Time to get out your hummingbird feeders out. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been spotted in Rhode Island and Cape Cod! It won’t be long before they begin to arrive at our Cape Ann gardens. Many of the flowering trees and shrubs they depend upon early in the season are slow to awaken this spring and they sure could use the nourishment provided by the sugar water in our feeders. Happy Earth Day!
Treasuring our wild creatures and wild spaces <3
When you’re standing stone still focused on filming a territorial Big Fight between Red-bellied Woodpeckers and a Great Blue Heron in gorgeous full breeding plumage swoops across the water, landing mere feet from where you are perched. Treasuring our wild creatures and wild spaces <3
Plovie marathon moves-
Gloucester’s first wind turbine – photo of the barge wending through the harbor in 2012. I recall how excited the community was when the turbines began to arrive. I don’t think of the turbines as a failure but a teaching moment. Aside from the differing viewpoints on cost effectiveness, going forward, there are more suitable places to build wind turbines than in such close proximity to people’s homes.
The tail-wagging Palm Warbler that doesn’t behave like your typical warbler!
One of the earliest migrating songbirds that we see along our shrubby, woodland edges is the Palm Warbler. He stands a bit more upright, is slightly bigger, and has the unique habit of wagging its tail. Last November I made a video of a tail-wagging Palm Warbler in non-breeding plumage and forgot to share. Several days ago, I was fortunate to to catch a mini flock of four foraging along the ground and low on the bush, another non-warbler characteristic behavior. I write fortunate because when I checked back the following morning, they had already moved on. Palm Warblers breed further north than do most species of warblers, as far north as the boggy boreal forests of Canada and Maine.
Here you can compare both breeding and non-breeding feathers, from April of this year and from November 2025, respectively. Nicknames for the Palm Warbler include, Butterbutt, Tip-up Warbler, Wag-tail Warbler, and Butt Bouncer. As you can see in the last clip, insects are what they are foraging for in the undergrowth!
Despite the utter devastation, what struck me as so extraordinarily kind is that executive director Liz Green is quoted in the article as saying she and her staff aren’t looking to “get anybody devastatingly in trouble. I’m sure people didn’t understand how important those plants are and how much food they were going to provide to the community or they wouldn’t have done it.”
Instead, she invites anyone who was involved to come forward and work with them to repair the damage.
“Just come forward, try to make it right,” Green said. “We’d really welcome that.”
Three Sisters still plans to host its seedling sale at the end of next month, and Green remains both hopeful and positive, even in the face of loss.
“We’re not giving up,” she said.
Elise writes,
Hello friends,
What a beautiful, sunny day to be writing to you as we kick off the 2026 growing season at Cedar Rock Gardens. I hope you were able to get outside today and soak up a little sunshine. This unseasonably warm evening, the peepers were going wild down by the pond as I shut down the greenhouses and tucked in the plants for the night. Moments like that always feel like the true beginning of the season.
As we spring forward into longer, brighter evenings, the plants are waking up right alongside us. We’ve moved our cold-hardy crops, many perennials, and early herbs outside to harden off, getting them ready for your gardens. Everything is looking vibrant and strong, and we are so excited to welcome you back to the nursery.
We open for the season on April 15th, 2026.
Seasonal Hours
Monday: 8 AM – 4 PM
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 8 AM – 5 PM
Thursday: 8 AM – 5 PM
Friday: 8 AM – 4 PM
Saturday: 8 AM – 4 PM
Sunday: 9 AM – 2 PM
We have a wonderful crew this year, and we’re all looking forward to helping you grow fantastic food and beautiful gardens. Whether you’re planning your first raised bed or your tenth season, we’re here to answer questions and help you succeed.
I’ve updated the website with the full list of plant varieties we’re growing this year—you can explore everything ahead of your visit here and start dreaming up your garden.
Warm-weather seedlings (tomatoes, peppers, basil, and more) will begin rolling out in mid-May. We’ll share a firm date as we get closer, depending on how the weather unfolds.
We will have some cold tolerant tomatoes available on Mother’s Day including Moskvitch, Glacier and Stupice which is a very exciting new addition to the crop plan!
