~
Monday, January 31, 2005 8:00 a.m.
20 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
This is a truly beautiful winter morning. It’s not
too cold, not windy at all, and the sun
definitely has a warmth to it feels like spring rather
than winter. Early morning is a good
time to get your daily dose of vitamin D. This important
nutrient is necessary for calcium
to be properly converted to bone mass, and will not be
absorbed through sunscreen. Only
ten minutes of exposure is needed, and early morning or
late day sun does not have a high
risk of contributing to the development of skin cancer.
Soaking up a little sun first thing in
the morning is a good way to start any day, hanging out
on the back step listening to birds
and watching the pets chase each other around the yard in
a mad frolic. It feels warmer
than twenty degrees; we are in for a nice week, so make
some plans to enjoy being
outdoors. Take a little walk during your lunch break, or
enjoy your morning
beverage from the comfort of a lawn chair first thing
today.
Outdoor furniture: It’s not just for summer any more.
Have a lovely day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 30, 2005 8:30 a.m.
15 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
Pastel colors still linger at the edges of clouds,
leftover from today’s beautiful multi-
colored sunrise. Pale blue and creamsicle orange paint
the view above while the snow
below reflects the same with a dollop of extra dazzle. We
took a walk up Gomer Hill
Road yesterday, pausing often for the traffic generated
by weekend visitors. It was a
fine warm afternoon, and it had been two weeks since our
dog last ventured out for
any but the most necessary personal chores. He was full
of the day, running up and
down snowbanks to inhale various irresistible aromas, eau
de deer being prominent
around their scampering tracks. We are due for more
moderate temperatures during
the coming week, which is good news for all of our four-legged
friends. It seems they
are content to doze the day away by the stove during sub-arctic
freezes, but on a morn-
ing like this they are raring to go, all wags and wiggles
and hopeful glances. I believe I will
put on snowshoes and squash down a trail in the meadow
for my furry buddies. Blackbirds
once again adorn the maple tree after a long absence,
singing their hearts out in appreciation
of a fine sunny day. Get out and sing a few merry tunes
yourself; it is good to raise
your voice from time to time, even if there is no one to
hear but you and your dog.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 29, 2005 7:00 a.m.
6 degrees, breezy, sunny
The sun is not yet up but soon will be shining in a
cloudless sky. A waning moon sits
lopsided in the western sky and will share the sky with
the sun for an hour or two be-
fore disappearing from view. It is a cold morning, but
not nearly as cold as it has been.
Yesterday we bundled up and went into an old pine
plantation on skis. The snow was
deeper than I thought, knee deep in some places, but
fluffy and not too hard to manage.
It was very quiet in the forest and there were not too
many tracks, just some old deer
trails that had been filled in by the last storm. The
small pond is frozen and snowcovered
and most of the pokey bramble bushes are somewhat tamed
by winter’s icy touch. The
sky was deep blue and every bit of snowy ground twinkled
like stars in the cold sunlight.
We didn’t feel the cold at all as long as we kept
moving. It was a grand day to be
outdoors, as is any day spent in the company of friends.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 28, 2005 8:30 a.m.
-10 degrees, calm, sunny
Yesterday’s frost disappeared so completely into the
dry cold air that it is as if it
never existed at all. As if to make up for it, the
meadows are ablaze with rainbow
reflections in the bright morning sunshine. For some
reason, snow sparkles much
more intensely on a cold day than on a warm one. The
colors show up better with
sunglasses on, but either way today’s view is
breathtaking. There has been much
to appreciate these past two days, from evening’s
moonrise and Orion’s grandiose
presence straight overhead to the gorgeous multihued
colors of the dawn slowly
bringing life to the land. Everywhere I went yesterday,
people were grumbling
about the cold, complaining and griping, seeing only one
aspect of the day.
Temperature is just one facet of Old Man Winter’s
offerings; take time to absorb
all that’s around you. If all you feel is the cold,
you are not yet fully awake.
Wake up,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 27, 2005 8:30 a.m.
-10 degrees, breezy, sunny
A light covering of hoarfrost has transformed trees and
shrubs into decorative
pieces worthy of any holiday; even though this is just an
ordinary day it certainly
looks festive. Every tiny twig is ensconced in a shimmer
of icy crystals, each one
reflecting unsullied sunbeams a hundredfold. When viewed
close up, there is an
ever-changing configuration of rainbow colors and rich
glimmer. From afar, the
tree tops exude a bright lively aura that is only
slightly paler than the blue of the
sky before blending in, making trees and sky seem to be
one entity. Are the
treetrunks holding up the sky, or is the sky securing the
trees to Mother Earth ?
