~
Thursday,
January 31, 2008 8:30 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
What a beautiful morning to follow yesterday’s
exciting messy bluster.
Five inches of fluff is perched atop some of the hardest
ice I have ever
seen, and since it is buried it is all the more
treacherous. Walk carefully on
untreated surfaces. We keep old ski poles by every door,
and pretend we
are Nordic Trekking across the slippery yard; it is less
pathetic than admitting
a fear of falling and breaking a hip. Once as a younger
gal I slipped on the ice
and got a concussion; a friend who witnessed the event
told me my head bounced
like a basketball, one good rebound and two smaller ones.
Ouch. At any rate, ever
since then I have been extra careful when walking on ice.
Today’s snow is the kind
that captures sunbeams and radiates light back onto the
scene, a perfect cure for lin-
gering Seasonal Affective Disorder symptoms that some may
feel living at northern
latitudes. The front that ushered in this lovely
landscape was some of the wildest
weather I have seen here on Tug Hill. Seemingly out of
nowhere (although it was
in the forecast) the wind went rapidly from a gentle
breeze to a steady blow of 30
mph with gusts of 60. The temperature dropped from mid-thirties
to low teens in
the space of a couple of hours, and torrents of rain
changed to snow as we watch-
ed. The most violent part of the storm only lasted about
three hours, then the sun
came out and we saw some of the new snow rise hundreds of
feet into the air
above our meadows, dancing on the whirlwinds that rode
the tail of the front.
The whole event was very entertaining, and I feel like
one of the luckiest
folks on earth to have a front row seat for such great
free shows.
Enjoy your view,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 8:00 a.m.
29 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
We had a little gentle drizzle yesterday which
wasn’t nearly wet
enough to keep us from taking a nice long walk along the
plowed
road. Mist swirled everywhere so it was one of those
eyeglass-free
treks, where the view is made surreal by lack of visual
acuity. Every
meadow that flanks Gomer Hill road is cross-hatched with
snowmobile
tracks from the weekend traffic; posted signs make no
difference, and
even places that are fenced have been breached. We saw
several deer
trudging with great difficulty through deep gluey snow,
fooled by the snow-
mobile tracks which have degraded in the rain into a
surface as unstable as
the unbroken expanse of white. Streams opened up a little
as the temperature
climbed, and pools of icy water have formed in hollow
spots of our yard. Hard
rain fell off and on throughout the night; much of our
snow has been replaced by
slush and bulletproof ice. Rain turned into snow at about
7:30 this morning, and
the wind picked up from merely breezy to holy moley!
wicked windy. The temp-
erature has dropped from 35 to 29 since I arose, and we
are presently experiencing
what old-timers would call a bit of a blow. We
have stockpiled pails of water in case
power is interrupted, and will wait out this storm in the
safe comfort of our cozy home.
Cancel today’s appointments, I’m staying put !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 9:00 a.m.
36 degrees, calm, overcast, raining
Gentle rain falls on Tug Hill this morning, dimpling the
snow and
settling it down into a more durable layer. We are to
have rain all day,
maybe even a little thunder and lightning before it all
switches over to
snow. The changeover will likely be accompanied by high
winds, so
plan in advance for power outages if that is a regular
occurrence in
your neighborhood. This is the kind of weather that
builds up a good
long-lasting base for winter snow sports. We can’t
have perfect Dis-
ney snow every day, there has to be some glop to balance
the picture.
Yesterday we walked as far as Horsey Creek, and that
little stream is
nearly covered by snow. Today’s rain should open it
back up a bit.
The banks loom large over the thin trickle that moved so
slow as
to be gurgle-free. There are still scads of tracks
leading down
to it at the shallow end of the gorge, and until it ices
over
completely it is a popular spot for critters to have a
drink.
We take our own drinking water supply for granted;
imagine having to find it on your own when the
mercury drops below zero for days on end.
Drink up, and have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 28, 2008 9:00 a.m.
21 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
Relative calm has returned to our little piece of
paradise;
there has only been a dozen snowmobiles on the nearby
trail this morning.
Southbound traffic last night on routes 12 and 28 was a
steady stream of trucks
and trailers, two or three pairs of bright blue
headlights per truck hard on the eye-
sight of anyone traveling north. It seems that newer
models of all kinds of vehicles
have much brighter headlights than before; even the low
beams are blinding. I was
in the Cooperstown area for the weekend, which has very
little snow compared to
Tug Hill. We had a wonderful hike yesterday through a
mixed hardwood and hem-
lock forest, scrambling down the side of a gorge to have
a little picnic next to a
broad ice-rimmed stream. Every now and then a thick shelf
of ice would crack
and collapse into the water with a loud noise, which
never failed to startle us.
