Saturday,
January 31, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
-3
degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, sparse flurries
It snowed pretty hard late
yesterday for a few hours.
Our total snowfall from the latest three day storm was
probably about eighteen inches,
with ten inches falling yesterday afternoon and evening.
The wind pushed it into drifts
around trees and buildings; on the flats it measures
between eight inches and a foot. A
parts-car that is parked near the house has some pretty
interesting wind-sculpted snow
around it. You can’t tell there is a car there, and
the elephant-sized mound of snow that
hides it is full of graceful curves and sharp cornices.
The yard has very little snow accumulation.
A wind tunnel is created by the space between the house
and barns, and is perfect for whisking
away leaves as well as snow. We still have to clear away
the huge pile of snow deposited at the
end of the driveway by the town road crew, and shovel the
doorways to the garage and other
outbuildings. There hasn’t been a really good dump
of snow up here this year... yet... I know,
be careful what you wish for... Rain is in the forecast
for the middle of the week. If your roof
has collected a good load of snow, be sure to clear it
off before it gets waterlogged and does
some damage. Today looks like a good one; although it is
still pretty cold, it is calm and I see
little holes in the clouds revealing pale blue sky. It
has been a while since we have had a chance
to get out and explore the winter wonderland.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 30, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
4 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
We are still under a lake effect snow
warning for the rest of today,
but as I watch the radar on tv, it seems like the
southwestern part of
Lewis County will continue to get pummeled and we will
probably get
robbed once again. Yesterday everyone was antsy waiting
for the big
storm to hit, but the sun was shining all day long. I
could see a huge grey
wall of snow descending to earth south of here, and it
didn’t look too far
away at all. I had some appointments in Boonville for
later in the day,
and received calls from two people wondering if I
was going to cancel them.
I thought that was odd, as the weather up here was windy,
but not a bit snowy.
Finally another person called and said “You won’t
be able to get to Boonville
today; the roads are unplowed and the whiteouts are bad.”
I stayed put, and
Boonville got pounded with a good old-fashioned lake
effect storm. That is
the nature of the beast; it can be raging in one
location and calm in the next.
West of Boonville, towns were getting three or four
inches of snow per hour,
and declared a state of emergency. Parts of Route 81 had
been closed due
to multiple accidents caused by blowing and drifting snow.
They are still
getting hammered this morning, and if the front drifts
just a little bit northeast,
we will get anywhere from a little to a lot of
snow today. It is hard to make
plans when the weather calls the shots. It is best to be
flexible,
and ditch the main plan for a different one.
This just might be a general rule of life, if you think
about it.
Roll with the changes,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 29, 2004, 6:30 a.m.
5
degrees, breezy, light snow
We
have had about six inches of snow so far and the lake
effect snow warning is
ongoing through tonight. Areas south of here received
much more snow than we did,
but the storm isn’t over yet. Schools in our area
are running as scheduled; today is
the last day of midwinter Regents Testing, and the tests
will not be rescheduled.
Even if schools were closed, test administrators,
proctors, and students taking the
tests are expected to get to school, no matter what. (Just
one more wise decision
made by the New York State Board of Regents... but this
is a weather almanac,
not a political editorial.) The sky is beginning to
lighten up, but it doesn’t look like
there will be much of a visible sunrise. The plows were
up and down the hill early;
we are lucky to have a very dedicated team working on our
town road crew. They
plow all night long and do a great job of repairing
winter damage during the warmer
months. Make sure you wave at the road crew today as you
pass them, and take
some cookies out to them in the spring as they patch the
potholes in front of your house.
Now I must hit the road,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 28, 2004, 6:30 a.m.
15
degrees, calm, light flurries
It is still too dark to tell
if it is cloudy or clear, although it is not the total
darkness of a starless midnight. Fine snowflakes are in
the air, falling straight
to earth in the absence of any wind. At fifteen degrees
the air seems almost
tropical; okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it is a
pleasant change to be able
to step outside and not have my breath frozen in its
tracks. As the temperature
moderates, don’t forget to add some dry gas with
each fill-up so that moisture
won’t condense in your gas tank and cause fuel flow
problems. It also helps
to keep the gas tank at least half full. Lake effect snow
is in our forecast for
the next two days, so it would be a good idea to run
errands today.