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 26, 2005 8:30 a.m.
6 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
So far the snow is knee-deep to a rattdog; about three
inches of soft fluffy stuff
fell last night. It is coming down pretty good now, and
we could see another three
inches or so before this flurry blows over. Schools to
the south of here are closed;
looks like we got robbed. A gentle breeze is causing fat
flakes to fly helter-skelter
in every direction, to all points of the compass as well
as up and down. Even though
the temperature is above zero, high humidity makes this
morning air damp and bone-
chillingly cold. I’ll bet all kinds of skiing will
be excellent today, and exertion should
chase away the chill in short order. Take care to check
landmarks often if you ven-
ture into the backcountry, as your tracks may fill in
quickly and it will be easy to
become disoriented. Leaving a trail of breadcrumbs
probably won’t work either...
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 7:00 a.m.
2 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
A little more snow fell overnight but the big news is the
heat wave !
It is actually warming up a little bit, and
yesterday’s high was all the way
into double digits at 12 above zero. Today is Robert
Burns’ Day, a national
holiday in Scotland to celebrate the life of the poet.
Burns’ Night revels are
a continuation of the ancient feast day of Disting which
honors the Norse
guardian goddesses known as the Disir. As often happens,
Christian
folks also opted this old festival to honor one of their
own, Saint Paul.
This day’s weather is supposed to forecast the
coming year’s fortunes:
If Saint
Paul’s Day be fair and clear,
It do betide a happy year.
But if it chance to snow or rain,
Then will be dear all kinds of grain.
If clouds or mists do dark the sky,
Great store of birds and beasts will die.
And if the winds do fly aloft,
Then wars shall vex the kingdoms oft.
Dang! Looks like we’re doomed.
Or is it possible that not all bits of Christian doggerel
prove true?
I’m just sayin’...
Daisy
~
Monday, January 24, 2005 8:30 a.m.
-4 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
Gentle snow is falling and has covered the brown spots
left from Saturday
night’s blizzard. The sand was blown right off of
the road and had stained the
meadows for twenty feet beyond the small snowbanks on
either side. Now there
is about an inch of lovely white, cleaning up the view
considerably. I never ventured
out yesterday; I was glad it was Sunday, so I didn’t
even have to go get the mail.
The day was spent in homely indoor work; I caught up with
laundry, mending and
ironing while the house filled with warm heady aromas of
bean soup and oatmeal
bread. There is a tendency to bust out the comfort
foods during cold snaps such
as this. Macaroni and cheese, pot roast rich with onions
and carrots, scalloped
potatoes and ham... anyone else got meat loaf on their
mind ?
Have a yummy day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 23, 2005 8:00 a.m.
-15 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Jeeze looeeze, I thought yesterday was cold, but that was
nuthin’ ! A stiff north
wind is whipping the new snow around so that it is
impossible to tell how much fell
yesterday. Snow Ridge reports thirteen inches of new
powder, and that seems about
right. It was hard to plow the yard; this snow is so
light and fluffy that it most of it just
went airborne for a while and then landed back on the
ground. Downhill skiing should
be a real delight for powderhounds who remember to dress
for the cold. Riding a t-bar
will be a lot warmer than the chairlift, so pick your
trails carefully. If the wind dies down,
cross country skiing will be awesome as well. The sun is
trying to come out through some
of the many breaks in the cloud cover, but the wind is
pushing things around so fast that
the cold glow is almost instantly obscured by flying snow
or more clouds. Most of
the snow is blowing from north to south, but some of it
is blowing straight up,
only to fall right back down to get whooshed around some
more.
Take care today, and play safe,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 22, 2005 7:00 a.m.
-11 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
Sunrise is still twenty minutes or so away but it is
announcing its presence with
a deep crimson glow all above the southeastern horizon.
This is one of the truest
reds I have ever seen in the sky, just one broad band
between the earth and clouds.
All of the clouds are beginning to take on a purple tint,
the predawn light giving form
to what had previously been just one flat dark grey layer.
Now I can tell that the
clouds are draping softly, pendulous with moisture that
is soon to fall as snow. We
are still in the deep freeze and the blackbirds stayed
under cover yesterday. Don’t
you wonder how wild critters keep their feet warm on such
a morning as this?
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, January 21, 2005 8:00 a.m.