We’re planting a little bit of everything this season—food, flowers, and all the small joys that come with growing. I hope you’ll join us in making the most of the light-filled days ahead.
Wishing you a happy spring from our family and crew!
Warm regards,
Elise
P.S. Opening week always has the best selection of cool-season crops—if you’ve been thinking about getting started early this year, this is your moment. We have everything you need to extend your growing to include an early spring garden!
Save the date!
Tucker will be hosting 2 sessions at Cedar Rock Gardens on gardening with kids on Saturday, April 18th. It will be fun and action packed and very kid friendly! The workshops are at 9 am and 2 pm, we hope you can make it to one. These workshops are hosted at Cedar Rock Gardens and put on by Gloucester SaLT totally free!
A Bluenoser at Good Harbor Beach – the fascinating world of shorebirds!
At this time of year, we Gloucester Plover Ambassadors are at Good Harbor Beach (trying) to keep track of the comings and goings of the Plovers. Some birds are arriving to set up house while others are passing through on their way to their summer nesting homes. Last week while out on Plover patrol, Super Dad was spotted, along with a sweet pair that we’re fairly certain is a mated pair from last summer, and a new little friend. It wasn’t until I returned home and began looking at the footage that I noticed that this unfamiliar one was banded!
Finding a banded bird at Good Harbor Beach is pretty exciting because instead of wondering where the bird came from, you can learn from just looking at the tag . Several years ago Good Harbor Beach was a stopover for a Plover with a green tag and white letters, which indicated that it was banded by Virginia Tech. He had flown from the southern coast of Georgia to Gloucester in just under five days!
As you can see in the photo, N5’s band is white with a black alphanumeric code, which indicates he was banded in Canada. A quick Google search led to several contacts where to report Canadian banded birds and we sure hit the jackpot of information from these kind wildlife biologists, Dr. Cheri Gratto-Trevor and Hilary Mann.
People are always asking us Ambassadors, where do the birds go after departing GHB in August? The following is not a complete picture, but does provide a tiny widow into the flight pattern of one of these remarkable little travelers.
Cheri writes, “White flag N5 was banded as an adult in June 2024 at Sandy Bay, in southern Nova Scotia. The bird was seen in Fall (Aug) 2024 at Sunset Beach, Tubbs Inlet, NC.”
Hilary writes the following, ” In 2024, we put a nanotag on N5. This is a small radio transmitter that helps us track birds, when they fly close to a station that is part of the motus wildlife tracking network. We got a track of N5, which you can see below. The dashed lines show the ‘direct flight’, and if this is no line connecting dots as the plover moved south, it just shows that they may have stopped somewhere along the way. N5 crossed from southern Nova Scotia to Cape Cod in about 10 hours, on the night of August 6, 2024. By August 10, it was down in North Carolina. We do not have any detections past August 10, but there are fewer stations to detect the tags south of North Carolina. The tag is glued on, so it falls off in the winter when the battery dies, and we do not have tracks of its Northbound movements.”
Think about that – In 2024, N5 flew from Nova Scotia to North Carolina in four and half days! After first departing Sandy Bay, N5 flew nonstop to Cape Cod, when it appears he was next tracked at either a Rhode Island or Connecticut beach, across the sound on to Montauk, at the eastern end of Long Island, then a non-stop flight to Cape May, which is also an important holdover location for Monarchs waiting for the ideal wind to carry them over the mouth of the Delaware Bay. He is next hitting locations at Virginia beaches and North Carolina’s Outer Banks before arriving at Sunset Beach, which is just south of Ocean Isle at the southern point of North Carolina.
And in 2025, N5 returned to Sandy Bay, Nova Scotia and successfully fledged two chicks!
Our deepest thanks and appreciation to Dr. Cheri Gratto-Trevor, research scientist emeritus with Environment and Climate Change Canada and to Hilary Mann, wildlife biologist with Canadian Wildlife Service.
I pulled this map off Google to show what a direct flight it is for Plovers flying from Cape Ann to southern Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Piping Plover N5 in the foreground. The film clip is in 10 times slow motion so you can see the band placed on the upper right tibia.