Take care on the roads; watch out for the other guy.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 27, 2004, 7:15 a.m.
11
degrees, breezy, overcast
It is a grey morning with no
sign of the rising sun.
It must be behind the clouds somewhere, as the landscape
is steadily moving
from dark to light with no perceptible color. Last night
the sky was a large blank
slate: no moon, no stars, no light to guide your way home
in the dark. Large amounts
of snow are in the forecast for areas south of here, but
I doubt that we will see much
out of the coming storm. It is nice to have the
temperature on the plus side for a change.
The wind is starting to pick up to something beyond a
breeze,
so it will be a different kind of cold that works its way
into the seams of our winter overcoats.
Stay warm,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 26, 2004, 6:45 a.m.
-7
degrees, breezy, some clouds
The sun isn’t up yet but
the eastern horizon is getting ready; the stage is set.
Low dark clouds offset the rosy predawn glow and the
mountains stand out
in dark relief. Last night a beautiful crescent moon was
offset by other bright
heavenly bodies for several hours before it set in the
west. It was another cold
night, and our oil furnace kicked on for the first time
in many weeks. Snow is
moving into the area later, but it looks like Oneida
County will get most of it.
I will be on assignment indoors for the next four days,
so my opportunities to
explore the Hill will be limited. Perhaps the upcoming
weekend will bring
more user-friendly temperatures and perfect snow.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 25, 2004, 9:00 a.m.
-10 degrees, calm, sunny
I don’t
recall a cold spell this long since... well, probably
last winter.
The bright sunshine and beautiful robin’s-egg blue
sky are easily admired from indoors.
A few steps outside to retrieve the dog earlier this
morning were almost painful to my lungs.
The poor little guy went too many steps away from the
back door, and just sat there hoisting
his paws up and down and shivering; the snow was too cold
on his bare feet (I guess).
In spite of the biting cold, our blackbirds are in the
usual spot, high in the branches of the big
maple tree by the garage. They are mostly clicking,
clacking, and chattering, not a lot of tunes
in the air today. The view of the mountains is a good one
today, and there is not a cloud in the
sky. Shadows of smoke from our two chimneys pass over the
clean surface of snow that
covers all. No animal tracks are visible in the meadow,
and our old ski tracks have been
filled in completely, drifted over and erased. I went to
the barn to get my skis yesterday,
and chickened out after my nose froze shut. Maybe today
will be a little warmer.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 24, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
-15 degrees, calm, sunny
My view from the top is from a
different window this bright and sunny morning.
The computer has been moved to another room for a short
time, and the tall windows
on the east side of the house afford a glorious vista
that includes the Adirondack Mountains
and broad meadows of the Black River Valley. Our back
porch is on the east side as well,
so this is the same view that I get on warmer morns after
the snow is gone. Since the sun is
streaming in through the windows to the south, I can take
in the view without squinting.
The snow in the fields has been packed and sculpted by
the wind, and there is stark contrast
between the glistening white snow and slate-blue shadows
that snug up to each rift and ripple.
The wind was ferocious yesterday, and each trip outdoors
for various chores was mercifully
short. Last night was calm, and a thin sliver of moon set
in the west just after darkness fell.
The sky was dark as could be, and zillions of stars
sparkled into the night. It will be very
cold again today, but if the wind stays at home for a
while it should be a great day for
cross country skiing or snowshoing; do a little
exploring,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 23, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
-5 degrees, windy, partly cloudy
A mass of clouds that covers the sky
has toned down this morning’s sunrise to a
subtle glow in the east. The sphere is visible through
the layers, but it will be a while
before the rays are able to break through. We got about
six inches of snow from
yesterday’s lake effect storm; the big news was the
wind that whipped the snow
into a dangerous combination of whiteouts and slippery
roads. Even after snow
stopped falling, fierce wind pummeled the landscape and
found its way into my
dreams. A patch of steely blue sky overhead has soft
white clouds scurrying
across it from west to east, and spruce trees in the
woodlot are swaying to and fro.