-25 degrees, breezy, sunny
It is a beautiful morning, but one which will best be
appreciated from the comfort
of a heated building. The subzero temperature isn’t
the worst part; it’s the breeze,
which at times qualifies as stiff at the very
least. During the brief minute that I stood
on the back step waiting for the dog to try to pee while
balanced on one leg I had my
breath snatched away by a wintry gust that simultaneously
froze my nose hairs and
brought tears to my eyes. It is the kind of day written
about in the novel Drop City by
TC Boyle, when one of the troubled characters
inadvertently kills himself by gulping a
few large swigs of high-proof hooch and freezes himself
from the inside out. I had plan-
ned a ski trip for later today, but unless the wind dies
down and the mercury rises above
zero it would be foolhardy to carry out that plan. All
the long underwear in the world
won’t help if an injury occurs on such a day and the
only thing keeping a body warm is
the heat generated by all those calories burning while
moving. It will be a good day to
read “To Start A Fire” by Jack London, or rent
“Dr. Zhivago”, the coldest movie
ever made. Either one will enhance your appreciation of
the simple pleasure
of a warm place to hang out on a day like this.
We are indeed fortunate,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 20, 2005 9:00 a.m.
0 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Six inches of beautiful much-needed snow fell yesterday,
ending just before dawn.
A waxing moon high in the sky at bedtime occasionally
illuminated the night, filling the
air with tiny diamonds that joined the sparkling myriad
of crystals already on the ground.
The night air was calm but very cold, cutting short the
length of time we could enjoy the
magical view. There are half a dozen small birds perched
on the tomato trellis across the
road, but I can’t tell what they are from here. They
are the size of sparrows; perhaps that
is what they are. Seven blackbirds are making a joyful
noise in the big maple tree next to
the barn, always a welcome sight no matter what the
weather. A hairy woodpecker show-
ed up earlier, mining his way up one of our old aspen
trees. Until last year, when we had
to remove the dead top of the tree, a pair of woodpeckers
raised one or two broods in a
rotted-out high cavity every summer. This bird is
probably one of the old gang, wondering
what happened to the neighborhood. Although it is cold
and windy, today will be a good
one to explore the forest, now that there is finally
enough snow to slide our skis across.
Bundle up before you head out;
enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 8:30 a.m.
-5 degrees. breezy, overcast
Yesterday was one of the coldest days I have seen in a
long time. The high was –15,
and a stiff breeze kept me indoors except for brief
dashes in and out of the car, necessary
to my job. Many schools were put on a two hour delay due
to the cold. I see kids getting
off of the school bus in the middle of winter wearing
very little for outerwear, no hats, no
gloves, and feet clad in sockless shoes. I hate to think
what would happen if the bus hap-
pened to break down on such a frigid morning. Now that
the mercury is starting to climb
out of the deepfreeze, we are expecting some snow for
today. A huge mass of winter
weather is just moving into the Syracuse area, and it
looks like it will arrive in Turin in an
hour or so. We really need snow up here; snowmobile
traffic was unbelievable last week-
end, even though everyone I spoke to said the trail
riding was just awful. “The trails are
so bad we have been riding on the roads...” That
explains all the traffic last weekend
whizzing past the house (on a road that is off limits to
snowmobile traffic). If tourists are
going to keep coming to Tug Hill no matter what snow
conditions are, then I hope we get
a bunch of snow to hopefully keep them on the trails
where riding is safer for both riders
and residents. Please, folks, whether you are putting
your kids on a school bus in subzero
weather or climbing on your crotchrocket to tear across
the Hill, use some common sense.
Think before you act,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 8:00 a.m.
-20 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
We just had a repeat performance of yesterday’s
sunrise, so nearly identical it could
have been a video replay. The actual time of sunrise was
7:30, but it took about twenty
minutes to clear the clouds that are stalled out to the
east. It is extra cold out this morning,
and the wind makes it dangerously frigid. Make sure your
vehicle has plenty of gas and
there is a sackful of warm socks, mittens hats, and maybe
even a sleeping bag or blanket
stored in the trunk, just in case. In case of what,
I’m not really sure... all I know is, there
is some law of nature that proclaims if you carry around
a bunch of extra stuff, you will
never need to use it. Case in point: When I travel the
backcountry of Tug Hill on foot, skis,
or bicycle I always carry a pack with calorie-dense
food (chocolate!), water, extra socks,
a space blanket, a firestarting kit, a flashlight, and a
whistle. The one and only time I ever
was (sort of) lost in the woods and the sun was down, I
had neglected to carry my pack,
and soon was up a frozen dark creek without a paddle, or
more important, chocolate. I
had set out for just a short jaunt on a warm March
afternoon, no hat, nothing more on my
back than a long sleeved shirt and down vest. I picked up
the trail of a large cat, and start-
ed to follow it into the balsam swamp not too far from
the house, then on to the hardwood
forest and some unfamiliar territory. I wasn’t even
wearing a wristwatch, so I had no idea
how close it was until nightfall. What was I thinking? Hyuck,
hyuck, gonna see me a cougar!
