~
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 8:00 a.m.
10 degrees, breezy, snowing
Two inches of beautiful snow fills the view, falling so
fast that the
dog’s little tracks were filled in within ten
minutes of his morning stroll.
The snow is light and fluffy, and puffs away from my boot
if I stamp my
foot. I’ll bet the alpine skiing today will be
outstanding, especially if it keeps
on snowing. Nordic trekking will be great as well,
whether on skis or snowshoes;
this last storm of the year should make outdoor
enthusiasts very happy indeed. The
wind is going to pick up speed as the day wears on, so be
extremely careful on your
way to and from festive events later tonight. Drive
defensively, and if you plan on
celebrating with alcohol, use a designated driver or have
your own party at home.
See you next year !
Daisy
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:00 a.m.
17 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy, snowing
When I let the dog out at midnight, snow was gently
falling and
there were three inches of soft fluff decorating the yard.
Later the
wind came up into gale force gusts, and now the yard is
bald as an
egg, with no trace of last night’s magical carpet.
Fresh new snow adds
more bulk to wind-driven sheets of blown powder; when I
stepped out-
side earlier I was too occupied with merely breathing in
and out to pay much
attention to the view. The wind is straight out of the
northwest, frigid and literally
breathtaking. A broad band of lake effect snow is just to
the south of us; if it drifts
north only a couple of miles, we will be in the thick of
it. I imagine that the snow
is sticking to the forest floor, and when the wind dies
down the skiing should
be pretty good in sheltered spots. As it is now, there is
too much debris
falling along with the snow to be safe in the woods. I
wonder how
many wild critters get bonked on the head by branches and
such
as they go about their business on a windy morn such as
this?
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Monday, December 29, 2008 9:00 a.m.
29 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, grauple
Little dense snowballs falling from the sky are so
small that they are
nearly invisible, but boy, howdy, I could feel their
sandblasting sting when
I was outside earlier. Free dermabrasion, courtesy of
Mother Nature. They
sit on the bare ground in the yard like a truckload of
styrofoam beads has
been scattered, perfectly round and white against the
frozen crushed shale.
Yesterday turned into a surprisingly beautiful day after
a foggy rainy start.
Strong gusty winds ushered in a spell of beautiful blue
sky and crystal clear
sunshine for a couple of hours after lunch. The wind was
extreme at times, but
the temperature was forty-something so it was
exhilarating rather than bone-chilling.
We took a walk on the plowed roads, keeping well clear of
trees and other things
that were launching bits of themselves through the air.
Horsie Creek has swelled
significantly from rain and snowmelt, and was raging
between dwindling snow-
banks. I’ll bet the deep gorge it spills into is an
impressive sight, maybe even
a little bit scary. The snow everywhere is saturated with
water, and it was
too spongy to even think about skiing around the meadows;
a walk was
just the perfect activity for such an odd December day. I
plucked a
bright yellow pansy from its bed out front, and it sits
on my kitchen
windowsill, a reminder of a beautiful (if unconventional)
winter day.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, December 28, 2008 9:00 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, fog
Fog is very dense and is taking away our snowpack
faster than
mere warm temperatures or rain ever could. A few wet
spots have
opened up in low areas of our meadows, and there is a
possibility of
flooding on the usual overflow spots along the Black
River. Many places
in New York State set record high temperatures yesterday,
and when we
returned from errands in the city our yard was mostly
bare of the treacher-
ous ice that has coated it for two days. We drove through
areas of heavy
rain, and our return trip after dark was through very
thick fog, same as we
are now experiencing. As I sit and watch, the fog is
being lifted as if by magic,
revealing a bright sky to the east and clouds everywhere
else. I have never seen
fog disappear this quickly! One minute I am clacking away
on the keyboard writing
about impenetrable fog, and when I look up a minute later,
poof! Gone! How can any-
one ever believe one single word I write? Perhaps I make
it all up out of whole cloth,
and I am really a twenty-two year old journalism student
from Los Angeles, working
on my Master’s Thesis, First Person Journalism in
the New Millenium: Truth,
or Fiction. No, really, I am telling things the way I
see them, as they happen, wind
picking up, fog totally gone, sharing Gomer Hill’s
secrets with the rest of the world.
Although some of the things I see and hear may reflect a
lifelong love of reading
fantasy and science fiction, you can be sure that what I
see is what you get.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 27, 2008 9:00 a.m.
34 degrees, breezy, overcast, rain
What started out as snow late yesterday afternoon
changed into
rain at about 4 a.m. Thank goodness yesterday’s
weather was perfect
for a fine ski and snowshoe outing into the deep woods.
We started out
on a new logging road, and soon decided to follow a creek
to see if we could
find our way cross-lots to the Evans Road. The woods were
filled with animal sign,
tracks, scat and dens from many different mammals and
partridges. There were big
gaping holes in trees left by pileated woodpeckers, not
too fresh, as there were no
wood chips on the ground left by recent efforts. We
couldn’t believe how many
rabbit tracks we found; there are either a whole mess of
snowshoe hares in the
neighborhood, or just one that has been very, very busy.
We saw the crazy dainty
patterns left by red squirrels as they danced from tree
to tree, and many trails left by
weasels of all sizes, including one big fisher that seems
to have traveled far and wide.
At the headwaters of the stream we crossed the flow on a
firm snow bridge that form-
ed around a fallen tree, and came onto another logging
road. Many widowmakers had
been left from last summers harvest, and we were careful
not to pass under any of them.
We found a dead beech tree with huge bracket fungus along
one side of the trunk. They
were snowy white on the bottom, and one large specimen
was a conjoined twin, very un-
usual. I have painted scenes on a few of these fungi, but
have not done so for many years.
Here is some
information about both the fungus and the
painting technique. We never did
reach the Evans Road, but sure had a good time wandering
around in the woods looking
for it. We crossed a lovely swamp decorated for Christmas
with fluffy virgin’s bower seed-
heads and little alder pendants. Baby balsams had a
sugarcoating of snow nestled along
every branch, delicate and perfect. We had a bit of
difficulty finding a good spot to re-
cross the stream, and found out the hard way that skis
can easily pass over a thin snow
bridge, while snowshoes might break through and find the
unlucky trekker up to her
knees in creekwater. Lesson learned; weight is more
evenly distributed along the
length of a ski than on snowshoes. We only got a little
bit lost, but soon circled
around to our previous tracks and returned home well
before sunset. A good
time was had by all, and memories were made along with
the lessons learned.