Low temperatures combined with high wind will keep us
indoors for most of the day.
Downhill skiers will be loving the fresh powder, but
riding the chairlifts will be a chilly task.
Dress for the weather,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 22, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
12 degrees, breezy, snowing
It has been steadily snowing for about
an hour, big fat flakes that float
dreamily and lightly touch down. A slight breeze wafts
them from side to side
as they descend, and already there is about two inches of
new fluff in the yard.
Bands of lake effect snow are expected to move in later
today, and we could see
a good amount by this time tomorrow. Yesterday we skied
over to the State Ski
Trails from a logging road on the east side of Gomer Hill
Road. On this side of Mill
Creek the ski trail is not official, and you should be
aware of the following fact:
any time you ski on the trails that originate across from
the Timberview Lodge on
Carpenter Road, if you cross a creek that does not have a
bridge built over it, you are
probably wandering off of State Land and onto private
property. More than once people
have followed our tracks to the Gomer Hill Road and
become completely disoriented as
they looked for their car, which was still parked on the
Carpenter Road. The trails were
in perfect condition yesterday, and I had a chance to try
out my new skis, which are
shorter and wider than my old-style Truckers. They are
fast, and the slight hourglass shape
made them easy to turn on downhill runs. My wax was
perfect, providing good grip for
climbing and great glide for speed on the flats. The
trees along the trail were bent heavy
with snow from the last storm, and when we skied under
low-hanging boughs we often
got a hatfull of dry powder. It was a cold day, but as
long as we kept moving we were
plenty warm from our efforts. Chickadees, blue jays, and
pine grosbeaks flitted from
tree to tree as we passed, and once I saw a large
woodpecker swooping through the
tall balsams, angling its body like a fighter plane to
avoid collisions without sacrificing
forward momentum. The ground was full of tiny pawprints
moving from cover to cover.
Deer tracks and scat were nowhere to be seen; the deer
must still have been hunkered
down in groups to conserve body heat. The wind is picking
up a bit now,
signaling the approach of a change in the weather.
Button up your overcoat,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 21, 2004, 8:15 a.m.
3 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
A spear of bright white light is
illuminating a column of frost sparkles at the end of our
meadow, linking the ground with the sun. There is a
rainbow-hued vertical sundog
on
either side of the sun, and a short white arc directly
over it. The field is crisscrossed
with a lot of animal tracks, and as soon as it warms up a
bit I will go and investigate.
Everything is glistening in the morning sunshine; just a
few clouds are far to the east.
Don’t forget sunscreen and uv protection for your
eyes today.
It’s a bright one !
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 20, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
-5 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
An hour ago there was enough break in
the clouds for a very nice sunrise
to flood the land with warm colors. Silvery weathered
barn wood turns the most
wonderful mellow orange-pink, glowing with the serenity
of a five dollar Hallmark
card. A large flock of juncos flew through the yard
earlier, stopping briefly in the
privet hedge, then moving on over the fields to the west.
Several wild turkeys are
moving slowly along the stone wall at the edge of the
east meadow; they look huge
with their feathers fluffed up against the super-cold air.
It is a wonderfully quiet morning.
The school bus has come and gone, all of the folks who
live on the Hill have driven off
to work or school, and the only sound is the murmuring of
the blackbird choir keeping
watch over the yard. We should be able to ski in the
nearby fields this morning,
and enjoy the peace that has returned to the neighborhood
after the holiday weekend.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 19, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
-5 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
We are back in the deep freeze after
yesterday’s moderate temperatures.
A half dozen blackbirds are singing their little hearts
out, sharing their
maple tree with a crow who chimes in now and then, adding
his loud opinion
to the joyful noise. We had periods of heavy snow
yesterday with a total
accumulation of about four inches. Most of that fell
within a two hour
period, right around lunchtime. More lake effect snow is
predicted for
today, but may pass south of here. Yesterday’s ski
outing to the Carpenter
Road trails was postponed; we hope to get there later in
the week.