Yup yup yup! DUH! Fortunately, the light of a full
moon showed me a few familiar landmarks
and I arrived home just as my family was gearing up to go
on a search. Have I ever needed
any of my emergency supplies since that one fateful trip?
Nope. Somehow, though, I always
have to regularly replenish the chocolate supply. I
gladly bear the extra weight
of a survival pack for the peace of mind it carries.
That, and the chocolate...
Be prepared,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 17, 2005 7:30 a.m.
0 degrees, calm, partly cloudy
The sun is about to emerge from behind a low bank of
clouds on the eastern horizon.
It rises this morning as it set last night, a beautiful
big ball of orange light filtered through
amorphous clouds, spreading a warm glow across the land.
It is very cold out this morning,
but calm, so the air takes a while to get down deep,
close to the bone. We had a wonder-
ful ski trip yesterday afternoon, much better conditions
than Saturday’s gooey mess. There
wasn’t much more snow, but cold temperatures had
firmed up the muddy wet base so that
there were fewer incidents of icy buildup on the bottoms
of our skis. We headed across
some old farm meadows that were pristine with unblemished
fluff; the air was still, and al-
though cold, we were comfortably warm from the gentle
exertion, a perfect combination
of aerobic exercise and lively conversation. We entered
an old managed hardwood forest
and skied along some recently logged trails, keeping the
sun to our left as a guide. Those
clear trails dead-ended at a fenceline, barbed wire
marking a boundary corner. We took
off down an older logging path full of small balsam trees,
feeling like much like Gulliver
must have in the land of Lilliput. Soon we were
surrounded by old-growth trees with no
trail in sight, so we circled around and found ourselves
on another new logging trail with
the sun over our right shoulders this time. We were bound
to run into our inbound tracks
at some point, and eventually we did. We also had the
option of retracing our tracks to
find our way back to the meadow once again. It is
important to set a turn-around time
when bushwhacking on Tug Hill, a firm time to do a one-eighty
and retrace one’s steps
to find the way home. We ended the afternoon with a long
glide down a gentle slope,
another fine day under the wintry sky.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 16, 2005 8:30 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
The sky may be full of clouds, but the view is clear
almost all the way to the
Adirondack Mountains, vaguely visible through distant
mist. Smoke from dozens
of valley chimneys huffs straight up a few short puffs
and suddenly disappears. A
miniscule amount of snow is stuttering down, so sparse I
can count the flakes as
they float past the window. I skied alone across a small
part of Gomer Hill yester-
day, and the challenges were many. The meadows were
covered with three inches
of wonderful champagne powder on a base of ice, water,
and mud, and the wind
was fierce, so I decided to ski a mile or so up a
seasonal snow-covered road and
then turn on to some old logging trails. I was soon
forced aside by snowmobiles,
traveling in packs and not exactly expecting a skier on
“their” road. For my own
safety I headed into the forest before I reached the
trails. Very little snow had sifted
down through dense evergreens, and gliding was hindered
by undergrowth poking
through scanty snow cover. On the bright side, the wind
was not able to penetrate
into the deep woods, and I was no longer fighting a
frosty gale. Recent storms had
transformed the trees into a surreal study in black and
white. Rain first thoroughly
wetted the trees, then snow stuck fast to the western
side of every surface. Wind
sculpted the snow into fantastic organic forms, reddi-whip
of the Storm Gods run
amok. Since I couldn’t travel with any amount of
speed, it was a good thing I was in
the middle of Mother Nature’s finest sculpture
garden. I stayed in the woods until
sunset, which was no big whoop around the actual
descending sun, but clouds of the
eastern sky were wonderful shades of pink, magenta and
orange, a colorful back-
drop to the stark beauty of the trees. The hard traveling
of an entire afternoon was
rewarded by that picture perfect sky, a fine conclusion
to a less than perfect journey.
Find some perfection in your day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 15, 2005 7:30 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
Light snow is falling, adding only slightly to the inch
or so that arrived overnight. The sun
will probably make a brief appearance later, and this new
fluff will provide extra sparkle
to any outdoor adventure you undertake today. When I let
the dog out before dawn, the
yard light sequinized the whole area, creating artificial
beauty, but beauty nonetheless. In
the absence of wind, these sparse snowflakes are
practically hanging in suspension, so
slow is their descent, a gentle mosey through cold still
air. Clouds are moving from west
to east at a good clip, and bits of pale blue sky are
beginning to appear. We are slowly
gaining some snow cover, and although there still
isn’t enough to support snowmobile
traffic, that hasn’t kept some of them from tearing
across the Hill this weekend. Please
use your best judgment before heading out on the trails;
call someone local to find out
what the deal is, if not for the sake of our environment,
consider your own personal safety
and the wear and tear on your sleds. It will be a good
weekend to get better acquainted
with the landscape; check out critter tracks and lovely
forests on foot or on skinny skis.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, January 14, 2005 8:15 a.m.