This rain will put our backwoods adventures on hold for a
little while, but
things will cool off by Monday with the possibility of
snow in the fore-
cast for most of next week. We are building a base of
hardpack that
is sure to last well into April at this rate, and there
will be plenty
of opportunity for wonderful outdoor gatherings yet to
come.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Friday, December 26, 2008 7:00 a.m.
18 degrees, calm, partly sunny
I can imagine that it is partly sunny, even though
the sun has yet to rise.
There is a wonderful rosy glow above the Adirondack
Mountains, and
the clouds all carry the warm hue in various intensities
as they overspread
the rest of the sky. Red sky in the morning, sailors
take warning may be
true, as freezing rain is in the forecast but not until
evening. We had a nice ski
outing yesterday, in conditions that varied with the
terrain. The meadows were
crusty, and where windblown snow had packed in solid we
could glide easily
across the surface. At places where the rain had a chance
to soak in a little
more, we would break through all the way to the squish
layer, but since it
was above thirty degrees the water didn’t stick to
our skis. The woods
were accessible but a bit deep for only two skiers. I
followed some fisher
tracks for a bit, erratic and close together; it must
have been moving at a
slow amble. The prints were textbook perfect, showing
each toe and claw
as if molded in plaster. There were many smaller tracks
all through the forest,
as well as deep troughs worn by deer. We preferred the
fast zip of the Smith
Road snowmobile trail for much of the trip, and were soon
much warmer than
when we first started out. We returned home with a very
pretty sunset at our
backs, much the same color as this morning’s
gleaming magenta. I love living
atop a hill, where we can easily admire the sun as it
comes and goes every day.
Have a brilliant day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 25, 2008 8:00 a.m.
26 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
What a wild and wooly night !
The sound of pounding rain was ironically drowned out by
the
roar of hearty wind, blowing steady at forty and gusting
into the sixties.
The house literally shook. Hardpacked snow in the yard
turned into a sheet
of solid ice, the water building up instead of flowing
away. Sometime during
the night rain changed over to snow, but it has mostly
blown off of the frozen
mass that now covers every inch of ground. If we get even
an inch of snow to
stick around, back-country skiing should be excellent,
the kind of go-anywhere
conditions that allow us to glide into the hidden nooks
and crannies of Tug Hill.
There is a break in the clouds, and the sun is almost
shining. This is an anything-
can-happen day, a capricious gift from Mom Nature,
complete with mystery
and anticipation, sometimes almost better than the actual
gift. We will have
our strong aromatic coffee and prepare a feast, open
small tokens and
visit by the tree. Then we will venture out to walk or
ski, the
choice still up in the air at this point. Now a few
coppery
rays have escaped, and are streaming over the valley,
wonderful festive lighting for the day ahead.
Have a merry day !
Daisy
Wednesday, December 24, 2008 8:45 a.m.
25 degrees, windy, overcast, flurries
What appeared to be light snow flurries from indoors
turned out to be
grauple, little hard pellets of opaque ice. I found this
out when playing
musical vehicles a few minutes ago; it always seems like
the wrong one is
parked by the door, and it is much easier for two to
perform the swap than
on one’s own. That is the only thing I find to be
very inconvenient during the
winter months, the necessity to park in the garage
instead of the yard. One of
my favorite parts of winter is entering the warm kitchen
after spending time in the
wind and weather. I never got out on skis yesterday,
choosing to walk instead so
the dog could get some exercise. The snowmobile trail
groomer has finally been
up our way, and it looks like there has been plenty of
sled traffic. Horsie Creek
is nearly snowed shut, with massive banks rising on each
side of its thin trickle.
If we get rain later today I am sure we will see more
water all over Gomer
Hill. Now the grauple is gone, replaced by big fat
snowflakes zipping along
at breakneck speed as the wind picks up. Maybe we will
luck out and
get all snow today. At any rate, a white Christmas seems
inevitable !
May your days be merry and bright,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 8:00 a.m.
15 degrees, calm, overcast, snowing
After a day of high winds it is nice to enjoy a peaceful
bucolic morn, with
plump snowflakes wafting through the air, tracing lazy
patterns as they float.
Those same two deer are in almost the same spot they were
yesterday morning,
probably following a well-worn trail once they get past
the neighbor’s house.
Snow is so deep that deer must stick to a trail if they
want to conserve energy.
Sometimes I emerge from a ski trek in the woods to find
that a deer or two
have already trod in my tracks, like a game of follow-the-leader.
Today’s
snowfall is courtesy of a small area of lake effect
activity that is currently
passing directly over our house. A wintry mix is on the
way for tonight
and tomorrow; better hope Santa can find his snuggies and
GPS
before the big night’s journey. Perhaps he
will be able to make
good time over the more moderate climes. Meanwhile, I
think
I will get out and ski a bit before the weather tide
turns.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, December 22, 2008 7:30 a.m.
5 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy, flurries
Yesterday’s storm left us with at least a
foot of new snow,
which is currently pushed around in the yard into big
immovable
piles left by the plowtruck last night, creating just
enough of a path
to get a vehicle in and out of the garage. This looks
like a job for the
tractor and big snowblower. The problem is that
underneath all of this
new snow is a bulletproof layer of ice, so when we try to
push the snow
into banks the wheels don’t get a good enough grip
to move it very far.
Except for a few lingering flurries, it looks like the
snow is mostly spent,
although when the wind picks up later it will be tricky
traveling due to
whiteout conditions. Most schools are closed for the
Christmas break,
but there are still those of us who have to travel to
work. Make sure you
drive defensively, because you never know what other
motorists are thinking.