Today is Martin Luther King Day, and many folks have a
long weekend.
Enjoy your day, whatever your plans include;
this day will never happen again.
Have fun,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 18, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
20
degrees, calm, overcast, freezing mist
I was
going to call it freezing rain, but it isn’t rain at
all. There are fine
droplets of moisture in the air that are freezing
instantly onto surfaces.
Windows on the west side of the house are wearing a thin
film of ice, and
treetops are beginning to look a little bulkier than
usual. Ah, will you look at
that ! In the time it took me to type those three
sentences, snowflakes have
started to fall. Yesterday was a beautiful day; it
started out with an unusual
sunrise. There was a black bank of clouds to the
southwest, and the sun rose
red through the edges of the front. There was a perfect
fat vertical rainbow
east of the brilliant sun. Directly below the sun a
column of orange light poured
straight down to earth. I imagined what it would be like
to stand bathed in that
warm glow, but I’ll bet it would have been
impossible to find. Many a late summer
afternoon has been spent chasing the end of a rainbow,
which was obviously in
the neighbor’s field, but when we got there, it had
moved a little farther away.
We never once found the rainbow’s end, but we had
fun looking ! Meanwhile,
back at winter... the air was filled with tiny frost
crystals yesterday morning,
and everything sparkled in the bright sunlight. It was so
beautiful ! A ski trip
through fields and meadows revealed few tracks in the
hard windpacked surface.
We were limited as to where we could ski, as many
snowmobilers have decided
that any meadow on Tug Hill belongs to them. They ride
right past signs that
declare "No Snowmobiles" and "Posted No
Trespassing" and there is no reason on
earth to leave the trail. I feel like I am invisible to
many of them at the speeds
they are traveling. A steady stream of holiday-weekend
sled traffic left a blue
stinky cloud hanging over our whole neighborhood
yesterday afternoon. So much for
getting out in the country-fresh air... Today we will
head for the State Land at
Carpenter Road and ski on official cross-country ski
trails. Flurries are falling a little
faster now, and relatively mild temperatures make this a
good day
for a little outdoor adventure.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
January 17,
2004
Daisy is having technical difficulties...
In a pinch, here is a message from the Swami :)
"Love
is the law of life. To love is to fulfill the law. And to
fullfill
the law means eternal peace and everlasting happiness."
- Swami Sivananda
To stay
constantly in love energy, is our ongoing challenge.
Again and again we are called to dissolve the barriers
that we have created to love.
The answers lie inside, there is nowhere else to look.
Challenges are all around us,
every day brings something new, oftentimes unexpected.
Yet if we can stay in love
energy, a place of allowing and being, respecting and
appreciating,
gradually we find things fall into place, doors open,
people come into our lives and miracles happen.
such is the power of love.
May this
be a bliss filled week
~
Friday, January 16, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
-13
degrees, windy, overcast, flurries
I had
always believed that it couldn’t snow when the air
temperature
was this cold. Guess I was wrong. It isn’t snowing
very much, just enough
to make the wind a little more unpleasant than it already
is. Schools are
closed all over the North Country, except our local
district is on a two hour
delay. Our high school building is kept very warm during
a cold spell, since
last year when pipes burst in the library ceiling and
ruined hundreds of books.
I am cozy now, warmed by the radiant heat of the living
room woodstove; I
dread the short drive to work. At least I don’t have
to wait outside for a bus.
Can you imagine the discomfort of wild creatures last
night as the wind drove
snow and frost into every nook and cranny of habitat?
Survival of the fittest
is a fact of life, especially during such harsh
conditions. I felt absolutely
blessed in the dead of night to be in a warm, safe place,
snuggled underneath
flannel quilts as I listened to the wind rage outside the
windows.