26 degrees, breezy, cloudy, flurries
The midnight soundtrack for last nights dreamscript was a
tribal symphony of
drumming and gut-felt vibrations, featuring solos from
the rain section with a backup
chorus of icy sleet hissing a pervasive dissonant harmony.
Roaring wind seemed to come
from everywhere at once, transferring its throbbing
ostinato to Earth’s structures, both
natural and manmade. At some point the rain changed into
snow and only the sound of
the wind prevailed, accented by the occasional metallic ching!
of various ventilation lou-
vers flapping open and closed. Light snow is still
falling, and Gomer Hill is covered with
a uniform layer of white about two inches deep. Even
with a stiff breeze, this snow is stay-
ing put; it is bonding like epoxy to ground that is still
oozing water from the rains. Schools are
delayed and closed all over the North Country today,
probably due to icy roads. Friends in
Colorado report that a recent 90 inch snowstorm has
darkened all of their downstairs win-
dows and provided some fabulous downhill skiing and
boarding. Vacationers to their small
resort town have been unable to ride snowmobiles or trek
about on cross country skis due
to the extreme depth of snow. I would say that here on
Tug Hill there is just barely enough
snow for our skinny skis, but there still not enough
cover for snowmobilers, as last weeks
thaw took the trails all the way down to dirt and grass.
More snow is on the way;
maybe winter is finally going to show its lovely
shimmering face !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 13, 2005 8:15 a.m.
35 degrees, windy, foggy, raining
What a mess! Yesterday’s rain froze hard onto every
surface. While it transformed
the trees and shrubs into a beautiful crystal fantasyland,
the yard is one solid sheet of ice,
and every little outdoor task is monumentally difficult
on such a treacherous surface. Ski
poles are a big help, but even with taking small steps
and employing mindful placement
of the feet, traveling the fifty feet from house to barn
is still ridiculously hard. If the ground
were flat, it would be a cakewalk; but here on Tug hill,
nothing is flat, and every little angle
conspires with gravity to try to pull one earthward. I
watched a deer cross our icy meadow;
it took smaller steps and used a peculiar-looking
bounding gait, forcing its feet through the
frozen surface with every landing. Fortunately, after
today’s warmup and possible thunder-
storms, snow is in the forecast for the five days.
Dangerous ice will disappear under more
user-friendly snow, and once again we can get out and
enjoy winter on our skis. Take
advantage of today’s milder temperature to go for a
walk; once you get out of
the driveway, roads are pretty well sanded.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 7:30 a.m.
25 degrees, windy, overcast, drizzle
Misty rain is freezing on to every surface and makes for
a temporarily hazardous
morning. A warming trend will quickly dissipate the ice
and turn this into just an ordinary
rainy day, part of the January thaw that has been
appearing off and on for two months.
I am sure the sun rose not too long ago, but the sky
doesn’t show any evidence of that
bright companion at all; everything is flat and gray, and
dawning was so gradual we didn’t
even notice it. For some reason, a small flock of evening
grosbeaks gathered briefly in the
aspen tree outside my window, but they just left, wings
beating in unison, to find a house
with a feeder. I don’t know what these plump native
birds eat in the wild; in fact, I have
never seen one in their natural habitat. They are always
gathered around a feeder, happily
sharing with all other species, but they can empty a tray
of seeds in nothing flat. Maybe
they have evolved into a breed whose natural habitat is
homes with bird feeders. I have
seen no other birds so far today, just these yellow
fatties who may have become
disoriented on their way to a diner with an open sign.
Enjoy this warmer
weather while it lasts; tomorrow night the mercury will
take a nose dive.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 8:00 a.m.
10 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Clouds surround us, but an area overhead is deep blue
with just a few bits of fluff.
The sun peeks out above the strata; a jet contrail
streams from it straight as an arrow,
the plane laying down the only semblance of order to a
crazy quilt sky. All manner of
creature is out and about on this calm morning, the usual
cast of characters plus a few
hikers with their dogs. Yesterday’s high winds made
it unpleasant for man and beast
alike; our dog refused to budge past the corner,
protesting the wintry gale with mule-
like stubbornness, a sit-down strike against winter. It
is supposed to warm up over
the next three days; we can take advantage of the breaks
between rain showers to
take our pets outside for some much needed exercise,
beneficial to all. It is a mandate
we must accept when we bring an animal into our lives,
not merely to feed and house
it, but to stimulate its mind and body as well. If the
weather won’t cooperate,
take ten minutes to play fetch in the hallway with a
rolled up sock,
wrestle around on the floor, or work on new tricks and
skills.
