Lovely

We a lovely Saturday here at the Lodge, though it seems they are moving rocks next door again. The group on the hike up to Southwick Pond just came through, having started on the far side of the pond.
At 9:30, it is 72.1 degrees and rising.
The barometer is at 29.23 inches of mercury and rising.
Clear blue skies

Join us at Muir Meadows at 11!

Muir Meadows is quite lovely this morning. Hope you will join us here (just over the Paxton line) for a celebration of the state grant that has allowed for its preservation!

Damp

The thunderstorms came through for us last night, and we are consequently soggy this morning ('though if you're caring for a garden, I give you no less of an authority than Paul Rogers in telling you that you probably still need to water). It was not enough rain to get the Cascades going again; here at the Lodge, we recorded 0.04 inches after midnight, which is when much of the rain came through.

At ten am, it is 77 degrees and steady.
The barometer stands at 28.88 inches of mercury and falling under cloudy skies.
Periodic gusts of wind of up to 4 mph largely coming from the east.
We are bumping the fire danger back down to MODERATE today.

Muir Meadows celebrations!

This Thursday at 11 am, join Lieutenant Governor Murray, Secretary of the Environment Sullivan, and many others for a brief ceremony celebrating the preservation of Muir Meadows! You can find it at 205 Pleasant Street, which is just over the Paxton line. Plenty of parking at Howe's Farm Stand, should you need it.

For those wishing a rather more strenuous celebration, join GWLT staff on Saturday morning at 8:30 on a hike from Cook's Pond all the way to Southwick Pond in Leicester (which, thanks to Muir Meadows, is now that much more on preserved land!). This will take you through Holden and Paxton along with way; it is almost entirely UPHILL! Not for the weak of heart (or knees!). Call or email Mary (mary at gwlt.org) for more details.

Rainy

When we checked last night, we had only a 30% chance of showers, but this morning it appears that the 30 is what we got. We're at what the radar map is showing as the tail end of a band of showers here this morning.
At eleven am, it is 73.9 degrees and steady.
90% humidity, raining on and off
29.29 inches of mercury under cloudy skies
We've got wind of 4.5 mph

We put the fire danger up to HIGH over the weekend; we'll reassess that once the rain moves out. We really haven't (for the high humidity) gotten that much water falling from the skies!

The stream is rapidly drying up, as a result.

They aren't just weeds

If you come by during the day, you might wonder why we don't cut back all those "weeds" down by the sign.
If you're by a bit earlier, as the photo shows, you may have seen why.

Hazy, lazy

We're expecting heat moving in over the next couple of days, so we hope you enjoyed the cooling off last night. The rain wasn't enough to get the Cascades really started back up again, but it did at least give the trees a drink!

At 9:30 am, it is 76 degrees and steady, with a light breeze ('though not measurable) here at the Lodge.
The barometer is at 29.12 inches of mercury and steady under clear blues.

Remember: it's always cooler under the trees!

Warm and dry

We're into week two without rain here, so the stream is drying up. It's still much cooler under the trees than it is elsewhere in the city, though. At ten am, it is just now getting to 75 degrees and steady.
We've got a bit of a breeze here, as well.
The barometer is at 29.47 inches of mercury and steady under clear blue skies.

We had a large group of people here yesterday for the every-other-Thursday work project, including a group from the Worcester Public Schools. Much sign routing, painting, staining, and log shaping going on well into the afternoon. You'll be seeing the fruits of that labor going up at various properties as we head into the fall!

The logging work at Cascades West is now completed (and if you didn't see the T&G report on this, check it out), and the new route of the Meadow Ridge trail is open for hiking. We've gotten some good reports on it already! We'll be watching the newly cleared space this summer as it starts to come back with grasses and bushes, much better and more mixed habitat for all that lives here.