The water ran swift and there was a good amount of
melting fostered by the
warm sun of high noon. Snow remained in the shady spots
but my friends’
long driveway was down to dirt in a lot of places. We saw
many of the
same critter tracks as here on the Hill, coyotes, rabbits,
deer, and many
squirrels. A flash of red in a dogwood bush was a
strikingly handsome
male cardinal; I have never seen one of those in my
upstate neighbor-
hood. I had a great mini-vacation, but I am always happy
to return to
Gomer Hill and gaze out over the Black River Valley each
new morning.
Enjoy your view,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 27, 2008
I am currently at a friend’s house in another part
of the state,
hopefully eating toast... Back in town Monday. Enjoy your
day ! Daisy
"Toast" by Susan Deborah King, from The One-Breasted
Woman.
© Holy Cow! Press, 2007
It's worth getting up for.
Just at dawn, on a dead-of-winter walk,
I could smell it wafting from homes
all around the lake as they
emerged from the dark like loaves
from an oven, steaming.
Is there an aroma more divine
than that of bread warming, bread
browning, crisping for the spread
of butter and marmalade, the sprinkling
of sugared cinnamon? Whatever
terrors the night might harbor,
how bad can it get, if hot slices
stack our morning plate, the white
ones patterned with cobalt blue?
It's what in the current vernacular
we'll all eventually be: a pleasant
redolence rising and haloing
a roughed up, frozen expanse –
for such days, we make
not-too-burnt offerings of thanks;
we raise our glasses of juice.
~
Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:00 a.m.
20 degrees, calm, pre-dawn
What started as a gentle picturesque winter pastoral
scene yesterday
morning was soon turned into a maelstrom of whirling snow.
Strong winds
blew fat flakes right through the yard, molding a couple
of long pillowy drifts;
it is difficult to figure out any total amount of new
snow. For sure the yard needs
to be plowed, but really only in spots. There are two
local snowmobile races this
weekend, a three-day event in Boonville as well as a hill
climb tonight in Turin at
Snow Ridge. A steady stream of sleds began flying over
the trails up here after
lunch; it seemed as if the speed event had been taken out
of the fairgrounds
venue and onto Tug Hill. The procession was ongoing well
into the wee hours,
and many took a wrong turn and sped down Lyman Road,
which is supposed
to be off-limits. At 1:30 this morning a regular rodeo
took place at the corner
across from our barn, with sleds jumping from bank to
bank for a half hour or
more. It was probably either too dark or too drunk out to
see all the posted
signs. Sigh. Meanwhile, the sky is just beginning to
lighten up; it is hard to
tell whether it will be a sunny day, but the snow has
stopped falling for now
and all is finally quiet. Our three ravens are right
outside my window in one
of the smaller maple trees, their faithful gaze
reminding me that there are still
many beautiful and natural things to appreciate on Gomer
Hill in the intervals
between thoughtless and disruptive human invasions. Two
deer walking
slowly up the road echo the message: we are here,
business as usual.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 25, 2008 8:15 a.m.
12 degrees, calm, overcast, snowing
A fat finger of lake effect snow sits right over
Turin and surrounding
neighborhoods. Whereas Wednesday’s storm was
extremely localized,
this one appears to cover quite a bit more territory.
Snow is falling in a
dense mosey straight down, and visibility is limited
almost as if it were
fog instead of more solid precipitation. There was no
hint of this change
last night, when a bulbous orange gibbous waning moon
rose majestically
into a clear starry sky. It was too cold for the dog to
wander far from the
house, so I took a short walk on my own to admire the
crystal night, with
sparkling stars above and fresh-fallen snow glistening in
the moonlight that
pooled on the meadows. I listened for nightsongs of
coyote and owl, but
all I heard was the whine of snowmobiles near and far. I
turned around at
Horsey Creek after listening for its merry gurgle, but it
is buried under so
much snow the flow is effectively soundproofed, if indeed
it is not frozen
by now. I haven’t been cross-country skiing in the
woods since we got
all this new snow, but I imagine there are snow bridges
galore over
creeks and connecting the swampy spots. My schedule for
the next
few days does not allow for much outdoor exploration, but
maybe
that is a good thing; it will give this snow a chance to
settle a bit
so that it won’t be too hard to break trail when I
finally do get
back on the sticks. Meanwhile, this lovely snow seems to
be letting up; I can almost see the neighbor’s house.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:00 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, hazy sunshine, flurries
A winter wonderland greeted us first thing in the morning;
at least a foot of new fluffy snow softens the contours
of Gomer
Hill, and big flakes drift slowly down uninterrupted by
any hint of
breeze. Yesterday’s lake effect band seemed to hover
directly over
our house, releasing its load during a few hours of
blustery whiteout.
All is calm this morning, and snow is piled onto every
branch, twig,
and clothesline; even the beanpoles have a tiny column of
snow
perched atop each one. I am sure that the first gust of
wind
will topple the fairyland that graces our view soon
enough,
so I will drink it all in over a second cup o’ joe.
Our
appreciation for the seasons is only deepened by the
constant change our unpredictable weather offers.
Enjoy your view,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 8:30 a.m.