Have a doggone good day,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 10, 2005 8:30 a.m.
30 degrees, windy, overcast, rain/snow
It is very windy and whatever is falling from the sky
doesn’t stand a chance of
actually making contact with the ground here on Gomer
Hill. This stuff is moving too
swiftly to even adhere to trees. Two ravens are making
their way back into the forest after
spending a brief spell picking through the remains of one
of last summer’s corn patches.
They fly a bit, rest a bit, then pitch headlong into the
stiff breeze. Sometimes this precipita-
tion creates an opaque milky curtain, hiding everything
but those objects close to the house.
Now it is clearly snowing, small dense flakes, a far cry
from Saturday’s feathery fluff. Three
deer have just crossed the road, taking time to lick salt
from the slush covered surface before
bounding into a willow thicket. Yesterday we skied on
some old farmland up the road and
enjoyed nearly perfect conditions. We skirted large
unblemished meadows and glided through
tall balsam trees hung with icicles and frosted by
Saturday’s snowfall. Snowshoe hare tracks
were abundant, and deer have worn a deep path right down
to the ground. We skied among
several gigantic apple trees, rough-barked and absolutely
bare of fruit, lost during torrential
autumn rainstorms and the harsh winds that accompanied
them. Winter apples are an impor-
tant source of food to wild turkeys; this year they will
have to rely largely on beechnuts, haw-
thorn fruit, and other mast crops besides apples. There
are virtually no native oak trees on
Tug Hill, so acorns (their favorite forage) are not an
option. On the flats these birds take ad-
vantage of winter-spread cow manure, picking through it
for undigested bits of seed. Ugh.
Yikes, now it is once again raining, hissing against the
west windows like
the opening sentence of a Stephen King novel.
Bundle up and stay dry,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 9, 2005 8:00 a.m.
22 degrees, calm, overcast
We managed to steal a little snow from yesterday’s
storm front, but the bulk of it
fell to the south of here. Cross country skiing should be
excellent today, and friends
report that downhillers, telemarkers, and boarders will
find the conditions at Snow Ridge
to be the best they’ve been all year (so far). This
is one year the addition of snowmaking
machines has really paid off. There is a little more snow
headed our way with a chance of
rain Wednesday and Thursday, which seems to be a pattern
this year. If you are heading
out off-piste today, prepare for slightly warmer
temperatures by dressing in layers and car-
rying a pack to stow unnecessary garments. Sunscreen is a
must; even though it is overcast,
the filtered sunbeams that reflect off the snow increase
your risk of sun damage more than
on a summer’s day inland. Carry plenty of water, and
a snack in case you run out of steam.
Let someone know where you are headed and when you plan
to be home.
Play safe,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 8, 2005 8:30 a.m.
22 degrees, calm, overcast, snowing
It has just started to snow, picture-book flakes drifting
straight down in the absence of
our normal ever-present breeze. We took advantage of
yesterday’s snow to head out
on skis a few miles south of Gomer Hill, through a
managed woodlot tucked into the side
of the Tug Hill plateau. Snow cover was thin, but skiing
was excellent on the logging roads
and ATV trails. Gliding was just right, not too fast or
slow, and frozen puddles were just
visible enough that they were easily avoided. We saw lots
of deer tracks; what an easy
winter it has been for them, so far. The forest floor was
crisscrossed by little tunnels and
tiny tracks, all fresh since the morning snowfall.
Although there were lots of tracks, the
only critter we saw was the big galoot of a dog that
accompanied us part of the way.
Open areas, where the wind had sculpted the snow into
ripples and ridges, had lots of
grass and corn stubble, so we mostly kept to the paths of
the beautiful hardwood forest.
It is a joy to ski somewhere new, especially if it is a
trail lacking balsam tangles and over-
grown brambles. We passed through lots of burdocks,
blackberry canes, thorny locust
trees, and wild roses, but our path was nearly free of
obstacles. Big clouds didn’t hinder
the bright sunlight that left stripes of shadow all along
the way, and the air temperature
was just right for our trek through the woods, another
fine memory in the vault.
Make a memory this weekend !
Daisy
~
Friday, January 7, 2005 8:00 a.m.