Read more about banded Piping Plovers seen at Cape Ann beaches here –
FUN 411 UPDATE ON ETM, THE CUMBERLAND ISLAND BANDED PLOVER
Many, many thanks to Gloucester Daily Times reporter Bobby Grady and editor-in-chief Andrea Holbrook for the Times‘s continued coverage of our Gloucester Plovers. The story appeared in Thursday’s Times with a gentle reminder to give the Plovers lots of space as they are establishing their nesting territories.
The coverage the Times has provided since the Plovers first arrived back in 2016 has been invaluable in helping to create an awareness about these very vulnerable, yet valiant, threatened shorebirds. Thank you again Andrea, Bobby, and the GDTimes!
Happy Spring,
xxKim
PiPl N5 at time of banding provided by Hilary Mann
Many, many thanks to Gloucester Daily Times reporter Bobby Grady and editor-in-chief Andrea Holbrook for the Times continued coverage of our Gloucester Plovers. The story appeared in today’s Times with a gentle reminder to give the Plovers lots of space as they are establishing their nesting territories.
The coverage the Times has provided since the Plovers first arrived back in 2016 has been invaluable in helping to create an awareness about these very vulnerable, yet valiant, threatened shorebirds. Thank you again Andrea, Bobby, and the GDTimes!
There was a tremendous turnout today for the peaceful No Kings rally. I especially loved seeing the sea of MELT the ICE red anti-fascism hats, including one worn by protest organizer Laura Harrington!
These are joyful, blessed days, preparing for the feast and celebrating Saint Joseph! Thank you dear friends. <3 <3 <3
The first clip is of some of the helpers from pasta-making day. People stop in throughout the day to lend a hand and some are at their own homes preparing food to bring to the feast. As much as I would like to, it is impossible to get all in one photo! The second batch of clips shows Franco and friends cooking the vast pots of bubbling pasta that is served with both the Feast of Saint Joseph special fava bean sauce and Nina’s marinara, and the last clips are from pasta-making day.
With love and gratitude to Nina and Frank Groppo. Viva San Giuseppe!
Each year Nina and Franco Groppo open their hearts and home to the community to honor Saint Joseph, the patron Saint of workers, fathers, and families. The house is full of family and friends coming together to attend the nine day Novena and prepare for the feast to celebrate Saint Joseph, which is always on March 19th, a Thursday this year.
Felicia Sciortino and Nina dedicated the altar to honor the crew of the Fishing Vessel Lily Jean that sank on January 30th. Captain Gus Sanfilippo and six crew members were lost at sea. There is a beautiful model of the ship, made by Felicia’s brother Domenic Di Maio, and the altar is decorated with lovely symbols and handmade artifacts (made by Felicia) representing the hardworking men and women who fish the sea.
It is such a joyous day making pasta with these wonderful friends and I so love photographing and filming the event. A video is coming and in the meantime, here are a few snapshots. It’s baby Julian’s first Saint Joseph and Nina and Franco’s first great-grandchild so there are tons of photos of this adorable little nugget. Julian is the son of Steve and Mikaela LeBlanc, the grandson of Maria Groppo, and Steve and Melanie LeBlanc, and the great-grandson of Nina and Franco.
This morning while at a local shop I was greeted in the most lovely manner, with ¡Feliz San Valentin! So here is my annual Plover Valentines but this year in English, Spanish, and French. Thank you Elizabeth for the Spanish Valentine’s wishes!
Piping Plovers (like a great many shorebirds) are a link that binds the Americas, especially in our shared goals of protecting this very vulnerable species. Piping Plovers winter over in the Caribbean and along both the Gulf of Mexico and lower Atlantic United States. They breed in the mid- and northern Atlantic states and maritime provinces of Canada, as well as the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions.
The photos are of the sweetest Plover family that miraculously hatched from a nest smack dab midway in the sand of a popular urban beach, with absolutely no camouflaging vegetation, stones, shells, no nothing! This very vulnerable nest of three made it through to hatch day and all three chicks went on to thrive and eventually fledge. Miracles do happen <3
Plover chicks begin walking within hours after hatching but they are adorably klutzy for the first day or so, with many face plants, tumbles, and stumbles as they are learning to navigate the varied terrain. The chicks hatched on a boiling hot day and the very excellent Dad you see here was protectively trying to help the chick up on its feet and push back under his wing to shield from the midday sun.
