February 1
It may be invisible to the eye but the stirrings of spring are at work beneath the snow and ice on this cross-quarter day between the solstice and the equinox, (with groundhog day on the morrow). Just having three fewer days in a winter's month seems a gift worth savoring. January was a harsh one for us here on the pond. We wonder how the alewives who didn't emigrate have faired in the depths. The ice fishermen may have caught a few along with the hardier adults who call this pond their home. The geese and ducks and land birds minimize their activities as they struggle to endure and survive. An unusual visitor among them today, a Barnacle (or possibly Black) Goose. Meanwhile, the access road to the fishway is snowed in for both car and boot.
It may be invisible to the eye but the stirrings of spring are at work beneath the snow and ice on this cross-quarter day between the solstice and the equinox, (with groundhog day on the morrow). Just having three fewer days in a winter's month seems a gift worth savoring. January was a harsh one for us here on the pond. We wonder how the alewives who didn't emigrate have faired in the depths. The ice fishermen may have caught a few along with the hardier adults who call this pond their home. The geese and ducks and land birds minimize their activities as they struggle to endure and survive. An unusual visitor among them today, a Barnacle (or possibly Black) Goose. Meanwhile, the access road to the fishway is snowed in for both car and boot.
February 12
Winter hangs in the balance.
Winter hangs in the balance.
February 20
Winter holds on but spring is right around the corner. In just a month we can expect the first of the migrating herring to arrive in our waters. We have heard of plans behind the scenes for our Slough Pond fishway but nothing seems to be in the works as of yet. As we remain hopeful that spring is actually on its way, we hold onto a realistic hope for our humble yet vital passage to benefit from the attention it requires and deserves.
Yesterday was temperate enough for a walk along the stream, the snow melt making it passable though slippery. The water level is amazing with more to come from the melting snow. There were tracks in the snow of deer coming down to drink, a possible fisher cat, a rabbit, and coyotes, who can be heard at night howling mightily in the dark woods as their calls turn from survival to mating with spring's approach; as my Lakota friends say, mitakuye oyasin, all my relations.
The cryosphere- ice- has certainly had its sphere of cries this long winter, but still the turning year is a beautiful thing.
Winter holds on but spring is right around the corner. In just a month we can expect the first of the migrating herring to arrive in our waters. We have heard of plans behind the scenes for our Slough Pond fishway but nothing seems to be in the works as of yet. As we remain hopeful that spring is actually on its way, we hold onto a realistic hope for our humble yet vital passage to benefit from the attention it requires and deserves.
Yesterday was temperate enough for a walk along the stream, the snow melt making it passable though slippery. The water level is amazing with more to come from the melting snow. There were tracks in the snow of deer coming down to drink, a possible fisher cat, a rabbit, and coyotes, who can be heard at night howling mightily in the dark woods as their calls turn from survival to mating with spring's approach; as my Lakota friends say, mitakuye oyasin, all my relations.
The cryosphere- ice- has certainly had its sphere of cries this long winter, but still the turning year is a beautiful thing.