15 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy, snowing
Snow whips past the window at 30 mph, collecting fluff
from the
high banks to add to the melee on the way. We are under a
winter storm
warning until 9:00 tonight, and it appears that this time
the weather pundits
may be correct. I had plans to travel to the city today,
but have rearranged
the schedule for Friday, which appears to be a little
more driver-friendly. Last
night’s trip home from work was slow but steady. The
wind hadn’t yet picked
up but snow fell heavily, and the town plows were
elsewhere; I drove at 40 and
kept my eyes peeled for other cars and wandering critters.
When I got to our road,
it looked like it had been plowed by a pickup truck, with
a narrow swath cut through
six inches of snow. About halfway up the hill, the path
turned into the yard of a season-
al camp, where said pickup truck was parked. Nice job...
left a great ridge of snow
that my AWD blasted right through, but a lesser vehicle
would have been spun right
around and ditched. Good snow tires helped with the final
half mile climb to home,
where I believe I will stay parked until tomorrow. If the
wind dies down today
it will be interesting to head into the woods to see
what’s new; otherwise,
I will enjoy being indoors by the fire catching up with
my reading.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 9:00 a.m.
15 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
We have a beautiful morning underway on Gomer Hill,
with the sun streaming down between layers of shifting
clouds,
a soft curtain of silvery beams flowing like a broad
frothy water-
fall. Deer tracks are everywhere, in the garden and
circling the three
evergreens by the rose hedge, like some fox-and-geese
circle tramped
out by children in the snow. We can see many scrapes in
the meadow
where they were looking for food under the snow. Oddly,
there is a row
of dillweed that has gone untouched by critters since it
flowered in July.
Perhaps that is something we should interplant among the
broccoli and
spinach next spring to deter deer from munching those
crops. Yesterday’s
flurries didn’t amount to much, but the snow we
received on Sunday made
for excellent downhill skiing at Snow Ridge Ski Area,
some of the finest
so far this season. There was a good crowd, with many
students taking
advantage of the school holiday to get out and hone their
snowboarding
and skiing skills. Back to business as usual today; after
a long week-
end everybody looks forward to a slightly shorter work
week.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 21, 2008 8:00 a.m.
6 degrees, calm, partly sunny, flurries
The sun was a blurry orange ball sequestered behind high
clouds
after it made its first appearance this morning, and it
slowly shrank to
nothing as heavier clouds filled in from the southwest.
It disappeared like
the old-fashioned way of changing scenes in the
flickering documentaries
about sea life they used to show in a 1950’s
elementary school science
class, a gentle closing of the iris lens until the
jellyfish was gone from the
camera’s view. More snow is in the forecast for
today; yesterday’s amount
was well shy of the two feet that had been promised, but
the eight inches we
did get will certainly improve the quality of winter
sports for today. The current
Nexrad radar readout shows a lake effect band moving
close to Turin; it looks
like we will be on the northern edge of that action. The
southwestern direction
of the morning wind indicates that the whole magilla may
drift our way and hit
us squarely with the brunt of the snowfall, as it did for
a brief period yesterday
before moseying off to the south. During the peak of
yesterday’s storm I finally
undecorated our holiday tree. The whole house filled with
the fragrance of bal-
sam fir, a whiff of deep forest while the snow swirled
outside. I wrapped the
tree in a tarp and whacked it for a few minutes with a
piece of kindling so it
would release its loose needles; they were captured for
future use as fill in
fragrant little pillows. I then snipped a few pailsfull
of small branchlets,
helpful in starting morning fires in the wood range. The
sweet smoke
will accompany me and the dog as we make our little trip
around the
yard first thing in the day. Olfactory memories elicit
the strongest res-
ponse in our mental way-back machines, and when I smell
any sap-laden
softwood it takes me back to girlhood, and the park where
we used to ice
skate. There was a barrel stove in a warming hut;
construction scrapwood
was the main fuel, spruce and pine and fir, rich with
oils that snapped and
crackled as they released spicy smoke into the chilly air
over the pond.
That was my only experience with wood heat until we
bought this drafty
old farmhouse. Even before we insulated it and snugged up
the windows
and doors, we kept this place toasty with wood, and the
fragrances
of the different kinds of fuel we burn have no doubt
become
part of the smell-track of our own children’s lives.
What aromas take you back in time ?
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 20, 2008 9:00 a.m.
2 degrees, breezy, sunny
Our overnight low temp was minus five, and although it is
slowly
warming up from the sun, it is unlikely we will make it
into double
digits today. We picked up about four inches of beautiful
fluffy snow
yesterday afternoon, and then clear skies moved in just
in time for a
beautiful sunset. Snowmobiles have found their way back
to Tug Hill,
so the soundtrack for yesterday’s outdoor activities
was a constant whine
of engines accompanied by the afterwhiff of exhaust fumes
drifting along with
the breeze. I didn’t wander too far from home, as my
cell phone is on the fritz
and I am uneasy skiing alone without it. Sure, I leave a
note on the counter with
information including my route and what time I expect to
be home, but there are
ways to get into trouble that are unexpected. Years ago I
was skiing on the state
trails, having entered them via the pine plantation up
the road a mile or so. The
snow warmed up so much during the course of my journey
that it stuck to my
skis with every stride, so I ended up walking the last
three miles of the trip with
about five pounds of snow stuck to the bottom of each ski.