And, for heaven’s sake, put your headlights on so I
can see your car when pas-
sing through areas of blowing snow. Our three ravens are
busy patrolling the area
around the house, gliding gracefully from tree to tree,
silent on this very pretty winter
morn. Two bluejays have emerged from a snow-covered blue
spruce tree, and are
sticking close to home as well. There seems to be no
territory dispute between these
two species; they pretty much ignore each other. If some
crows were to come into
the area, we would likely hear some bickering. Two deer
are crossing the road
down by the neighbor’s driveway; I am certain these
are last spring’s fawns,
minus the doe who accompanied their every move all summer
long. She
must have been an early casualty of the season, for we
haven’t seen her
in a couple of months. On PBS’ Nature last
night, they showcased Yellow-
stone National Park in winter, and said of the buffalo
and elk Their only task
during the winter is to merely endure. That also
describes the white-tail deer
of the North Country. They must endure. Carnivorous
critters such as coyotes
and fishers can find mice and voles under the snow, but
the herbivores have
a finite amount of fodder available, and when that is
gone times are hard.
Take some time to appreciate the ease with which we
nourish ourselves,
the convenience of having all kinds of sustenance at our
fingertips.
Life is good,
Daisy
Sunday, December 21, 2008 8:30 a.m.
18 degrees, windy, overcast, snowing
To say it is snowing is a gross understatement. It is
snowing so
hard I can barely see our barn. Five inches have fallen
since the first
flakes showed up just before 7 a.m., and strong wind
gusts make me
want to call this a blizzard, even though it isn’t
cold enough to officially
qualify. We had planned a cross country ski and snowshoe
outing for to-
day, to celebrate the official first day of winter, but
even I am not crazy
enough to venture out in this. Our tracks would quickly
fill in, and with
no sun to guide us, I am pretty sure I could manage to
get us thoroughly
lost. So I will be housebound, making bread and chicken
soup, wrapping
gifts and watching A Christmas Story for the
twentieth time. Don’t forget
to ring a bell and light a candle to pay your respects to
the winter solstice,
one of my favorite days of the year. When you live this
far north, it is a true
joy to contemplate that the days will start to get a
little longer now, and by
the end of June we can take an evening stroll at 9:30
without a flashlight. I
think it would be a bit boring to live near the equator,
where it’s a pretty
constant 12 hour split between day and night. Hooray for
winter!
Hooray for this lovely snow, and the return of the light!
Have a cozy day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 20, 2008 8:45 a.m.
4 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
The clouds are slowly breaking up and we have our first
little glimpse of
sunshine on this snowcovered morn. We received about nine
inches of snow
yesterday, most of it falling within a four hour period.
At dark the wind kicked in,
with strong gusts from the northeast making it very
uncomfortable to be outdoors.
I took the dog over to the barn so he could get some
exercise chasing mouse trails
around for a while. There is something very primal about
being in an old horse barn
in a snowstorm even though the plow horses have been gone
for more than half a
century. I can imagine the large beasts stomping their
feet in the stalls and munch-
ing on their daily ration, with steam snorting from their
nostrils and the lingering
odor of dung almost overpowering the sweet whiff of
summer hay. There were
chickens as well, and their soft clucking as they settled
down in their nesting cub-
bies is barely heard over the wind’s roar. We kept
pigs and chickens in this barn
when we first came to Gomer Hill, and it was amazing how
the presence of a few
animals added warmth to such a big space. We had a nice
time in the barn yester-
day, with me filling buckets full of kindling for future
use and the dog exploring the
nooks and crannies. It was good to return to the warmth
of the house after braving
the bluster in the yard. We finally draped our holiday
tree with festive lights, and now
the wonderful fragrance of balsam fir is even more
pervasive than ever. The tree is
bedecked with ornaments gathered over the years, many
holding great sentimental
value as well as being beautiful. I love the winter
holidays; they are truly special.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Friday, December 19, 2008 8:15 a.m.
14 degrees, calm, overcast
The radio and tv newscasts are all about an
oncoming storm;
the sky is falling! the sky is falling ! Schools
are already planning
early dismissals, and so far there isn’t even a
rustle of breeze or single
flake of snow anywhere to be had. It will be lovely if
such a storm indeed
materializes, but often the weather that generates the
most media hoopla
can be disappointing after such dire warnings are
repeated over and over.
As always, I will believe this storm when I see it; until
then, it’s business as
usual here on Gomer Hill. Yesterday I saw something I
don’t believe I have
seen in New York before; a male ring-necked pheasant flew
across the road
at the busy Potter’s Corners intersection just south
of Turin, gliding into the yard
of the abandoned Little Hotel. We used to see pheasants
all the time when we
lived in Massachusetts, and I wasn’t even aware that
they lived in our current
neck of the woods. This site
informed me that grassland habitat has been de-
creasing for this Asian import first introduced in New
York State in 1892, so
they have not prospered as a species. There have been
programs implemented
to reintroduce this pretty bird to our area as well as to
maintain populations
that are already established, and it was a real treat to
see one in flight.
There is something new under the sun every day, even when
you
think you have seen it all; just keep your eyes open.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, December 18, 2008 8:30 a.m.
22 degrees, calm, overcast, flurries
A few flurries decorate the grey stillness on this almost
winter day.
The official start of winter will be Sunday; make sure
you acknowledge
the return of the light is some way. The ancient Romans
celebrated the
winter solstice for an entire week, during the festival
called Saturnalia.
The official feast day was on yesterday’s date, and
merriment was made
by all in the household; slaves were given time off and
were considered to
be equal to their masters, for one week anyway. To read
more about this old
festival, check out this site
. Our morning view appears to be flat and somewhat
uninspired in the absence of sunshine. Closer observation
reveals an outstanding
snowscape, with thousands of shallow ripples atop the
meadow sculpted by yes-
terday’s steady winds. This morning’s gentle
flurry is slowly covering up the soft
ridges and abstract curves, so look quick, before they
disappear. A half dozen
juncos have set up camp in the forsythia hedge, eating
something from the twigs.
I don’t know if the beautiful golden spring flowers
leave seeds behind, but the
next time I ski past the plants I will take a closer look.
