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Monday, January 5, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
28 degrees, calm, overcast, flurries
Very fine snow is falling, nearly invisible but
felt as tiny frosty kisses
on my cheeks when I was outside earlier. It may be
raining at lower
elevations, as a dozen schools are delaying their start
times due to icy
buildup; up here in Gomer Hill, we are free of such
glazing. There are
long icicles hung from the eaves of the house and barns,
created by
yesterday’s warm sun melting the rooftop snowpack,
but that is the
only ice I see on this grey morning. We skied several of
the loops at the
state trails originating on Carpenter Road, enjoying the
warm sun and milder
temperatures that graced our Sunday outing. Although a
half foot of snow had
recently fallen, all of the trails were well-traveled and
the gliding was very fast;
we only encountered two other people while we skied, both
of them old friends
that we hadn’t seen in a while. Small world, eh? We
circled two beaver ponds,
one of which was full, the frozen water held back by an
impressive tall dam.
The other pond had been drained since last winter, and
there was only a
small trickle of a stream bifurcating that disused hollow.
All of the trails
were sporting dozens of hare tracks, and a few
coyotes had also been
through the area earlier in the day. Streams are still
running with open
water, and the ice mushrooms formed over submerged rocks
that we had
admired on Thursday were decorated with tall snow hats
yesterday. We found
a small bird’s nest hanging waist-high between two
thin twigs; I have no clue what
kind of bird made it. When researching bird’s nests
last night, I was advised by one
source to wait and see what kind of bird returned to it.
While this could certainly be
a valid method, I doubt it would work well in January. We
also skied past two very
beautiful thistle seedheads sticking up out of the snow.
The stems were bristling with
long sharp thorns, or I would have plucked one to rest on
my windowsill as a me-
mento of yesterday’s adventure. It was an absolutely
perfect day, one we will
all relive during the steamy dog days of August. Now the
snow flurries have
increased in size and frequency, and the breeze is
stiffening a bit. Twigs
and branches are starting to whiten up, lending that
little wintry
touch of magic to the day that was lacking until now.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Sunday, January 4, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
14 degrees, calm, sunny
What an awesome winter morning ! Blue jays are not
only beautiful as they fly among the spruce trees but
they
are talking back and forth with their distinctive chime-like
tones,
wonderful music for the new year. This pair of striking
birds has been
living in our back yard for several months, and I believe
they have become
used to my presence every morning; they no longer flee at
my approach, but
continue with whatever task is underway at the moment.
They never land on the
ground, so they pay no attention to our cats, who spend a
lot of time staring at the
jays. Yesterday we skied in a long circuitous path
through our woodlot, checking
for sign of deer and other critters. The day was perfect,
a little colder than today
but filled with sunshine and sparkling fresh snow. We
stayed right up on top of the
crust that underlies the new snow, and even my
friend’s big dog was able to frolic in
the forest without getting bogged down. There were many
wet spots leftover form last
week’s rainfall, but we were able to avoid the worst
of them. The big creek at the bot-
tom of the gorge is flowing swiftly, not yet frozen over
in spite of several sub-zero nights.
We found a few old deer runs, showing faintly underneath
eight inches of fresh snow.
There were a couple of individual trails that had been
made during the morning snow-
fall, but the only fresh sign we saw from any animal were
the big pawprints of our
canine companion. He made frequent stops to bury his
muzzle under a log or into
a brushpile to sniff at some buried treasure, so we knew
there had been some
kind of recent animal activity, at least in those places.
We found no deer beds,
and saw no actual animals on our trek. There were many
new blowdowns, some
blocking the trail which we had cleared out last autumn.