17 degrees, windy, partly cloudy, flurries
What an amazing sunrise! Clouds framed a stunning column
of dazzling pure light streaming
straight up into the blue ski. A half hour after the
actual time of sunrise, this single sunbeam
finally broke through like a fat laser aimed directly at
the rest of the universe. Bold and brassy,
the pillar of radiance slowly fattened into an eyeball-searing
ellipsis, a rocketing chariot of fire
worthy of underscoring any myth, legend, or religious
dogma. Yesterday’s storm has dwindled
to a few random flurries buffeted by the wind. The
combination of snow, sleet, rain, graupple,
and freezing temperatures has produced a deep bulletproof
layer of wintry crust that resisted
plowing this morning and will provide challenging
conditions for any outdoor sport today.
Loose powder that fell overnight is gone with the wind;
perhaps there will be a little snow in
the woods to provide a good surface for our skinny skis.
There is still not enough snow on
the Hill for snowmobiles, so plan your weekend
accordingly. Meanwhile, the critter our dog
was sniffing out on Tuesday finally turned up, as in toes
up... By Wednesday our noses told
us that there was indeed a small dead thing somewhere in
the vicinity of the door to the living-
room. I emptied the bookcase and moved it, and found
nothing. I checked the furnace regis-
ters, moved furniture and checked under the cushions,
even looked in the shallow water of the
room. christmas tree stand, and found nothing. Incense
covered up the smell, and we figured
that something had crawled into the wall to die. I
eventually decided to take the tree out and
began to remove the ornaments. All of our decorations
have memories attached, and as I gently
unhooked the little handmade felt animals I recalled them
with fondness, a gift from my Mom
the winter before she passed away. I took down the little
brown owls, deer, that perfect little
mouse... hey, wait a minute, she never made any mice...
yikes! We don’t know how it got
there, but a fat dead shrew was not what I expected at
that particular moment in time. Perhaps
one of our pets had been tossing it about and one time it
just never came back down;
who knows ? I’m just happy I finally found it.
Mystery solved,
Daisy
~
Thursday, January 6, 2005 8:00 a.m.
19 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
Schools are closed to the north and south of us, but
South Lewis and Lowville remain
open. The radar map shows a big empty space in the action
over the southern half of
Lewis County, but a big blob of weather is headed our way
later. A few big fat flurries
are flying around outside the window, beginning to catch
the edges of hay stubble and
gather into a lacy layer of white. We walked along a
seasonal road yesterday and every-
thing was crispy with frost and ice, some frozen puddles
are big enough to skate on. A
flock of crows kept pace with us, and when we were almost
home two ravens shot out
of the woods to declare in their gruffest tones that the
forest belongs to them. The crows
pretty much ignored them; this was probably not their
first warning. I hadn’t seen the
ravens for several weeks. It’s nice to know they are
still in the neighborhood; they are
interesting to watch and listen to, having quite a range
of sounds both human and avian.
Ravens, crow, starlings, juncos, chickadees: all fit
nicely into the black and white land-
scape of the winter months. The occasional blue jay,
woodpecker, or rose breasted
grosbeak shouts its presence with what is often the only
spot of color in an otherwise
dull scene. Even the greens of forest conifers are muted
in midwinter. Close inspection
will often reveal some colorful fungus on a half-dead
tree, and of course there are
always those yellow spots in the snow from a passing
coyote. But in the big picture,
a realistic rendering of Tug Hill in winter could be done
with a number two pencil.
Have a colorful day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 8:45 a.m.
15 degrees, breezy, overcast
It is a cold morning, but not unpleasant. It was warm
enough yesterday that the ice
melted into the ground, and now that it is below freezing
once again at least the footing is
better. Radar shows a line of mixed precipitation south
and west of us. Even though there
is snow in the forecast, I don’t believe it will it
will be coming this far north. We could really
use some snow; what the heck kind of North Country winter
has bare ground in January ?
I know, be careful what you wish for ; I could be
eating my words two weeks from now.
The weather has been so odd all year, no rhyme or reason
to the deluges we suffered last
summer, torrential rain seeming to appear out of nowhere.
I just received some photos from
a friend in Sedona Arizona; they had half of their annual
rainfall in one storm last week, a
flood in the middle of the desert. Four major hurricanes
devastated much of our country
last season, and the rift in Mother Earth that has
recently wreaked havoc in Indonesia has
me mourning not only the tragic loss of life, but the
wounds our planet has suffered as well.
Wildfires have burned for years in our western states,
and water supplies, while overly abun-
dant in some places, are dwindling away to nothing
elsewhere. If balance is to be restored
to the Earth, it must happen one person at a time,
striving for peace and order within our
own small spheres of existence. Everything is connected,
and everything counts.