As fast as I would
scrape the sticky wads off, packy snow
would regroup right under my feet.
Walking without skis was out of the question, as I sunk
into the deep snow
to hip level with every third step. I was still more
than a mile away from
home as the sun set; I had seen cougar tracks earlier in
the day, so dark-
ness was not a good thing. By the time my husband had
returned from his
day’s work, it was fully dark and he knew something
had gone amiss, as I
said I would be home by 5 and it was 6 when he read my
note. He drove to
the trailhead, and was on his way in on his own skis with
a headlamp to light
the way, when he heard a horrible and indefinable noise.
He picked up his pace,
and saw the dim glow of my own flashlight duct-taped to
my headband. The un-
earthly howl he had heard was me, singing faux opera at
the top of my voice to
scare away nocturnal predatory beasts. I banked on the
fact that a cougar or
wolf wouldn’t want anything to do with a crazy woman.
Since then I bought
a cell phone, mostly to use when I am off alone on some
adventure, in case
I need to summon help. I also carry a pack with water,
food, flashlight,
duct tape, lighter and firestarting material, a space
blanket, and a whistle.
As the girl scouts say, be prepared.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 19, 2008
8:00 a.m.
18 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
A few friendly flurries aren’t keeping the birds
from gathering
in the roadway; there are five crows and many pine
grosbeaks,
with a few bluejays popping in occasionally. A downy
woodpecker
is working on the aspen tree outside my window; odd that
he is alone,
as there has been a five-pack in the neighborhood all
winter. Yesterday
was too stormy to venture outdoors for fun, not even to
carry compost to
the barrel (that’s what passes for fun around here);
we registered a few gusts
of 52 mph on our anemometer, and although it wasn’t
all that cold, it was nearly
impossible to complete a full breath cycle in the teeth
of the wind. I had some
morning appointments in Boonville, and blindly navigated
through many white-
outs with snow piling up inches deep on the road. The
wind kept trying to blow
my car sideways, and I drive a sturdy AWD sedan; I
can’t imagine trying to keep
a little compact on the road in such a gale. It is hard
to measure how much snow
fell yesterday, but I would guess about four inches.
Things have calmed down
considerably this morning, although conditions may return
to stormy later in
the day, with lake effect snow building over both lakes,
Erie and Ontario.
Bring it on !
Daisy
~
Friday, January 18, 2008 7:30 a.m.
31 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
Snow is falling, fine granules that may have six sides
but
they are so tiny it is hard to make them out. The west
wind
sweeps them sideways across our view, which is somewhat
limited due to the intensity of precipitation. Since the
tempera-
ture is so warm, one would think that this snowfall would
be wet
and sticky, but it is easily parted with our bots and
plowed like a
dream. Sometimes it rolls up just like play-doh, but not
today. In
the time it has taken me to write the above few sentences,
the wind
has picked up considerably, blowing steady at 20 with
gusts up to
34. I can see some clear skies here and there through the
snow, so
maybe this is the front that is ushering in the
weekend’s deep-freeze.
Dress for change,
not for fashion,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 17, 2008 8:00 a.m.
25 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
The sun peeked through the cloud strata for about ten
minutes
after dawn before tucking itself behind the topmost layer
where it
currently shines like a big silver marble, with soft rays
leaking through
dark gray vapor. Ballooning sinus cavities portend a
weather change
with more accuracy than any meteorologist, and I reckon
there will
be snow before suppertime, maybe plenty of it. Yesterday
was a
beautiful day, and we took a long walk up the plowed road
in the
afternoon. The sun was bright but a northwest breeze made
me glad
my hat covered my ears. Most of the Hill is snowcovered,
but plenty
of standing water left behind by last week’s
rainfall has not yet frozen.
We saw a set of large dog tracks emerging from the pine
plantation
and heading across a cornfield-stubble field, bigger than
a labrador
retriever’s, perhaps a feral dog or maybe even a
wolf. It has been a
while since I heard that lonesome howl, but there have
been recent
sightings by snowmobilers and hunters. Deer tracks were
absolutely
everywhere, and we saw a total of nine deer grazing,
three pairs and
one trio, who all bounded away at our approach, white
tails held high
and easily navigating in the snow. Only wildlife has been
on the snow-
mobile trails lately, as I believe the connecting trails
in the lowlands are
closed due to lack of snow. Yesterday Gomer Hill was
flooded with peace
and quiet, and walking under the blue of a fine winter
sky is one of Mother
Nature’s best tonics. If you experience symptoms of
stress in your life, get
out and walk it off; better than any pill, guaranteed or
your money back !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 8:30 a.m.