There must be some
reason that the juncos are hanging around. Two bluejays
continue to visit our
spruce trees, bringing a welcome splash of bright color
to the back yard on a
lackluster morning such as this. There are deer tracks
all around the scarlet
runner trellis, and every last leftover bean pod has been
gleaned from the vines.
Although Monday’s rain opened up several patches of
bare ground in the mea-
dows, fodder must be very hard to find in this year of
early deep snow. There
were very few apples in the wild last autumn, another
staple food for not only
deer but turkeys as well. Perhaps this is the year that
our North Country deer
population will be thinned by natural selection, leaving
only the strongest and
most resourceful to carry on. It is a cruel fact of
nature that the weak will be
culled, but anyone who lives here will tell you that
there have been way too
many deer, invading gardens not only in rural areas but
also in populated
towns; they dash in front of vehicles causing injury and
destruction, the
frequency of such accidents multiplied by their sheer
numbers. Even the
hunters couldn’t keep up with last spring’s
population explosion, and we
are seeing more deer than ever here on Gomer Hill. They
are very pretty
to watch as they move through our meadows, but when you
think about
what a long hard winter means to them, the struggle just
to live, it is
sad indeed. Fortunately, many will survive to carry on,
and the
herd will be stronger for it. Man seems to be the only
creature
on earth that ignores the primal law, survival of the
fittest.
Is this a good or a bad thing? Talk amongst yourselves...
Have an interesting day,
Daisy
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:00 a.m.
28 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
Snow started to fall just after midnight, and is
still coursing down in a slow
steady flurry, drifting a bit so it is hard to tell how
much we have received; I
would say at least six inches of new sugary snow coats
the land, maybe a bit
more. We haven’t plowed the yard yet, as we really
don’t have to be anywhere
until later this afternoon. Schools were delayed this
morning all over the area, so
this apparently isn’t just a localized lake effect
event. Friday’s forecast is a bit intrig-
uing; it calls for snow, with significant
accumulations possible. Could this be any
more vague? it’s like saying rain, with the
possibility of wetness or the temperature
will rise into the nineties, with uncomfortable heat
probably occurring. Snow Ridge
Ski Resort will open for the season on Friday, and be
open every day during winter break
through January 4th. The past two weekends alpine skiing
has been very good, and Friday
looks to be an excellent powder day. The view outside our
window lends itself perfectly to
today’s activity, decorating the holiday tree. It is
a slender balsam, chosen not for its size
but for its intoxicating fragrance. Ambient sweetness
wafts from the flat needles that fills
the house with memories of yuletides past. Little
snibbles of branch occasionally tossed
onto a hot stove lid release a pungent incense; ahhhh...
church right here in the kitchen!
All denominations welcome, any time; sit down, have a cup
of joe and a cookie.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 8:30 a.m.
16 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, flurries
A sweet little mosey of snow is drifting gently across
the view,
at times appearing almost motionless, seeming to be
suspended in
the still air before slowly zigzagging to eventually
touch the ground.
It has formed a thin layer atop the sheet of ice that
covers the yard,
formed after yesterday’s downpour of rain slicked up
every nearly
flat surface of Tug Hill. Yesterday I mentioned the vast
stretches
of standing meltwater on the Number Three Road north of
Lowville;
now most of the meadows in southern Lewis County have
become simi-
larly drenched. Yesterday’s high of fifty degrees
ensured that snow would
melt anyway, even without the help of more than an inch
of rain and gusty
south winds. Then the mercury plummeted at sunset; in the
fifteen minutes it
took for me to drive home from work, the digital readout
on my car dashboard
indicated a drop from 42 to 34. By the time I put supper
on the table, it was well
below freezing, and a thin glaze had formed all across
the yard, which is now as
firm as any ice skating rink. We keep a supply of old ski
poles by every door
for mornings such as this, when even a trip to the barn
to grab some kindling
carries the possibility of a surprise attack of sudden
gravity syndrome. The
three ravens currently sitting in our biggest tree would
then have something
to laugh about, instead of just mumbling quietly among
themselves. I believe
I will put down a scattering of sand between here and the
outbuildings, better
safe than sorry. In any case, it would be hard to carry
kindling and ski poles
at the same time, not to mention bringing the holiday
tree in after I clear out
a corner for it. The sun has been peeking in and out of
clouds, snow is still
waltzing around, and it’s beginning to look a lot
like Christmas...
Have a very merry day,
Daisy
Monday, December 15, 2008 8:00 a.m.
44 degrees, windy, cloudy
Water drips from the eaves as the snow melts; I
went outside for
a little while to see if actual rain was falling, but it
wasn’t, not at that
moment anyway. I heard some rain during the night, soft
pitter-pats, not
the washout that was forecast. We may see a few showers
during the day
as we catch the edge of a fast-moving front that ushers
in colder air, which
should bring a return to winter for the rest of the week.
It looks like areas to
the north and west of us will bear the full brunt of this
transitioning weather,
unless the wind shifts significantly during the day. A
minor foot injury has
kept me off of my skis for the past few days; I am
looking forward to get-
ting back out on the trails, which should coincide with
the snow forecast for
the weekend. We tend to take our mobility for granted,
and something as simple
as a household accident is humbling. The reality is, some
of us should wear steel-
toed boots, body armor, and helmets even when dusting. I
did manage to take an
afternoon hobble with the dog, and although the
temperature was mild and the sun
played tag with the clouds, a sharp wind raked across the
high snowbanks and
created blizzard-like conditions for much of the trek.
The rush of wind-driven
snow literally took my breath away. There were scads of
snowmobiles out yes-
terday, and since no trail has been marked they have been
all over the neighbor’s
meadow, marking their own way. There were several
ambulance calls over the week-
end, including three folks who suffered hypothermia after
getting stuck in a large slushy
puddle. Last Tuesday’s hard rain has left a lot of
standing water in meadows all across
the North Country. When we drove to Watertown last week,
we took the Number
Three Road, and in places the water came right up to the
edges of the road, vast
ponds covering cornstubble and grazed meadows alike. Then
it all started to
freeze and got covered with snow, and since the water
didn’t have much
time to become entirely frozen before being covered with
a foot of
insulating snow, it is still a very dangerous proposition
for anything
heavier than a snowshoer or skier to venture into the
backcountry.
