sap will run from a taphole or even a broken twig or branch. For good sap production, maple producers must have the alternating warm/cold temperatures. Therefore, it is so impossible to predict the outcome of the maple crop from year to year.

It always surprises me when my neighbor taps our trees and other trees around his property. It seems to be earlier each year, but it is not. He starts in March, just after we have had a few very cold evenings. He goes out every night during sap season, collects his buckets, and makes his syrup. He purchased a new evaporator a few years ago that makes it easier to make the syrup. He gives us some and he sells some at the church fair in the fall.

HOW TO DO IT

1. Be sure your trees are maples. A tree should be at least 12” in diameter for one tap hole and bucket. Trees more than 24” in diameter can have two taps.
2. Drill the hole 2” deep at a convenient height. Look for unblemished bark and do not bore directly over or under a former tap hole or closer than 4” from the side of an old tap hole. The hole should be straight into the tree, parallel with the ground.
3. Drive the spout in so that it is tight and cannot be pulled out by hand, but do not over-drive and split the tree.
4. Hang your bucket or container on the hook of the spout if it is a purchased one, or, if you have made your own, fashion a length of wire to serve as a hanger. Be sure to cover the bucket to keep out rain, snow, and foreign material.
5. Make sure your fireplace is ready, wood at hand, and pan ready for the sap.
6. When you have enough in your buckets to fill your pan for boiling, you are ready for the fire. Do not fill your pan to the top as it will boil over. As the water boils away keep adding more sap to the pan. Do not have less than an inch in the pan or it may burn down. You can pour the cold sap right into the boiling sap. It will take a lot of boiling to get it to syrup as it takes about 10 gallons of sap to make one quart of maple syrup. A chimney of brick or stove pipe (4 to 6 feet long) on your arch or fireplace will be helpful in keeping the smoke away from the boiling sap so that the syrup will not darken or have an off taste from the smoke.
7. Do not leave an accumulation of sap in the collecting buckets, especially in warm weather. Sap is like milk and will sour if left in the sun. Try to keep the sap in storage as cold as possible. Boil it as soon as you can.
8. Finished maple syrup will be 7° F above the temperature of boiling water at your elevation. Your syrup or candy thermometer will tell you this. If you have a larger operation you may get a syrup hydrometer and testing cup which will tell you when the syrup is done. The cup will require two or three cupful’s of syrup in order to make the test. Proper syrup will weigh at least 11 pounds per gallon. Do not get it beyond 11-1/4 pounds per gallon or it may form crystals in the bottom of the storage container.
9. Pour the hot syrup through a felt syrup filter or a special strainer as carried by equipment dealers. If you have neither one, a double layer of outing flannel may be used, or you may put the syrup in a container and let it cool for 12 hours or more. Sediment will settle to the bottom of the container and the clearer syrup may be carefully poured off. This syrup should then be reheated to at least 180° F or almost to boiling before it is poured into containers for final storage.
10. Pour the hot syrup into the clean, sterile canning jars and seal. Fill them full so that very little air remains in the jar. If laid on the side while cooling a better seal will result.
11. Store syrup in a cool place. A freezer is ideal. Properly prepared syrup will not freeze, and a poor seal will not be as important when stored in a freezer.

Soon I will have fresh maple syrup from my trees on my pancakes, waffles, sausages, ice cream, or anything else the will taste good with fresh homemade maple syrup.

Saturday, 03/06/2021: Post photo—Trail.

Settings: Canon EOS 60D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/400 s, 21 mm

Today I went on a leisurely 4.1 mile hike on Wachusett Mountain. This was my third hike on the mountain this week. Today’s goal was one of distance and checking out trail conditions more than it was attempting another quick summit. I hiked on a different one of the difficult trails since it was daytime and I had plenty of time to do this hike. The trail did not disappoint with the difficult section, being steep and very, very icy. As I was ascending, I kept telling myself to trust my experience and my equipment. That the top of the steep incline, I was asked by a couple of women about the trail conditions, I told them, and they wisely decided to take a safer way down. It is better to ascend a step icy trail than it is to decent a step icy trail.

Today’s photo was taken along the Harrington Trail. The Harrington Trail is also a part of the Midstate Trail. The Midstate Trail is marked with the yellow triangles.

Tomorrow is another day, another week, and another hike.

For more photo of other project I have work, visit my website: https://photobyjosephciras.weebly.com/ or visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PhotobyJosephCiras/.

COVID is real! Be safe out there, keep your social distance, and remember to always wear your mask and wash your hands.