15 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Sunrise was spectacular this morning, with a true red sun
appearing beneath a layer of flaming clouds. It was short-lived,
and now the underbelly of the same eastern clouds shines
silver while
the bulk of them looms large, rippled with shades of grey.
Blue sky trails
behind, and a sunny day is definitely on the way. Clouds
to the west retain
some of dawn’s rosy gleam, and the overall view is
varied and very wintry.
Snow fell until early afternoon yesterday, and we now
have a grand total
of about nine inches of new powder atop the old crust.
This is the most
normal January we have had for several years, with a
brief thaw and
return to winter’s glory occurring right on schedule.
One can hope
that the other seasons will return to more typical
conditions as well.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 15, 2008 9:00 a.m.
20 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
The difference a few hundred feet of altitude can make in
weather
was obvious when I left Gomer Hill yesterday afternoon to go
to work.
Our yard had five inches of new snow piled up, a uniform
white coverlet
of fluff. The road was snow-covered as well, as the plow
hadn’t been up
since before dawn. By the time I reached the curve in the
road about three
hundred yards from home, the roads were bare and
neighbors hadn’t bother-
ed to clear their driveways of such a pittance. The
parking lot in Boonville had
a scant two inches of heavy sticky snow that readily
packed into my bootsoles.
A couple more inches of fluff have fallen overnight, and
there is now a respect-
able amount in the fields and forests, although not
enough to completely cover
the taller of the dried wildflowers that still festoon
the meadows. The pale sky
has been slowly brightening, and I believe we may be in
for more sun later
in the morning. Yesterday we noticed a few very early
pussy willows in
the ditch next to the Smith Road, so I tucked a sprig in
my hatband as
a harbinger of longer days. Already we notice slightly
extended after-
noons in which to explore the beauty of Tug Hill, and we
are gaining
almost two minutes of light a day. Remember that fact
this week-
end, when we are once again plunged into the deep freeze.
Have an excellent day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 14, 2008 8:00 a.m.
27 degrees. breezy, overcast, flurries
Two inches of snow arrived overnight and has
certainly brightened
up the landscape. The grimy banks and muddy patches are
all now
uniformly clean and white, with more fine flakes sifting
down through
the breeze, barely shifting in their earthward paths, so
it must be fairly
dense and wet. This is perfect, as the new snow will bind
to the icy
boilerplate that formed after last week’s rain. We
walked for miles
along the snowmobile trail yesterday; it had softened up
nicely in the
warm sunlight, and a four wheeler had been over and that
helped break
up the crust as well. A thin layer of grauple had
accumulated over much
of the trail, and we could see the tracks of many large
animals that had
wandered across the trail. We saw one large deer on a
meadow hillside;
it watched us pass, then bounded off into a spruce
plantation, easily stay-
ing on top of what snow there was. There were tons of
deer troughs worn
into the snow on both sides of the road, with fresh
hoofprints wandering all
over the actual trail. Coyote tracks were everywhere, but
not a whole pack,
just one or two. There are either a whole lot of single
dogs in the area, or one
very busy one. Our own dogs had a field day, sniffing
every square inch of trail
as they trotted happily along. We heard ravens before we
saw them, and then
they teased us with a brief appearance before
disappearing into an old, uncut
part of the forest. Five downy woodpeckers followed us
for a little while as
we made our way back to the house, attracting our
attention with their fun-
ny swooping roller-coaster flight patterns done in
absolute silence. Pine
grosbeaks awaited us in the yard, scattering at the
dog’s approach.
It was a fine walk, and fitting for the last day of the
thaw to tuck
it away into our memory banks. With more snow in the
forecast
and a return to colder temperatures, winter seems to be
back.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 13, 2008 9:00 a.m.
28 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
The valley is hidden by a broad flat mist, so you
flatlanders will
just have to believe it when I say how wonderful the sun
feels on
this chilly morning. We have continued to enjoy walking
instead of
skiing, better to light a candle than curse the
darkness , in this
case making the most of the January thaw and letting the
skis take
a little vacation. Yesterday we headed to the snowmobile
trail again,
and where we had hiked on Thursday has turned into a
gigantic stretch
of ice, clear as any that comes out of the home freezer
and twice as hard.
There was no way we will venture onto that stretch of
road, either on foot
or skis, until it either softens or more snow covers the
slick surface. Friday
night some snowmobiles were running all over the Hill,
and I had to laugh
at one set of tracks that followed the ditch next to the
road and disappear-
ed into a deep slushy hole that is directly next to one
of the major drainage
pipes on the road. Now that must have been
surprising! Here’s the deal:
If the trails are in such poor shape that you can’t
ride on them, stay home.
Don’t imagine that you will find some kind of great
alternative trail; you
may be running down some tree seedlings, churning up
farmer’s new
hay seeding, or disappearing into some hidden seep or
ditch that only
needs one rider to collapse the camouflaging snowcover.