Valentine’s Day would not be Valentine’s without delicious treats for my family from Nichols Candies. Nichols is celebrating it’s 95th year in business, if you can even imagine that! And today when I stopped by the founders Margaret and Walter Nichols daughter-in-law, Barbara, mentioned she celebrated her 89th birthday recently! So many congratulations to Barbara <3
Maggie Whitman, Barbara Nichols, Theresa Whitman
True to its rich legacy, Nichols continues to be a family business.The photo is of Barbara and her great-granddaughter Maggie and granddaughter Theresa. And there are more generations working behind the scenes 🙂 To read more about the history of Nichols Ocean House Candies, go here.
Nichols Candies is located at 1 Crafts Road/Route 128, Exit 55 Gloucester, MA 01930
978-283-9850
You can also shop online at info@nicholscandies.com
Open: Mon. Wed. Fri . Sat. 9-3 Sunday 10-3
With thanks to Mike Farwell for sharing his beautiful photo of the FV Lily Jean
Dear Friends,
Many of you that receive my “Film Friends” newsletters are not from Cape Ann so you may or may not be aware that we had a devastating loss to our community. Seven crew members from the Fishing Vessel Lily Jean perished at sea in a tragic winter fishing trip. Our community has come together to support the seven families in myriad ways, including a clear way to provide direct financial assistance. Additionally, an anonymous donor has offered to match contributions up to $40,000. The following is information on the fundraiser and how to contribute, if you can.
The funds raised will be evenly divided between all the families of the seven crew members that were lost at sea. 100 percent of the contributions goes directly to the families.
For more information go here. https://fvlilyjeanfund.org/
To donate online, please go here. https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/U2XYHMZSJRRHL
To donate by check, please make payable to Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund (GFCPF) and mail to:
Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund
c/o Cape Ann Savings Bank
109 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
Memo Line: “Lily Jean Fund”
With gratitude, thank you for any help given.
xxKim
Obituary for Captain Gus Sanfilippo
Heartrending memorial to the fishermen
There are several ongoing fundraisers for the crew of the F V Lily Jean. If you choose to give through the Lily Jean Fund, an anonymous donor is matching contributions up to $40,000.
The funds raised will be evenly divided between all the families of the seven crew members that were lost at sea. 100 percent of the contributions goes directly to the families.
For more information go here. https://fvlilyjeanfund.org/
To donate online, please go here. https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/U2XYHMZSJRRHL
To donate by check, please make payable to Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund (GFCPF) and mail to:
Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund
c/o Cape Ann Savings Bank
109 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
Memorial at the Man at the Wheel
Here are two Melt the ICE hat patterns, both from Ravelry. I have downloaded both because I like to experiment with yarn and with needle size. One is free and here is the link to that hat: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-toque.
The other is $5.00 and all proceeds go to help immigrant aid agencies who are distributing aid to people impacted by the actions of ICE https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat
I am using Malabrigo Worsted, color Vermilion, because that is what I have on hand. This is a lovery, super soft Merino, and very easy to work with. It’s more of an Aran weight, #4, and works up great in needles anywhere from size 6 for ribbing and up to to size 9. Malabrigo at Wool and Co. has an array of beautiful reds to choose from. $14.80 for a large skein of 210 yards.
Red pointed knit touques (or caps), with a tassel, were worn by Norwegian citizens in protest against occupying Germans during World War II. They were eventually forbidden by the Nazis, along with Christmas cards featuring patriotic gnomes.