Count your many blessings today,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 15, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
-19
degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
There
are clouds hanging low over the valley, which made for
a colorful sunrise. Everything is blindingly white with
deep blue shadows
cast by trees and drifts. Many schools have closed
because of the cold,
but I believe yesterday was colder than today. The big
news is wind chill,
which every radio weatherman has said will be severe
today. I have a problem
with the whole concept of wind chill. It is a fairly
recent invention, and anyone
who doesn’t realize that unprotected skin will get
cold on a windy wintry day
should stay indoors. That’s why our Moms knitted
mufflers in our youth, so we
could wrap them around our faces when the wind blew.
Another new weather concept
has just surfaced: the low high. Last week, we
broke the record for the low high,
which means that the highest temperature of that
particular day was lower than ever
previously recorded. We can expect that at some point on
an upcoming midsummer day
the weathermen will begin to babble on about a record high
low as well. Actually,
when you live on Tug Hill, it doesn’t really matter
what the weathermen say;
we have our own weather patterns. I rely on the eye-witness
weather report;
I step outside, and I witness the weather.
Today’s report... get out that muffler Momma made
you !
Dress for success,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 14, 2004, 7:45 a.m.
-26
degrees, calm, sunny
Wow, is
it ever cold ! Even with both woodstoves cranking away,
the house
is chilly, with frost along the edges of our double-pane
insulated windows.
The old-fashioned porch casement panes have thick fronds
of frost on the
inside, orange in the early hours of the day. The
temperature dropped
forty-four degrees in a single day. If you heat your home
with wood, make
sure you are ready for these frigid winter days by
cleaning your stovepipes
and chimneys before the cold spell gets here. Good grief,
lately that would
mean cleaning them every week... but a clean exhaust
system won’t catch fire
and destroy your home, that’s a fact. I plan to
enjoy this beautiful day from
indoors for the most part. I am sure the skiing
conditions are pretty near
perfect, but it would be foolhardy to explore in this
kind of weather.
Frostbite is a reality when it is this cold,
and an injury on the trail could be a true disaster.
Bundle up,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 13, 2004, 9:00 a.m.
22
degrees, windy, snowing sideways
This
morning several blackbirds sang from their perches in the
big maple tree
by the barn, but I was unwilling to brave the elements to
enjoy the show.
Big snowflakes are zooming through the yard like a
freight train, driven by
a zippy west wind. Visibility is poor, and I am amazed
that school has not
been delayed or cancelled. Of course, Tug Hill is often
in a whole different
weather zone, with gentler conditions prevailing in the
flatlands.
~
And now a note to snowmobile enthusiasts:
There has already been one fatality in our area, caused
by excessive speed.
Every year there are many awful accidents on Tug Hill,
including the horrific
scenario where one person is thrown from their sled and
the rider directly
behind them (usually a relative or best friend) drives
over that human speed
bump. Shattered bones, paralysis, loss of limb, loss of
life, even the occasional
decapitation, all are weekly occurrences in my
neighborhood. At the end of winter
our ambulance crews are heartsick at all the carnage they
have had to witness.
Excessive speed + alcohol + poor visibility + trail
obstacles = broken hearts and bodies.
Take away the speed and the booze and you will have a
much better chance
of going back to work Monday morning in one piece.
Save your drinking for the lodge at the end of the trail,
and your love of speed for Playstation or XBox.
Play safe,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 12, 2004 7:45 a.m.
18
degrees, calm, overcast, flurries
Everything
is covered in a smooth blanket of snow, a classic winter
country scene.
Evergreen trees are loaded to the max, as the last storm
had very little wind
behind it. Because of this, dense snowflakes layered
around every small obstacle,
making the meadows look as if thousands of little white
spaceships had landed.
Perfect small domes formed around every little blade of
hay left exposed, and
larger mounds covered corn stalks. I had never seen this
before, as lake effect
snow is usually accompanied by howling winds that shift
and sculpt the snow into
drifts and ripples. The nature of the snow that fell last
week was odd as well...
denser than usual, not the fluffy powder that is a joy to
float through on downhill
skis... more cream cheese than whipped cream. Other
commitments kept me from
exploring the Hill over the weekend, and I am itching to
get out and see what’s new.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 11, 2004 8:45 a.m.