In many cases,
it seems as if some of you may be strapping your helmet
on too tight and
decreasing the blood flow to your brain. (You know who
you are...) Mean-
while, it looks as if today’s sun and lack of wind
will afford another oppor-
tunity for some good walking with the dog and friends
with dogs;
snow is on the way tonight, thaw over !
Have a geat Sunday !
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 12, 2008 8:00 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
Yesterday’s rain has taken much of the snowcover
away from Tug Hill,
and the meadows are full of deer grazing on this
unexpected midwinter
snack bar. I counted thirteen in the back field, and can
see several more
across the road, partly obscured by the trees that line
the drainage channel.
If I hadn’t just hung a 2008 calendar I might be
fooled into thinking it is spring.
We noticed that the parking lot wasn’t entirely dark
as we left work Thursday
at 5:00, and my drive home was done in twilight rather
than pitch blackness.
We gain about a minute and a half of daily light at this
time of year, and it ac-
cumulates quickly. Meanwhile, some critter has moved into
the walls near
our master bedroom, and is apparently nocturnal; the
skittering and gnawing
noises are not conducive to a good night’s rest. An
old farmhouse has many
entry points for small beasts, and any animal control
officer will tell you that
the size of the critter often has nothing to do with the
amount of noise it
makes when confined in a six inch wall space. It sounds
like a herd of
tasmanian devils, but could likely be only a chipmunk.
We’ll set up a
live trap on the roof and see what we get. That’s
pretty much the
weather situation these days as well; wait, and see what
we get.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 11, 2008 9:00 a.m.
36 degrees, breezy, raining
Steady hard rain is washing away ice that accumulated on
trees and wires overnight. We lost power at 2:30 a.m. and
it
just came back; I am always amazed how quickly it is
restored
up here on the edge of nowhere. We had to grind our
coffee in a
hand-mill from two centuries ago, and enjoyed breakfast
by lamplight.
If only this rain were all snow! A deer is in the side
garden, pulling up
the remains of cabbages and broccoli plants. Two crows
supervise
from a nearby maple tree, silent and watchful, probably
waiting for
some recycled vegetables. Yesterday was a jewel of a
January day,
not as warm as Tuesday but a good day for drying laundry
and putter-
ing around the yard. Snowdrops are poking through the
ground by the
house, not unusual for a January thaw. The streams are
filled to over-
flowing on Gomer hill; Horsey Creek runs swift and clear,
and has
undermined the remaining cornices of snow to clear the
west bank
right back to shale. It was pleasant to walk the back
roads without
hearing or smelling any snowmobiles. The trails are a
soggy muddy
mess, and we didn’t get too far before the slush
became too deep
to walk through. This rain is expected to morph into snow
later to-
night, and continue throughout the weekend. With the
intensity
of today’s rainfall picking up as the morning wears
on,
there may be significant flooding in low-lying areas. Get
out your wellies and keep the sump-pump standing by.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 10, 2008 9:00 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
What snow is left in the yard is shiny with ice and
littered with twigs
and branches that came down in the high wind yesterday.
We never got
any thunderstorm activity, but the wind was ferocious, a
steady blow of 30mph
with gusts of 60 to 70 throughout the day. A few
raindrops swept over the Hill
early, and then grauple and snow flew past so fast it
looked like ribbons in the air.
It was so windy that nothing settled on the ground;
somewhere to the east of here
there must be a mighty big pile of grauple hung up on
somebody’s picket fence.
Meanwhile, the weatherfolks have cried WOLF ! so
many times lately that I
have stopped paying attention. The worst storms (like
microbursts) seem to
occur randomly anyway. When I lived in the midwest, we
would hear that
conditions might favor a tornado, and then we would keep
our eyes on the
sky, and look for the signs ourselves. The sickly yellow
tinge to the sky, and
a period of dead calm where you could taste prairie dust
in the back of your
throat, well, we didn’t need a weather man to tell
us that something was about
to blow in. (Bob Dylan stole that line from me, by the
way*.) That system work-
ed well then, and it still works for me. Good old eye-witness
weather. I wit-
ness that it is sunny and not too windy, so I will hang
some laundry out today.
If I witness rain falling, I will bring the laundry
inside. Pretty tricky, eh ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
*http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/subterranean.html
~
Wednesday, January 9, 2008 7:00 a.m.
49 degrees, windy, raining
The local morning news was interrupted at 6:35 by the
national
weather service, warning us of a severe (end of the world!)
thunder-
storm moving our way that was supposed to be here by now.
Hrumph !