Play safe,
Daisy
Sunday, December 14, 2008 9:00 a.m.
29 degrees, windy, partly sunny
A south wind is rising and the clouds are moving all
around the sun,
which is very bright on the surface of all this snow.
Evening grosbeaks are
massed in our biggest tree, looking for treats but out of
luck in our yard; we
can’t have bird feeders in this windy neck of the
woods. I am a bit envious of
my townie friends who report visits from cardinals and
nuthatches to their well-
sheltered feeding stations. We used to hang suet/seed
balls out for woodpeckers
and blue jays, but with a bear in the area we dare not do
that this season. Our best
bet is to provide plenty of natural food for our wild
friends, rose hips, privet berries,
spruce and balsam cones, and drooping sunflower heads,
none of which attracts the
traditional songbirds of winter. I think the grosbeaks
just stop to rest as they pass,
and we appreciate their company, however brief. I am more
than happy with the
crows, ravens, blue jays, downy woodpeckers, and
starlings that make our little
farm their winter home. It’s a fact for birds and
even humans; one doesn’t have to
have flashy plumage and honeyed tones to be loved and
appreciated. Last night’s
moon was awesome, once it finally emerged from behind the
clouds. It rose as a
huge blurry red ball partly concealed by clouds at the
horizon, and finally shone
bright as a beacon as the black night blossomed around it.
By midnight all was
aglow in its lovely light, and while there were no deer
in last night’s scene I did
hear coyotes fairly close; I strained my eyes in their
direction, but did not catch
sight of their wild frolic. Well after I turned in, there
were several bands of snow-
mobiles traveling the road past our house, loud and
screaming by way too fast.
Since the ungroomed local trails are fraught with water
holes, I guess some
riders think it is okay to tear up the roads instead.
Please check the rules
and regs for the area you plan to ride, as in many places
running on the
roads will get you a ticket. Be prepared for a little
rain tonight and
tomorrow before it all turns back into snow for the rest
of the week.
With all of this rain in between snowstorms, we are
getting a firm base
that should last well into April this year. If you live
on Tug Hill and don’t
love winter, You are in the wrong neighborhood. I love it
all, summer and
winter, and all those muddy spaces in between. Life is
easier that way.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Saturday, December 13, 2008 9:30 a.m.
5 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
As cold as it is right now, it is still fifteen degrees
warmer than at dawn.
Because the sun is bouncing off of beautiful fresh white
snow and there is
not one little rustle of wind, it doesn’t feel like
five degrees. Meteorologists
ought to calculate a reverse wind chill, because it is so
sunny and calm it feels
more like twenty than five. Anyway, the big news is last
night’s full moon; I can’t
get it out of my head. It was gigantic as it broke
through the clouds an hour after
it rose. In fact, it appeared 14% larger than usual, due
to its close proximity to
Earth. For a layman’s explanation, check out this link.
For a bit more science, try
this site.
A nearly full moon will rise at 5:25 EST tonight, and
everyone should get
outside for a peek. It will probably disappear behind
clouds later, so we won’t
have the awesome midnight viewing that was so dazzling
last night. I watched
two deer mosey across the east meadow in the wee hours,
casting shadows
on the gleaming snow as they visited the wet spot for a
drink. I may have be-
come a bit moonstruck myself, as it was very hard to find
sleep after that.
Enjoy today’s sunshine and try to catch the moon
later as well.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, December 12, 2008 9:00 a.m.
16 degrees, breezy, cloudy, snowing
We are receiving some very heavy snow right now,
and it is adding quickly to the six inches of sugar that
fell
last night. Freezing rain at high altitudes mixed with
snow closer
to earth to form zillions of tiny frosty ball-bearings;
they puff away
like champagne powder if you stomp your foot hard, but
they are
packed very dense in spite of their incredible lightness.
I think this
weekend will see some of the best skiing so far this year,
both al-
pine and nordic. Two blue jays are frolicking in this
beautiful flurry,
flying from one spruce tree to the other, taking time to
pluck an oc-
casional plump rose hip for a snack. They are incredibly
blue against
the white of the falling snow. A flock of evening
grosbeaks stopped
by for an instant, their yellow breasts the only sunny
thing on the
scene this stormy morning. I was astounded to hear a
large
flock of geese overhead just after first light, a little
late in
the season getting going and no doubt flying blind. It is
snowing very hard, with no signs of stopping soon.
Let it snow !
Daisy
Thursday, December 11, 2008 8:30 a.m.
12 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
Fog frost coats every little twig on this still
frigid morn. I dreamed
of such a landscape in the middle of the night, a frosty
lilac copse, only my
story included two momma cats and a total of 15 kittens
snuggled together within
its glittering branches, all orange and white with long
hair except for one little black
one. In fact, the dream may have been triggered by a hobo
cat that has been hanging
around and agitating our four formerly feral pets. This
real-life kitty is super-sized with
long grey fur, and a massive head that he slowly swings
in my direction whenever I see
him passing through the yard. He has picked through and
scattered trash after we stored
it in the back of the barn, and keeps taunting our pets, nyah
nyah na nyah nah, I’m faster
than you are can’t catch me! We are afraid that
he will lead one of them on a merry chase
into traffic or other peril. We ordinarily welcome
homeless cats into our barn during the win-
ter months, but this one is nothing but trouble. The next
time I cross his path I will urge him
to head up the road to an active dairy barn, pointing out
that it will no doubt be warmer,
with the possibility of milk as a bonus. Since we no
longer have livestock, we don’t even
have a cozy nest in the hayshed for a bed; the horse
stalls next door would be more comfy
than our big empty barn. I think the black cat in my
dream may have been the runt that
eluded capture after our kindly widowed neighbor passed
away last year. It would only
come to her, and grew wilder with every day that passed.