2
degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
Fine
snow crystals that dance and swirl on the zephyr breeze
are sticking to every tiny tree twig, creating a surreal
fairy world of soft
edges and sugar-frosted forests. Although the thermometer
is finally on the
plus side, it feels very cold outdoors because of the
northwest wind. Yesterday,
on my way to work in Boonville, I had to pull over to
admire two enormous vertical
rainbows reaching far into the cold blue sky, bracketing
the brilliant morning sun.
Sun dogs (also called parhelia) are caused when
tiny hexagonal ice crystals in the
atmosphere refract the light of the sun. Rainbow colors
are a result of dispersion
of light within each crystal. They were breathtakingly
beautiful, and I was late
for work. More information about parhelia and beautiful
photos can be seen by
keying "sun dogs" into your favorite search
engine. This afternoon the ambient
air temperature should feel comparatively balmy as the
mercury climbs into the
twenties. If this breeze keeps up, we will have to find
somewhere to ski in
the more protected areas within the woods.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 10, 2004 7:00 a.m.
-26
degrees, nearly calm, mostly clear
The sky
certainly is interesting this morning. If I look out the
northwest
window, it is a beautiful moonlit night with silver
moonbeams highlighting
every nook and cranny of the snowy meadows. On the
opposite side of the
house, smoky black clouds are ascending from the horizon
as the sun’s predawn
glow stains the sky both pink and blue. The southeastern
meadows have a warm
peachy glow, a nice contrast. Treetops are covered with a
film of ice. I’m not
sure where the ice came from; I am guessing that moisture
in the air combined
with the slightly warmer mass of the living trees,
condensed, and froze. The
inside of my car windows were covered with a thick
coating of frost yesterday
afternoon, and I had to use the ice scraper on the inside
of the glass, covering
my winter coat with fine dry snow. Not a creature is
stirring outdoors this morning.
I wonder where the blackbirds have gone? I miss their
joyful greeting when I step
out with the dog first thing in the morning. The
temperature isn’t supposed to
rise above zero today, with a little relief coming
tomorrow.
Protect yourself and your pets from this frigid air.
Bundle up !
Daisy
~
Friday, January 9, 2004 7:00 a.m.
-25,
breezy, mostly clear
Grey
bands of cloud hang low on the eastern horizon,
where the sun is waiting to make an entrance. Smoke is
rising in wisps
from woodfires in the village. The moon is brilliant in
the western sky.
It is so cold out that our dog could barely walk back to
the house,
his little feet tentatively moving one slow step at a
time.
Imagine being barefoot on that frigid snow;
thank goodness for indoor plumbing !
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 8, 2004, 6:30 a.m.
-7
degrees, calm, partly cloudy, moonlight
It is
still dark and bitterly cold. The moon is radiant
through the clouds, one day past full. It stopped snowing
late yesterday
afternoon, and our best guess at the final total for that
storm is between
twenty eight and thirty inches, a respectable amount. but
not really all that
unusual for Tug Hill. The big news for the next few days
will be the intense
cold temperature, especially at night. Take good care of
your pets; keep
your cats inside and let the dog out just as long as it
takes. I am not looking
forward to getting into that icy cold car for the short
drive to today’s job.
Brrrrrrrr !
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 7, 2004, 7:45 a.m.
4
degrees, windy, snowing
The
storm got here all at once late yesterday afternoon.
The morning was beautiful, big puffy clouds strolling
slowly across
a milky blue sky. Suddenly a grey wall of winter came
blasting onto Tug Hill,
fueled by intense west winds. Everything went white for a
half hour, then
cleared out to blue skies again. Snow squalls played tag
with sun off and on
all afternoon before finally settling in for good. So far
about twenty-four
inches has piled up in the quiet spots, with drifts of
four feet in the eddies.
It seems to be letting up a little, but at first light it
was a regular blizzard.
This might be just a small pause in the storm, which can
drift north and south
a few times before it finally runs out of moisture picked
up from Lake Ontario.