I will believe it when I see it. The heavy rain that
began early this morning
is sure to take away a lot more snow from Tug Hill; when
I went to Boon-
ville yesterday I noticed more bare spots had shown up in
one day’s time,
and saw two flocks of turkeys on the flats taking
advantage of the open
spaces to forage. Sugar River was a mighty flow,
obscuring the rocky
bottom and churning along in a muddy froth. I would
expect some
flooding in the valleys to occur today, and have filled
buckets with
water in case we lose power. Right now, at 7:10, just
rain, no big.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 8, 2008 8:30 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Visions of springtime dance in my head this morning, with
the yard
all mud-squishy and a flock of pine grosbeaks twittering
away in the
spruce trees. We may have a record-breaking high
temperature if it
climbs to 60 degrees as predicted. The warmer weather has
brought
mosquitoes out of their hiding spots, and last
night’s sleep was inter-
rupted several times by their annoying buzz. Several bare
patches
have appeared in our snowy meadows, and deer have been
brow-
sing on succulent crowns and old weedy bits. Friends
called from
Colorado last night to report that there has been too
much snow for
the ski areas to handle, and they are all closed for now.
We will return
to snow in our neck of the woods Wednesday, with more on
the way
for the weekend. Here’s a heads-up for Snow Ridge
Ski Area patrons;
this weekend there will be limited skiing, as the Rock
Maple Snowmobile
Races will be using most of the venue. It might be a good
idea to try out
one of the other nearby ski hills for a change, like
McCauley Mountain in
Old Forge or Woods Valley in Rome. Better yet, visit the
BREIA warm-
ing hut by the Big M Plaza in Boonville, borrow some
cross country equip-
ment for free, and give that sport a try on the groomed
flat trails by the canal.
We have been taking lots of walks during the past few
days, making the
most of the milder temperatures to take a break from more
traditional
winter sports to give our legs (and our dogs) a good
stretch. You’ve
gotta love the weather on Tug Hill: something for
everyone !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 7, 2008 8:00 a.m.
45 degrees, breezy, fog, rain
The combination of rising temperatures and rain will
certainly
take its toll on our snowpack, but it is the fog that
eats up snow
faster than anything. I don’t know if the fog is the
result of snow
evaporating into the warm air, or if it is the other way
around, but
our banks have shrunk considerably. Thick mist drifts
across the
meadows , connecting earth to sky in shades of silvery-grey,
far
prettier than the mess at the side of the road, all lumpy
and sandy-
brown. The yard is once again a sheet of ice, with the
sand washed
away and only a little bit of cushioning slush on top. We
keep old ski
poles by every doorway, to help cross the treacherous
surface and try
to keep any slippery surprises from happening. Hopefully
the ice will
melt away during the course of this January thaw, and by
Wednes-
day when snow returns we will have a more user-friendly
yard,
ready to receive a fresh white coat.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 6, 2008 8:15 a.m.
35 degrees, breezy, overcast
It seems spring-like outdoors this morning; I think the
smell of
wet sand on the road plays a key role in that deception.
Deer have
been drifting across the meadows looking for bare patches
in the snow
and finding none. They have pawed their way down through
the icy layers
to uncover cabbages left in the garden, and are whittling
away at them as
fast as they thaw. I keep looking for turkeys and
haven’t seen so much
as one track; where there were dozens in the fall, there
are none now.
We walked up Gomer Hill Road quite a way yesterday, and
saw some
deer trails but no turkey sign at all. In years past, we
have seen them for-
aging across fields where farmers spread manure, gleaning
whole grain from
the waste. I wonder where they are hiding ? I have seen
many small rodents
scurrying across the surface of the snow, moving away
from the house and
towards the hedges around the garden. I think the word is
out; venture in-
doors and get eaten by a cat. There have been several
body parts left on
the kitchen floor for our admiration during the past few
weeks, largely
unidentifiable but clearly unpalatable. Even the dog
won’t eat them,
and I have seen him gobble up some nasty orts. We have a
fairly nice
morning going on right now, best to go outdoors before
the rain starts.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 5, 2008 8:00 a.m.
22 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Sunrise a half hour ago gave us a bright and colorful
start
to a day full of change; temperatures will warm right up,
and
it is possible a little rain may creep into the picture.
Our dog has
been eager to get out for a long walk, and the next few
days will
be warm enough to wear him out and satisfy his love of
sniffing,
exploring the nooks and crannies of snow that hold onto
scents
so well. A big dog has been through our yard a few times,
leav-
ing meandering tracks and dropping huge amounts of scat,
so
I have to keep our little guy on a leash all the time
outdoors now,
lest he take off in pursuit of the interloper who has
sullied his turf.
We still have a barn cat that visits once in a while as
well; better to
reign in the dog rather than have him dash out into the
path of on-
coming traffic as he follows his nose. Even here in the
country
with all of our wide open spaces there are perils for
small
domestic critters, so it is best to keep catsindoors at
night
and watch over your dogs, no matter what their size.
Have a doggone good day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 4, 2008 9:30 a.m.
12 degrees, calm, overcast
Yikes ! What a cold night !
I decided to check out the meteor shower
at ten below zero, and was glad I did. I arrived
home from a meeting at 9:30 and took a little stroll
around; I was rewarded by the sight of three fine meteors
streaking lazily across the sky within the space of two
minutes.