I haven’t seen it in several
weeks, hoping that it found another kind soul to visit,
but fearing the worst. All of
mother Nature’s wild creatures are prone to her
whims and need to be sharp and
alert if they are to survive the harsh winter months. Our
own domestic pets look to
us for creature comforts, and some of their survival
skills may lack that edge that
kept them alive while they were on walkabout. We must
make every effort to
provide our pets with warm dry spaces and plenty of water
if they spend most
of their time outdoors, as many barn cats and shaggy-furred
dogs do. It breaks
my heart when I pass a short-haired hound chained to a
doghouse; they are not
equipped for sub-zero temperatures like a husky or
malamute. If that grey cat
insists on living in our barn, I will get a bale of hay
and bust it up for bedding,
and leave some tepid water out every morning. Even if he
is not welcome,
he is still under our care as long as he hangs around.
Now go and give
your own pet a big hug of appreciation; they wonder what
you
are doing staring at that glowing box on the desk.
Have a great day,
Daisy
-
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 8:00 a.m.
29 degrees, calm, overcast, freezing drizzle
Fog is rolling up the hill; I can see its slow
advance, an inch at a time,
complicating our plan for the day. We intend to go to
Watertown to meet
friends for lunch, but the weather may make a different
call; we will wait and see.
The temperature is dropping quickly, from 44 degrees when
I arose two hours ago
to 29 right now. It is a very still morning, no breeze,
no critters on the move. The fine
rain has just changed into small motes of snow, falling
straight to earth with no dancing
at all, no sno-globe shuffle on this windless morn. We
had over an inch of rain that start-
ed to fall late in the day, and the yard is like a giant
ice cube, treacherous and a little scary.
Time to get out the ski poles and keep a pair at every
doorway, to help navigate the slick
spots. Yesterday morning was nice enough to take the dog
walking on the plowed road.
We were accompanied by a big raven, who met us at the end
of the driveway from a
perch on the barn’s ridgeline. That bird was so big
that I did a double-take, wonder-
ing if there was something bigger than a raven that could
be in our area. We are geo-
graphically really far from any condors that I know of. I
got a good look at his shaggy
head with its thick black beak, and as soon as he opened
his mouth to croak a soft mum-
bled greeting I knew it was, in fact, a raven, the
biggest one I have ever seen. We walked
about a mile, and he kept his distance, but never left
our sight. I heard him again this morn-
ing when I let the dog out, but haven’t caught a
glimpse of him. Now it’s so foggy I can
barely see the barn, let alone anything on the roof.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this great big
bird decided to adopt us for the winter? Meanwhile, the
temperature has dropped
another two degrees in the time it has taken me to pound
out these few words.
The breeze is starting to stir the snowflakes into a
little tarantella, and there is
definitely a change in the weather on the way. Heck, it
may already be here.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, December 9, 2008 9:00 a.m.
20 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
A south wind is pushing air across Gomer Hill that
is markedly
warmer and laden with dampness. There is no visible fog
but while
crossing the yard I got the sensation that somewhere a
giant vaporizer
had been turned on; all that was lacking was a bit of
Vicks Vapo-rub borne
on the breeze to complete the picture. It looks like we
will be spared the sleet
and freezing rain that was forecast for today. We picked
up two inches of new
snow overnight, and I believe I will have time to take a
leisurely ski trip around
our meadows and perhaps into the woodlot before leaving
for work later. The
sun is poking through the heavy massed clouds, and there
is a mighty tempt-
ation to let the indoor chores slide (again) so I can
enjoy this open window
of opportunity. My goodness, it is warming up nicely! The
mercury is
now 24 and rising, a nice surprise after yesterday’s
deep freeze.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Monday, December 8, 2008 8:30 a.m.
-5 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
The temperature plummeted to ten below zero here
on Gomer Hill,
and we were one of the warm spots. Snow fell for much of
yesterday;
the west wind has left it in little layered ripples and
flattened drifts across
the meadows. Morning sunshine slants across the tiny
ridges and troughs
and has created a virtual moonscape, with black shadows
dancing across
the stark glittering white of newfallen snow. Not a
creature is stirring as I
scan the broad view, but there is a trail surrounding the
house left by some
small four-legged visitor, probably a chipmunk. I can see
several spots where
it paused in its trek to investigate the foundation, no
doubt searching for a chink
to gain entry on such a frigid night. In light of the
recent late night massacre of one
of its kind, this little guy is lucky it didn’t find
a way in. I left the Hill at noon yester-
day, and it was a blustery trip along the upper road as
far a Boonville, with whiteouts
and wind-driven patches of slushy snow making folks drive
slower than usual, and it
was slow going. The plows had everything in control by
the time I headed for home,
and it was clear sailing all the way to our house. With
government budget cutbacks
that have been recently enacted, I am glad that our north
country highway crews
appear to be operating with full coffers. Today will be
the coldest one of the
week, and it looks like some mixed rain and snow will
make things more in-
teresting for a couple of days starting tomorrow. By the
weekend, there
should be enough new snow on top of a nicely compacted
base to afford
some great skiing, both cross-country and downhill. Snow
Ridge Ski Area
has been open so far only on weekends; before planning a
trip to Turin to ski,
check first with the area through snowridge.com or by calling
315-348-8456.
Yesterday saw some excellent powder runs at the beginning
of the day;
it is definitely worth a trip to Turin if you feel the
need for speed.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, December 7, 2008 8:30 a.m.
24 degrees, mostly cloudy, windy, snowing
What a picture-perfect winter morning ! We
received about six
inches of fluffy snow last night, and it is still coming
down pretty hard.