English: Photo taken at the Lofoten War Memorial Museum (Norwegian: Lofoten Krigsminnemuseum) in Svolvær, Norway’s largest exhibition of uniforms and smaller items related to the Second World War, Nazi Germany and the German occupation of Norway 1940 – 1945
Home made knitted mittens, with traditional Norwegian decorative pattern and monogram of King Haakon VII of Norway, the year “1940” and his motto Alt for Norge (“All for Norway, Everything for Norway”)
From wiki –
Confiscated Christmas Cards and Banned Hats in Nazi Occupied Norway
During the Nazi occupation in the Second World War, there were a number of bans the Norwegian people had to follow. These prohibitions were implemented, among other things, to ensure that people should not influence each other to oppose the occupying power. The Norwegian Santa (Nisse) with its red hat is a central figure in Norwegian culture. Walking with red hat during the war was therefore seen as a silent protest against the Nazi occupying power. It became a symbol of resistance. Many therefore let their children go with red Nisse hat to show that they were against the occupation. On February 26, 1942, however, a ban on red hats and all items with those red hats was introduced. The hats were withdrawn and the criminal liability of children under 14 years was introduced for the parents. Also some Christmas cards with these nationalistic figures were banned.
Home made knitted mittens, with traditional Norwegian decorative pattern and monogram of king Haakon VII of Norway, the year “1940” and his motto Alt for Norge (“All for Norway, Everything for Norway”)
Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in April 1940. Haakon rejected German demands to legitimise the Quisling regime’s puppet government, and refused to abdicate after going into exile in Great Britain. As such, he played a pivotal role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the invasion and the subsequent five-year-long occupation during the Second World War. He returned to Norway in June 1945 after the defeat of Germany.
A happy pair, our native ‘Winter Red’ Winterberry (Ilex verticilatta) and Miss Featherton, our resident American Robin. If you plan to grow winterberry in your native plants garden, be sure to also grow a male, like ‘Southern Gentleman.’ Although he doesn’t bear fruit, his flowers are needed for cross pollination. There is a newer female cultivar that I would love to try. She has the sweet name of ‘Berry Poppins,’ reportedly growing only only 3 to 4 feet in height.
With some trepidation, I took Charlotte to see her first Snowy Owl last week. I write trepidation because I don’t want to add to the insanely unethical behaviors directed towards Snowy, Short-earred, and Long-earred Owls that is taking place in our region.
I had learned about one flying around a neighborhood well beyond our immediate region and thought that would be a non-threatening way for her to see one. We found the Owl easily enough, thanks to a super nice Mom that worked in the neighborhood. She had shown her daughters the Snowy the week prior. We didn’t stay long in hopes of not drawing attention. Charlotte did a little dance for the Owl and then we went on our way.
We checked back several hours later. The Snowy had not budged from her rooftop perch and of course was completely unfazed by the snow falling all around her as she drifted in and out of sleep.
What an uplifting few moments to catch sight of this beautiful young Mute Swan. I believe he is a male because of the good-sized blackberry, or black protuberance, on his upper bill.
It’s been many years since Gloucester and Rockport have had a pair of Swans breeding at our local ponds and frequenting the waterways. Our dear Mr. Swan, a beautiful and rare blue-eyed Swan, passed away in 2019. He had survived two mates and was at least 29 years old at the time of his passing, a simply extraordinary age for a Mute Swan not held in captivity
Let’s everyone keep an eye out for the well being of our visitor. Winter is very tough on young Mute Swans. At this time of year, their parents are often pushing them out of their home territory as they prepare to nest and raise the next generation. Mute Swans don’t migrate however, they do move around from body of water to body of water within a region, especially during the winter.
The Swan has a deformed left foot but that did not prevent him from using his foot to preen and to take off on the ice, which is not easy for any large-bodied bird, injured or not. With his distinct foot we may be able to track him if he is still in the area. I saw him in the morning and my friend Carlos later in the day but he was not at Nile’s by nightfall. Please email or leave a comment in the comment section and let us know if you see him. Thank you! kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com
Dear Friends,
Taking a break from thinking about the heart-rending reality of our national politics to talk about a native plant that you may want to encourage to grow in your wildflower garden. Pokeberry is a large, gangly native plant that goes by many names: American Pokeweed, Dragonberry, Pigeonberry, and Inkberry, to name but a few. Although all parts of the plant can be toxic to livestock, the berries are much beloved by a variety of songbirds including Mockingbirds, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, Cedar Waxwings, Bluebirds, and many more.
Pokeberry was one of several fruiting plants favored by the exquisite (and rarely seen in the Northeast) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that was visiting the Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm. The Pokeberry was growing in the pigpen and around the edges of the farm fields. If you plan to grow it in your garden, know that Pokeberry can reach five to six feet and is a good candidate for the back of a border or along property edges.