They were right in the area of Orion’s belt; he was
particularly
visible last night in the clear starry sky. Orion,. the
mighty hunter,
is one of the few constellations I recognize, and I feel
like he has
been my personal protector since a girl scout camp
counselor first
pointed him out to me at the age of eight. Never
underestimate the
influence you have on a child; I would love to find this
woman and
thank her for opening my eyes to the natural world around
me. (Bunny,
are you out there somewhere?) I grew up in a cozy
neighborhood next
to a large midwestern city, so my only glimpses of any
heavenly bodies
were during two weeks at camp every year, when the sky
was laid bare,
free from the harsh lights of commerce. I crammed all of
the stargazing,
birdwatching, and berry picking I could into twelve days
every summer,
eventually working my way up to being a junior counselor
and staying
for a whole month. I’ve lived a lot of places,
including the mountains
of Vermont and a quaint Massachusetts town, but the best
place for
immersing myself in Mother Nature’s gifts has been
right here on Tug
Hill. Montana may be official Big Sky Country, but I
challenge any
westerner to perch on the edge of this beautiful plateau
and try to
keep their jaw from dropping as a gasp of appreciation
sighs out;
our view is awe-some. Even on a sunless day such as this,
there is a grandeur to the way the sky blends into the
snow,
all shades of grey but vast and wonder-full nonetheless.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 3, 2008
8:30 a.m.
- 5 degrees, mostly sunny, calm
For now, the big news is simply the temperature.
Yesterday it was all
about the windchill, with ambient temps falling to zero
and wind gusts up
to 30 mph. When the wind finally died down after lunch,
it actually wasn’t
too uncomfortable outdoors. The sun bouncing around on
all the new snow
made it feel much warmer than it actually was. I always
wonder what folks
do that don’t have wood heat on such a raw day. Last
night was bitter out-
side, but our house was so toasty from two stoves going
that I actually slept
with my window open a bit. We are careful to clean the
chimneys and pipes
before a cold snap arrives; I hate to hear the fire siren
in the dead of winter,
as it usually signals a chimney blaze that has gone out
of control. One of our
chimneys is in the interior of the house, and that one
hardly ever has creosote
or soot built up, but we clean it anyway. Better safe
than sorry. Tonight there
will be a meteor shower, the annual Quadrantid. In our
neck of the woods,
the best viewing time will be from 9:00 to 2:00. which is
before moonrise,
and as the sky is supposed to be clear, get out and take
a peek.
This one even happens before bedtime !
Keep looking up,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 2, 2008 8:30 a.m.
2 degrees, windy, partly sunny, flurries
It is raw and windy out there this morning, but beautiful
nonetheless.
I am happy to watch the snow-devils dance from bank to
bank from the
warmth of our living room. Over a foot of snow fell
yesterday and the wind
is rearranging it into ripples, mounds, and sharp
cornices all across the meadows.
Windchills range from –20 to –35 degrees on our
home weather station. Unfortunately,
part of the day must be spent atop a cabless tractor,
blowing snow from the yard that
our plowtruck couldn’t handle last night. Ice that
underlies every bit of new snow spun
the truck right around as I tried to push the snow down
to the growing banks at the
edge of the yard. I gave up plowing anything on a hill
and left big piles here and
there, at least clearing the way from the garage to the
road. Meanwhile, skiing
yesterday was dreamy, almost literally. I had to put my
glasses in my coat
pocket, as they were caked with blowing snow almost from
the first stride.
My vision is poor, and I could make out shapes but forget
about the details.
I stuck to the snowmobile trail, and constantly falling
snow added some drag
to the glide, but it was wonderful to be outdoors on such
a fine winter day.
There are two days of the season that I can ski on the
nearby snowmobile
trail: New Year’s Day and Superbowl Sunday. Both
occasions see most
riders safely indoors with their nachos and dip and
pigskin classics. Indeed,
I only had to give way to sledders three times all
afternoon. When the
snow settles a bit and I can rustle up a posse to help
break trail,
we will head into the forest to see what’s new.
Stay warm !
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 1, 2008 8:30 a.m.
28 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
We awoke to snow, tiny flakes blowing in from the east,
the kind
that tend to pile up quickly. We often have a day full of
big fluffy stuff
that never amounts to anything; in the world of snow, at
least, size does
matter. These little flakes form a bond and stay put, and
since they started
to arrive at about 5:00 a.m., four inches of clean white
snow blankets our view,
and it is very pretty. The air is so full of flurry that
I can’t see the neighbor’s house;
headlights appear out of nowhere from time to time, but
traffic has been light. I guess
folks are sleeping in after a night of parties. I had to
make a minor repair to a ski yes-
terday; hopefully the glue is dry and I will be able to
take to the woods today. The air
indoors is fragrant with balsam from our holiday tree,
which continues to suck up as
much water as we give it; the needles are holding fast,
and I think we will keep it
around for a while even after the lights and ornaments
come off, just for the whiff.
Happy new year, everyone !
Daisy
~
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