We are currently at the leading edge of a lake effect
band, and the wind
is going to pick up as the storm moves across Tug Hill,
making driving condi-
tions a little tricky. Make sure you have your headlights
on in weather such as this,
and pay attention to traffic ahead as well as behind your
own vehicle. I have a gather-
ing in Forestport at noon today, and will certainly be on
the lookout for less experienced
drivers as well as the usual deer and other wildlife. We
were headed up Carpenter Road
last night to a holiday party and two deer and a rabbit
jumped out in front of our car. The
deer I expected, but this is the first time I had to
dodge a bunny. Today is the last day of
deer hunting season in our district, and I am a little
surprised how few hunters I have seen
locally lately. A lot of camps are hard to get to because
of the deep snow. One friend tried
to get to his cabin by snowmobile, and had to dig the
heavy machine out three times on the
way in, and twice in the yard of his camp trying to leave
at the end of the day. For some
reason the snowmobile trail by our place has not been
marked or groomed yet, and the
season for that “sport” starts at sundown
tonight. This is a heads-up for those of you who
come to Tug Hill expecting a groomed trail; check with
your club first. You may want to
ride with a shovel and come-along until you find out what
the exact conditions are. In my
most perfect world, the trail by our house will become a
thing of the past, and we can re-
turn to the peaceful wintry nights that is one of the
reasons we chose to live here thirty-
five years ago. It has been wonderful to be able to ski
on the Smith Road these
past few weeks without having to step aside every three
minutes to allow
sleds to pass, and the air quality on our jaunts has been
pristine and
fume-free. I may be somewhat of an old-fashioned gal, but
give
me the quiet beauty of a gentle glide on skis or soft
trek with
snowshoes over the shrill blast of tuned pipes any day.
Here’s to a silent night !
Daisy
~
Saturday, December 6, 2008 8:30 a.m.
16 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
The sun is struggling to shine through huge masses
of clouds
that have gathered like sheep all across the sky. It made
a glorious
presentation at dawn, tinting the whole view orangey-pink
before retreating
back into the fold. As lovely as this morning’s
sunrise was, it didn’t hold a candle
to last night’s sunset. We were headed home after a
fine afternoon of skiing and kept
stopping to look over our shoulders at the neon intensity
of the entire western sky; it
absolutely vibrated with fiery brilliance, in colors that
elude description. If we paused
for too long, the frosty wind chilled us to the bone, so
we appreciated the light show
in brief commercial breaks. By the time we reached the
warmth of our kitchen, the
purple hour had begun to descend, pretty in its own right
but not as spectacular as
the lowering sun itself. We skied into an area that had
been logged last summer;
conditions were perfect, six inches of fluff on top of
crust that held our weight as
it was distributed along the length of the skis. Our trip
in the forest was cut short
by the struggles of the big galoot of a dog that came
along; he broke through the
crust and sank like a stone, and his flanks were soon
quivering with the exertion
of hauling himself to the surface repeatedly. We came
back out onto the road and
stayed in a snowmobile track for a few miles, kicking and
gliding with very little effort
as the dog cavorted ahead, sniffing at every track and
buried scat pile he found. It was
a wonderful afternoon, mostly sunny and seasonably cold;
the snow was zippy, yet soft
enough to forgive any missteps. I shared the afternoon
with a friend who had never been
on skis before; her youth and natural athletic ability
soon saw her gliding along like a pro.
If you have never been back country skiing, I urge you to
give it a try. The BREIA warm-
ing hut in Boonville has equipment you can borrow, and
most of the trails that originate from
there follow the canal and are fairly flat, excellent for
novices. Cross-country skiing is some
of the best aerobic exercise you can find for free,
affording access to areas of the forest
and swamps that are impossible to visit in the summer
because of muck and bugs. One
reason I look forward to winter so much is the
opportunities that await to explore Gomer
Hill on my trusty skis. Snowshoes are good too; heck,
even a walk along a plowed
roadside in wintertime is exhilarating and refreshes the
spirit in a unique extra-
ordinary way. Get yourself some warm layers and play
outdoors today.
What are you waiting for ?
Daisy
~
Friday, December 5, 2008 9:00 a.m.
22 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy, snowing
The lake effect snow machine has just been
switched on;
big fat flakes are thick enough to obscure much of the
morning view.
Even though the wind hasn’t kicked in yet, the snow
is moving in a steady
southwest-to-northeast flow, serious snow that looks like
it might hang around
for a while. I drove into a little storm last night
around eight o’clock, which started
right at the Turin town line. Roads were bare until I
turned onto West Main Street,
and as I climbed Gomer Hill the depth increased
significantly as I gained altitude.
Two young deer stood stock still in the middle of the
steepest part of the road,
and I had to wait for them to decide what to do before
moving on. This is an
instance where having an all-wheel drive car with good
snow tires really paid
off. A lesser vehicle would have had to back down and
make the run at the
hill all over again. They ran up the road until they
found a plowed driveway,
and turned in with a saucy tail-flip and never a look
back. I’ll bet these were
the twin fawns that we had watched romping around all
summer long, and have
recently seen with their mom. I wonder if she was a
casualty of traffic, or taken by
a hunter with a doe permit. At any rate, these youngsters
will have to learn quickly
how to get along in a North Country winter. If I had been
going down the slippery
hill instead of up, they very well could have learned a
hard lesson last night. One
smaller critter found out that our home is not the best
place to hole up during a
storm; late last night all three cats and one little dog
successfully hunted what
may have been a chipmunk, it’s hard to tell in the
aftermath. There was a lot
of ruckus, resulting in a larger-than-a-mouse-sized gall
bladder left behind
on the bathroom floor. Ugh. Now, I can kill and clean a
chicken in less
than twenty minutes and never bat an eye, but the sight
of one little pile
of rodent orts first thing in the morning still has me
testing my gag reflex.
Our white cat is stretched out dozing by the stove, her
belly stretched
tight as a drum, so I guess it was her ultimate victory.
Life (and death)
do go on, from the smallest mosquito to the closest
friend.
Why do we mourn the loss of one over the other ?
Heavy.
Daisy
For Jimmy
~
Thursday, December 4, 2008 9:30 a.m.
35 degrees, breezy, overcast, flurries
Hard rain that started just before dawn has
shifted to snow,
sometimes blinding and sometimes just a flutter, like now.