School is closed for the day, and the ski area is open;
this is the first real
powder Snow Ridge has seen since it opened this year.
When the storm is over
I will take a little snowshoe hike to see if any critters
are stirring in the woods.
It will be a couple of days before the snow has settled
enough for cross country
skiing. Whatever outdoor activities you enjoy, make sure
to bundle up;
the next few days will be very cold.
Have fun !
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 6, 2004, 8:15 a.m.
15
degrees, calm, mostly sunny
The mist
has cleared away from most of the sky on top of Tug Hill,
but a
bank of serious clouds is moving in from the east.
Yesterday afternoon a little
rain fell, just enough to provide glue for the snow that
followed, and it is stuck
to every surface. Each twig is covered with a film of
frosty flakes, undisturbed
in the cold clear morning light. Only one blackbird sits
in the choir loft, and its
feathers are fluffed up against the chill. A little more
than an inch of new fluffy
snow fell overnight, light stuff that puffs away from my
boots if I tread too hard.
Local weathermen are all excited about a lake effect
storm headed our way later
today, with snow totals between one and three feet
predicted. In my experience,
almost every time such a storm is advertised, it fizzles
out before it gets here.
I will believe it when I see it. Meanwhile, just in case,
I had better make sure
the wood boxes are full and the generator is gassed up.
Maybe tomorrow’s column will be a little more
exciting than today’s;
I hope so !
Daisy
~
Monday, January 5, 2004, 8:15 a.m.
20
degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
The town
plow went by at six o’clock and scraped away the
half inch of
snow that fell overnight. Now snow is falling steadily
and has added another
half inch to the thin covering. The landscape looks fresh
and clean as mud
and grey frozen slush disappear underneath fat flakes.
Wind is blowing from
the east, so this is not the leading edge of lake effect
snow that is headed
our way tomorrow. Yesterday we could feel the change in
temperature as we
returned from a late day walk, frigid air blowing
directly in our faces. Earlier
we had an interesting ski trip, covering some of the same
territory that we had
explored on Thursday. We traveled on hard frozen granular
snow, and although
we saw tons of tracks it was impossible to sneak up on
anything. If the skis
grating across the icy surface weren’t enough to
scare away the critters, our
exclamations of dismay as we fell or bulldozed through
thorny toolie bushes sure
alerted wildlife of our approach. We came upon a State
Line and followed that
for a while, eventually running into our old trail. The
marked trees went straight
through a swamp, and the rain-soaked snow was rotten
enough that no snow bridges
were secure. Thank goodness I had recently waterproofed
my boots...
(which really means, when you break through snow into the
swamp and fill your
boots full of icewater, it doesn’t leak back out...)
We followed our old trail out
of the forest most of the way, then decided to veer off
and try to find a familiar
meadow with a nice downhill run at the end. We had to
cross a creek to do this,
and recent rain had swollen the little trickle to a
respectable size. Fortunately a
tree had fallen across the torrent, and it’s not
really all that hard to walk across
a small tree trunk with skis on. Yeah, right. We found
the meadow eventually, and
ended the trip with a nice little downhill run straight
into some blackberry canes.
All things considered, it was a wonderful journey, full
of laughter and good aerobic
exercise. Good adventures won’t come knocking at
your door as you watch game
shows on television; you have to go out and make them
happen.
Have you had an adventure lately ?
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 4, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
28
degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
I think
the January thaw is about to be over. The sunrise was
glorious,
but clouds have moved in and the wind is picking up. The
temperature has
dropped six degrees since I roamed around the yard
earlier, wallowing in the
spring-like feeling the morning presented with its calm
warmer air, birdsong,
and the fragrance of wet earth filling my nose. The
weathered wood of our
old barn glowed in the warm rays of dawn, and the whole
sky was filled with
the subtle blush of a fresh peach. The chilly wind has
dispelled any illusion
of thaw, and it is beginning to carry with it the fresh
cold smell of snow.
Yippee ! I love winter,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 3, 2004, 8:00 a.m.