~
The hatred and vitriol displayed during the last
election is a symptom of unrest and
dissonance in humankind in general, not necessarily
related to any one political agenda.
The division that this nation felt (still feels) is a
terrible thing; our country was founded for the
sole purpose of supporting individual freedoms and the
right to hold certain beliefs without
being persecuted for them. As our government moves away
from the rights of the individual
and towards a hive mentality of “knowing what’s
best for us, by God ” it becomes even
more
important that we stick to our own convictions of what is
right, what is true, and what is best
for the planet. Not oil, not money, not territory, or one
faith being superior over others.
Spirit speaks to each one of us, even the atheists.
Pay attention, and let’s begin to heal the planet
one person at a time.
~
We are healing ourselves. We are healing each other.
We are healing planet Earth, our Mother. (Joules
Graves)
~
Start now.
Daisy
~
Tuesday, January 4, 2005 8:00 a.m.
31 degrees, calm, foggy, flurries
Everything is white this morning. The ground is
unblemished and pure with a skim coat
of new snow, and the very air is charged with milky
radiance created by low lying clouds
of fog. The yard is squishy with slushy snow, not really
stacking up as much as sinking in
to all the moisture that has suffused the Hill. The dog
was two inches taller when he came
back into the house this morning, little snowy stilts
packed on the bottoms of his paws like
a rolling snowball destined to become the body of a
snowman. Since he came in he has
been staring at the bookcase, occasionally standing up
like a circus dog and sniffing the
air. There must be a mouse hiding under the shelves, and
he is determined to pounce on
it when it finally comes out. This little terrier has
caught almost as many mice as our cats;
so much for stereotyping. The next time you don’t
think something is in your job descrip-
tion, think again, and forge ahead with all of the
enthusiasm you can muster.-
It would be a dull world indeed if everyone did exactly
what was expected of them.
Branch out,
Daisy
~
Monday, January 3, 2005 8:00 a.m.
31 degrees, windy, overcast
Yesterday’s quarter inch of ice has been blown off
of trees but sits in a solid sheet
across the yard. Our three-legged cat is howling at the
door to be let out, but the
last time it was this icy he was unable to navigate the
slippery surface and got stranded.
I had to creep over to him and scoop him up, hardly able
to stay on my own two feet.
He must have forgotten that humiliating rescue, one of
the only times (since we found
him half-dead in the barn) he has had to rely on human
help. Sometimes we all need
a little help, no matter how much we value our perceived
independence. Help can come
from friends, family, co-workers, strangers, pets and
other critters, lots of places. Help
can come from Spirit, which is the source of the energy
that flows through everything
on this Earth and everywhere else. Help can come when we
least expect it, when we
aren’t even looking for it, while watching a cheesy
old movie or reading a page-turner
of book. Keep your radar up and evaluate all of the
helpful signals you receive;
sort through them and use what you can.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, January 2, 2005 9:30 a.m.
24 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Sunrise this morning was one of the prettiest all winter.
There were ruffles
of clouds afire all across a deep blue sky and the actual
sun was so brilliant I
could watch it rise with my eyes closed. Now the sun is
high above the horizon,
cold and steely in a pale grey sky. Even the spaces
between clouds are grey;
the color blue has disappeared altogether. Blackbirds,
crows, and bluejays
care hanging out in the trees by the barn, talking back
and forth like old
friends gathered for morning coffee. Mixed precipitation
is on the way,
so best get out while the gettin’ is good.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, January 1, 2005 8:00 a.m.
31 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
A beautiful sunrise gave us a colorful start to this new
year of 2005. Clouds are
moving in from the edges of the sky in all directions,
and they are not big fluffy white
fair weather clouds, they are deep purply grey and
ominous looking. Maybe they will
skip on by, bringing a change in the temperature at the
very least. At thirty-one degrees
the grass is crunchy underfoot, and hundreds of puddles
and temporary ponds have a
skim coat of ice across the surface. Yesterday’s
afternoon walk had us dodging mud
and slush as we made our way along a nearby snowmobile
trail; if we kept to the edges
we didn’t stir up too much goo. Horsey Creek had
turned into Horsey River, its meager
trickle transformed into a raging torrent, rushing down
the gully with loud gurgling and
foamy spray. It was a mild day, too warm for cross-country
skiing; it was like navigating
through mashed potatoes, too mushy for any kind of glide.
Last night’s rain took away
most of our snow, so the skis will go back into the barn
until the next winter storm.
Today is a good day to set some realistic goals for the
new year; remember,
there are 365 days coming up and just about anything is
possible.
Happy new year !
Daisy
~
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