Our
area is under both a Lake Effect Snow Warning as well as
a Winter
Storm Warning, so it seems like all hell should be
busting loose, but in
fact it is no big whoop. So far. We traveled to the
valley yesterday and
plumb ran out of snow cover down by Remsen, nothing but a
few leftover
patches in ditches. Utica and the surrounding area was
totally bare with mild
temperature, and when we returned home the yard had
thawed considerably
and was down to mud and slush in many places. This
morning there is a covering
of snow on top but is still quite squishy underneath it
all. Tomorrow wintry temps
return and things should start to firm up once again,
with more snow on the way
for the weekend. I took a good look at the tracks in the
yard yesterday, and be-
lieve them to be those of a large feral cat dragging its
feet, thereby elongating the
prints. It was clear when I took a closer look and
counted the toes (four); what
threw me yesterday is that the stride pattern was
atypical for a cat, but this one
must have been very tired to place its feet side by side
in a slow walk as well as
dragging them. Bear-tracker.com/domcat
has excellent photos and descriptions
of domestic cat tracks. To tell the difference between
cat and dog tracks, check
out this related site.
Our three-legged cat leaves a very peculiar trail; that
is some-
thing that must be considered when tracking animals, that
they may be missing a limb.
It is best to remember that most tracking guides show the
print and stride of healthy
animals; sometimes we need to imagine a backstory to
match the tracks that we find.
The prints in our yard are large, so they do not belong
to the little black barn cat that
used to live with our deceased neighbor, and seems to be
doing quite well on its own
for more than a year. There has been a big grey
longhaired cat hanging around for
about a month; he has been taken to school by our alpha
cat more than once. I’m
thinking that this is the track of that very tired big
grey kitty, who has been run off
of every farm it has approached and is growing footsore
and bone-weary in the
deep snow. Now the snow has changed to rain; I am
guessing that this will be
just a typical Tug Hill December day, with a little bit
of everything in the mix.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 8:15 a.m.
26 degrees, calm, partly sunny
For all that the air was filled with snow for so much of
yesterday,
there isn’t much on the ground to show for it. We
picked up only
about six inches of new snow in a hit-and-miss lake
effect event that
advanced and withdrew by turns all day long. By nightfall
it was over.
What is nice is that the deep heavy stuff has frozen, and
this new layer
will make back country skiing very nice for today. We
haven’t quite
gelled our agenda, but if we remain on Gomer Hill on this
lovely day I
am sure we will get out on skis for at least part of it.
On the other hand,
a full schedule for the rest of the month leaves this as
one of the only
days we can travel to the city to pick up things that are
not available
locally. Rain is in the picture for tomorrow, followed by
more snow,
laying down a good solid base for most winter sports.
Hunting season
ends this weekend, so I imagine there will be an influx
of snowmobile traf-
fic starting the minute the sun sets on Sunday. Oh well,
the peace and quiet
was nice while it lasted. Meanwhile, there are some odd
tracks in the new
snow this morning, passing quite close to the house in
the front yard. If
there was a tail drag mark I would say it was a porcupine;
the prints
are longish and close together, side by side and not in a
straight line.
I will have to get a closer look. The meadow is free from
deer trails
for now; they must have stayed in the shelter of the
forest during yes-
terday’s blow. Two bluejays spent the day hunkered
in the folds
of one of the big landscape spruce trees out back,
emerging
during a lull to make a short foray into the waning rose
hips
stash, and returning to cover when the flakes flew once
more. The view is oddly free of wildlife this morning;
perhaps they are sleeping in.
~
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 9:00 a.m.
28 degrees, breezy, overcast, snowing
The morning scene has switched from bright
filtered sunshine to
broad sweeps of wind-driven snow in the blink of an eye.
Radar
shows that we are sandwiched between two lake effect
bands and
catching the edge of one of them. Wind direction
indicates that we
may miss the worst of today’s storm, but if either
band drifts one
way or the other then we will be in the thick of it. I
drove through
two squalls last night, each one fierce in its own right
but over al-
most before I noticed it. This kind of hit-and-run storm
is common
in the North Country, and beyond the ken of weather
forecasters’
standard skill-set. For example, we are under a Lake
Effect Snow
Advisory until 10:00 tonight. This means that it
will either snow or it
won’t. This is different than an Lake Effect Snow Watch
, where it
probably may or may not snow. And of course, there is the
Lake
Effect Snow Warning which is a definite shout-out
that it will abso-
lutely either snow, or not. In all of my years living on
Gomer Hill,
our most prodigious amounts of snow have arrived with no
notice from the weatherman at all; it just dumped. So I
will
go about my work, business as usual, and make decisions
based on the weather after said weather actually arrives.
For now, it looks like I may have to cancel some af-
ternoon activities off the Hill, or maybe not. Ha !
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Monday, December 1, 2008 8:00 a.m.
39 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Snow fell late yesterday afternoon, big dry flakes
that were starting
to pile up nicely; in the blink of an eye, it changed
over to sleet, then rain.
The temperature climbed ten degrees in the space of an
hour, and by the
time the sun came up this morning we had received over an
inch of rain.
Since it remains above the freezing point, and all of
that snow that has
fallen during the past two weeks, yep, all three feet of
it, is now like a
giant Slurpie, too waterlogged to make a snowball, it
compresses directly
into ice in a gloved hand. Trees are once again bare of
their pretty frosted
blankets, and waders are more appropriate footgear than
pac boots. It will
be fairly warm for the rest of today, and as the
temperature dips into the twen-
ties combined with lake effect snow tonight, ski
conditions on Gomer Hill should
improve dramatically. I didn’t go gliding yesterday,
but I did enjoy a good walk
with the dog on the plowed main road. Snow must hold
scents better then bare
ground, as he spent a much of our trek with his muzzle
buried in the banks along
the roadside. There were no visible critter tracks, but
I’ll bet the terrier in him was
searching for the small rodents that tunnel beneath the
surface. A few crows flew
along overhead as we walked, calling back and forth and
swooping easily from
pole to pole. When I hear the term bird’s-eye
view it is the crow that comes to
mind as the bird mentioned. They seem to go wherever they
want, and take time
to look around from every possible vantage point. I
wonder what goes through
the mind of a crow as it watches my various activities
from above? Do they
think it odd that I carry so much wood into the house,
and never carry
any back out? Do they wonder why I poke a glossy black
lost feather
into the end of the corn rows, and do they listen to my
odd bursts
of song as I travel the backcountry trails? Do they enjoy
my
antics as I do theirs? We have a truce of sorts, a live
and
let live agreement. I hope they stick around all winter.
Enjoy your wild friends,
Daisy
~
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