38
degrees, breezy, sprinkles, fog
There is
so much fog this morning it is hard to see where the wet
sky ends and
slushy grey land begins. Blurry tree-forms seem to hang
suspended in mid-air.
The dog went nuts on his zipline as he scented something
intriguing to the west
and totally out of sight. Perhaps the roadkilled deer
that lost its life on Thursday
has started to ripen in the moderate temperature. Last
night’s rain showers have
really eaten away the snow cover, and hungry fog is
drawing sustenance from it
as well. We can hope that the January thaw will be brief
and snow is on the way.
Think snow !
Daisy
~
Friday, January 2, 2004, 8:45 a.m.
28
degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
Almost
an inch of new snow fell early this morning.
A few flurries still linger, but the wind has already
started to rearrange
the fluffy stuff. Our view of the valley is obscured by
fog or snow, it is
impossible to tell which from here. Rain is on the way
for a day or two,
then back into the heart of winter for all of next week.
Yesterday we skied
through the woods for several miles and saw all kinds of
nifty stuff. We
followed no trail, although for a while there were pieces
of blue or orange
tape attached to trees, ending in the middle of nowhere.
At the end of the
marked trail was a half-buried piece of farm equipment,
two pieces of angle
iron sticking up, festooned with a bow of blue tape. We
kept on heading west,
and had to ski around a huge pile of blowdowns, five or
six mature hardwood
trees uprooted by some rogue wind. We followed the yellow
painted marks that
indicate State Land boundaries, and expected to
eventually come upon a road
or snowmobile trail, but never saw or heard any signs of
humanity for the entire
three hours of the trip. We had no compass, no map, and
between us, no sense
of direction. We decided to keep going until 3:30, then
turn around and follow
our tracks back out. We saw scads of tracks (besides our
own), including what
may have been those of the lone wolf whose howls have
fascinated us since last
spring. Packs of coyote tracks followed rabbit trails,
and entire families of fairies
left their little footprints as they dashed between
hiding places. (Fairies? Well,
whenever I find tiny tracks I can’t identify, I
chalk them up to the wee folk...)
There were plenty of streams and creeks on our route, but
we managed to find
snow bridges across the water hazards. It was a wonderful
adventure,
and the weather and snow conditions were absolutely
perfect !
Explore your neighborhood with a friend; what memories
can you create ?
Have fun,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 1, 2004, 8:30 a.m.
25
degrees, breezy, overcast
A big
flock of birds went by the window a short time ago,
but I didn’t have my glasses on, so I have no idea
what they were.
They flew in big erratic swoops and dives, not like the
resident blackbirds
who tend to be as choreographed as a synchronized swim
team. I will keep my
eyes peeled as I travel the trails today, see if I can
find them. The cross country
skiing yesterday was outstanding, fast and furious in
windswept meadows, more
controlled in the woods. The inch of graupple that fell
Tuesday stayed put in
protected areas, and there were many critter tracks to be
seen. The usual tiny
squirrel and other rodent prints were all over the
forest, as well as one coyote trail
and a larger set of canine prints, probably the neighbor’s
rottweiler/lab cross. All
of the animals stayed on the surface of the snow except
for deer, who broke through
to soggy dirt with every step. Although there was
evidence of a real woodland party,
I didn’t see one single animal. I was pondering this
as I left the woods; "Where did
everyone go? Did they flee at the sound of my approach?
Are they concealed in the
trees and bushes like the find the hidden animal
puzzles on the back of cereal boxes ?"
As the voices in my head were discussing this, I saw a
small dark form scurry across
the meadow and disappear into a hole. It looked like a
mole; it left no tracks in the
frozen snow, and it tunneled far from the hole by the
time I got close enough to
poke around. As I put my skis in the barn, I saw many cat
tracks coming and going.
It was just about a year ago that we took in a half-frozen,
half-starved little
green-eyed white kitty who found a warm hidey hole in our
barn. She is curled up
on the armchair next to the dog. It is a pretty picture
for a new year,
natural adversaries lost in dreams together.
Peace,
Daisy
~
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