One giant maple tree broke
right off at the base, and I can see a lot of potential
firewood in one convenient place.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest toppled obstacles are
spruce or basswood, neither
one suitable for enhancing the home fires. For now, we
will just ski around them, creat-
ing new pathways in familiar territory. Sometimes we need
to do this in other matters too,
whether avoiding obstacles or just seeking new solutions
for life’s challenges in general. We
could have been stalled out by the huge trees blocking
our way, or turned back to retrace
our steps and make no forward progress. Instead, we
followed a different path, one that
was not in the original plan but which ultimately led to
a similar outcome. It’s all good !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, January 3, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
15 degrees, mostly cloudy, snowing
Beautiful snow is falling gently, with only a hint
of gentle breeze
to alter the path of the fat flakes on their way
earthward. We are
smack dab in the middle of a lake effect cloud that seems
to have
stalled out right above Gomer Hill. There is a little bit
of blue sky here
and there, and I can tell where the sun is but can’t
actually see it. This
morning we plowed the yard for the twentieth time this
season; imagine
the expense if we had to hire someone to do it! We had
received about
six inches of powder since yesterday afternoon, and it
looks like we will
see a couple more before the skies finally clear. We took
a walk up the
plowed road late in the afternoon, as it was warm enough
for the dog to
enjoy some exercise outdoors. I think even if I
didn’t have the dog to con-
sider, I would still choose to hike some winter days
instead of skiing, just for
the cross-training benefits. We walked for a bit along
the snowmobile trail, but
sled traffic was very heavy so we turned around. I
haven’t seen many deer tracks
by the road lately; they must be deep in the sheltering
forest, massed together for
warmth and comfort on these very cold nights. I am going
to check out the wood-
lot across the road later today, and see if I can locate
some deer sign by the edge
of the gorge. It’s a perfect day for just about
anything !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Friday, January 2, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
16 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, snowing
Lake effect snow is in the forecast for later in the day,
but in my experienced amateur opinion as an eyewitness
weatherman (“I look outside, I witness the
weather”; Les Nessman,
WKRP in Cincinnati) I would say it is already here.
The west wind
has picked up and snow is increasing in both density and
rate; that
spells lake effect to me. The sun looks like it
may shine through a
thin spot in the clouds; it is always festive to have
snow and sun
simultaneously. Yesterday I skied with a group of friends
on the
Douglas Creek/Larch Loop trail the originates on
Carpenter Road.
A few folks had already been on the trails by the time we
got there,
so we didn’t have to set any tracks; the conditions
were perfect. We
left the trail several times to follow critter prints or
investigate fallen trees,
and even on fresh snow the going was good. The sky was
cobalt blue, and
bright midday sun gave the impression of warmth, even
though it was only
four degrees outside. As long as we kept moving, we were
toasty warm.
The surface of fresh snow was filled with tracks of
squirrels and snowshoe
hares, and several times the distinctive prints of
running coyotes crossed the ski
trail. The forest was teeming with life, but we were not
very stealthy in our exub-
erant passing; all we saw were the footprints of all who
fled at our approach.
Creeks are freezing over once again, with big mushroom-shaped
formations
over submerged rocks building up layers that will
eventually merge with
the icy crust that appears along the banks. At some
points over slower
moving streams the surface is totally iced over, with
windowpane crust
clearly showing the bubbling brook beneath. We had a
wonderful
trek through the woods, a great way to start a new year !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, January 1, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
3 degrees, breezy, sunny
After a very cold night the temperature is on the
rise. We dipped
down to minus seven, so it is already ten degrees warmer
than when
we arose. Tiny frost motes dance on the light breeze,
sunny echoes of
yesterday’s lovely snowfall. We walked for a bit
during the worst of the
storm, mostly to check out the activity at Horsie Creek.
The flow is freezing
up again, with thick ice shelves building up from the
edges towards the still-swift
moving water near the center of the stream. There is a
fallen tree within sight of
the road that has collected quite a bit of debris behind
it, and a small pool fills
the streambed at that point. A well-worn trail shows that
deer have been to
that spot to drink throughout the winter, coming down the
bank near the
source, before the gorge gets too deep. I have taken many
friends to the
gorge across the road at all seasons of the year, and all
are amazed at its
very existence. There are literally hundreds of these
deep stream-cut gullies
all over Tug Hill; we are very lucky to have one within
walking distance of our
back door. It is a beautiful place this time of year,
with deer beds melted into
the snowpack along the rim and tall balsams swaying in
the wind overhead.
In the summertime, it is a great place to cool off, and a
grand adventure
finding a route to the bottom, half walking/half tumbling
down into the
cool moss-lined gulf to play in the refreshing water. One
of the best
parts of living on Gomer hill is that every season has
its particular
points of beauty; one merely has to be awake and aware
to enjoy life here at the top of the world.
Happy new year !
Daisy
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