In our own garden, we never had Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers until I let a volunteer Pokeberry grow where a bird had deposited a seed. Now we have a tribe of YBS stopping over during spring and autumn migration, a male, a female, and even a juvenile. This past autumn, our “pet” Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, as Charlotte likes to call the male who comes daily, was with us from October through December. He was mostly focused on procuring sap from our tree garden but I don’t think it would be here unless it had been initially attracted to the beautiful deep purple berries of the Pokeberry plant.
Grow Native and They Will Come!
P.S. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds drink nectar from the tiny white Pokeberry flowers.
Iceboating in Gloucester at beautiful Niles Pond! The last clip is in slow motion so you can see how the boat lifts up at high speed.
Thank you to Geoff and Pilar for taking Charlotte on a sail. She loved it! <3
Dear Friends,
I hope you are finding renewed hope in the new year. As we turn the page away from 2025, one thought burns so brightly in my mind and that is to Power On. We’re all in this together and as we become united, we will be empowered to right the wrongs.
This last photo of 2025, from the 31st, is of a Wild Turkey taken in the Wolf Moon a few days before it was completely full. Charlotte and I watched in wonderment as the turkeys took flight at twilight. It takes a good amount of energy for their ungainly bodies to become aloft and turkey flying comes with much noisy whooshing and vigorous wing flapping. They sleep in trees for protection from mammalian predators and even young poults learn to fly and roost on low branches, at the very tender age of only a week or two.
I have been meaning to share this video of Gray Seals singing. For about ten years or so I have been watching the growing population of seals at Brace Cove, which isn’t really very long in the grand scheme of things. When I first began to notice the congregation there, it seemed as though it was all Harbor Seals. More and more Gray Seals seem to be coming each year. One day in November I counted 14 Gray Seals hanging out together in the water, not on the rocks. Another day, there were 34 all told, both Harbor and Gray, in the water and on the rocks. There possibly may have been many more as they move around the cove and are often emerging from underwater.
The first clips are of a chorus of Gray Seal bull songsters; the last two clips happened several days later when two were behaving very affectionately towards one another. Notice how the more active the males became, the more anxious the small seal in the center of it all became before giving up its spot on the rock. Turn up the volume to hear the full chorus! Gray Seal mating season is happening now and the singing can be either amorous or territorial. Mating takes place underwater but I wonder if the clips where they are behaving affectionately is a form of courtship. Everything I have read states mating is violent but watching the seals playfully rub each other and dive together for fifteen plus minutes makes me think perhaps there is another side to Gray Seal breeding.
Power On Friends,
xxKim
City Hall was packed this afternoon with well-wishers for the newly elected Mayor Paul Lundberg, City Council, and School Committee members. Emcee Bob Gillis did an excellent job conducting the ceremony while Alessandro Schoc gave a pitch perfect and stunning rendition of the national anthem. In between the administration of oaths of office, Chris Langathianos and Joe Wilkins provided musical interludes. Gloucester’s co-poet laureates, Jay Featherstone and Heidi Wakeman, along with Anne Babson Carter, read original poems. Governor Maura Healey addressed the audience via video and Senator Bruce Tarr gave an uplifting key note address.
Mayor Lundberg’s inaugural address was inspiring and I thought also very unifying. It was a great day for our fair City, welcoming all these newly minted, and incumbent, public servants who so generously give of their time. Thank you!
Alessandro Schoc sang the national anthem – truly a magnificent voice!
Heidi Wakeman’s inauguration poem “Abecedarium: 26 Lines for 2026” was so on point and the audience loved it!
Mayor Lundberg, Jack Clarke, Jim Cantwell from Senator Markey’s office, and former Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken
Blitzen taking a break from wooing the does in the neighborhood.
We passed several does and a juvenile deer foraging in the snow and were just about to turn around when our favorite buck appeared alone and silhouetted against the sunset. He only stayed a moment before bounding away.
Clement C. Moore, author of A Visit from St. Nicholas, originally named Dunder and Blixem for Dutch words meaning thunder and lightning. He later changed Blixem to Blitzen for the German word meaning a flash of light.